This 2005 book surveys theories about the relationship between verbs and their arguments, an important research topic in linguistics.

The third volume in the VARGReB series explores different aspects of varying argument realization in Baltic. It presents original studies on differential marking of both core and non-core verbal arguments, on argument structures of nouns and the encoding of nominal arguments, as well as on constructions reflecting the expansion of argument structure through the addition of causative, resultative or applicative predications. The discussion of phenomena of argument realization and marking often touches on fundamental problems of syntax and the syntax-semantics interface, such as the putative locality of case assignment, event-structural factors determining case marking, the inheritance of argument structure across phrase types, or the status of arguments and adjuncts. The contributions to this volume use different approaches and frameworks to analyze a wealth of authentic data from contemporary Latvian and Lithuanian.

This volume presents seven essays that survey fundamental argument realization issues within a typologically broad range of languages. The papers examine, within the architecture of Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG), the variety of ways in which arguments of a predicate may be realized in the syntax. LFG allows for the complex interactions of arguments, syntactic positions and grammatical functions. Regardless of the complexity or simplicity of the predicational structure of a clause, the papers included show how the relationship between arguments and their overt realization can be dealt with. The papers also treat multiple case marking in Australian languages, possessor alternation in Welsh, directional complex predicates in American Indian languages and causatives in Japanese. They discuss representational issues that encompass underspecification and the encoding of semantic information needed to determine the correspondence of thematic arguments to their overt syntactic realization.

Thomas W. Polger and Lawrence A. Shapiro offer the first full investigation of multiple realization--the idea that minds can be realized in ways other than the human brain. They cast doubt on the hypothesis and offer an alternative framework for understanding explanations in the cognitive sciences, and in chemistry, biology, and related fields.

The relationship between verbs and their arguments is a widely debated topic in linguistics. This comprehensive survey provides an overview of this important research area, exploring theories of how a verb's semantics can determine the morphosyntactic realization of its arguments. Assuming a close connection between verb meaning and syntactic structure, the analysis constructs a bridge between lexical-semantic and syntactic research. Synthesizing work results from a range of linguistic subdisciplines and a variety of theoretical frameworks, it will be invaluable to research in syntax, semantics, and related fields.

In this book, Miriam Butt and Tracy Holloway King present seven essays that survey fundamental argument realization issues within a typologically broad range of languages. In these papers, Butt, King, and other prominent linguists examine within the architecture of Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) the variety of ways in which arguments of a predicate may be realized in the syntax. Well-suited for this kind of examination, LFG allows for the complex interaction of arguments, syntactic positions, and grammatical functions. Case marking alternations and the overt realization of case marking within single clauses, including case stacking, have continued to engage the attention of linguists working with different syntactic theories. The phenomenon of clause union or complex predication has led linguists to look at case marking and argument realization that goes beyond the domain of the single clause. Regardless of the complexity or simplicity of the predicational structure of a clause, the papers included in this volume show how the relationship between arguments and their overt realization can be dealt with. These papers also treat multiple case marking in Australian languages, possessor alternation in Welsh, directional complex predicates in American Indian languages, and causatives in Japanese. Furthermore, they discuss representational issues that encompass underspecification and the encoding of semantic information needed to determine the correspondence of thematic arguments to their overt syntactic realization.

The argument structure of verbs, defined as the part of grammar that deals with how participants in verbal events are expressed in clauses, is a classical topic in linguistics that has received considerable attention in the literature. This book investigates argument structure in English from a usage-based perspective, taking the view that the cognitive representation of grammar is shaped by language use, and that crucial aspects of grammatical organization are tied to the frequency with which words and syntactic constructions are used. On the basis of several case studies combining quantitative corpus studies and psycholinguistic experiments, it is shown how a usage-based approach sheds new light on a number of issues in argument realization and offers frequency-based explanations for its organizing principles at three levels of generality: verbs, constructions, and argument structure alternations.