Verbal Decomposition

@cite{cuervo-2003} @cite{wood-2015} @cite{pylkkanen-2008}

Sub-eventive verb heads that decompose verbal structure into fine-grained event components. Following @cite{wood-2015} and @cite{pylkkanen-2008}, CAUSE is an independent head — separate from both Voice (which introduces the external argument) and the root-determined event structure (vGO, vBE).

Key decompositions:

• State: [vBE]
• Activity: [vDO]
• Inchoative: [vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] (anticausative: "the door opened")
• Causative: [vDO, vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] (transitive: "John opened the door")

Voice contributes vDO (the agent's activity); CAUSE is part of the root structure, present in both causative and anticausative alternants.

Independent of applicative heads — used by Fission and the Spanish fragment.

inductive Minimalist.VerbHead : Type

Sub-eventive verb heads from @cite{cuervo-2003}, extended with vCAUSE following @cite{wood-2015} and @cite{pylkkanen-2008}.

• vDO: Dynamic subevent where an agent does something
• vCAUSE: Causal relation between subevents (independent head; present in both causative and anticausative alternants)
• vGO: Dynamic subevent of change (inchoative component)
• vBE: Stative subevent of result state

• vDO : VerbHead
• vCAUSE : VerbHead
• vGO : VerbHead
• vBE : VerbHead

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Minimalist.instDecidableEqVerbHead : DecidableEq VerbHead

Equations

• Minimalist.instDecidableEqVerbHead x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Minimalist.instReprVerbHead : Repr VerbHead

Equations

• Minimalist.instReprVerbHead = { reprPrec := Minimalist.instReprVerbHead.repr }

def Minimalist.instReprVerbHead.repr : VerbHead → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• Minimalist.instReprVerbHead.repr Minimalist.VerbHead.vDO prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Minimalist.VerbHead.vDO")).group prec✝
• Minimalist.instReprVerbHead.repr Minimalist.VerbHead.vCAUSE prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Minimalist.VerbHead.vCAUSE")).group prec✝
• Minimalist.instReprVerbHead.repr Minimalist.VerbHead.vGO prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Minimalist.VerbHead.vGO")).group prec✝
• Minimalist.instReprVerbHead.repr Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE")).group prec✝

def Minimalist.isInchoative (heads : List VerbHead) : Bool

A verb's event-structural decomposition as a list of VerbHeads.

Key patterns:

• State: [vBE]
• Activity: [vDO]
• Inchoative: [vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] (anticausative: "the door opened")
• Causative: [vDO, vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] (transitive: "John opened the door")

Equations

• Minimalist.isInchoative heads = (heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vGO && heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE && !heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vDO)

def Minimalist.isCausative (heads : List VerbHead) : Bool

Is this a causative (external cause + change + result)?

Equations

• Minimalist.isCausative heads = (heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vDO && heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vGO && heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE)

def Minimalist.isState (heads : List VerbHead) : Bool

Is this a simple state (vBE only)?

Equations

• Minimalist.isState heads = (heads == [Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE])

def Minimalist.isActivity (heads : List VerbHead) : Bool

Is this a simple activity (vDO only)?

Equations

• Minimalist.isActivity heads = (heads == [Minimalist.VerbHead.vDO])

def Minimalist.hasCause (heads : List VerbHead) : Bool

Does this decomposition contain a CAUSE head?

Equations

• Minimalist.hasCause heads = heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vCAUSE

def Minimalist.isAnticausative (heads : List VerbHead) : Bool

Is this an anticausative (CAUSE present, but no external agent)? Anticausatives have the causal structure but lack an agentive vDO. This is the key insight from @cite{wood-2015}: CAUSE is independent of Voice, so it can appear without an agent.

Equations

• Minimalist.isAnticausative heads = (Minimalist.hasCause heads && heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vGO && !heads.contains Minimalist.VerbHead.vDO)

theorem Minimalist.inchoative_is_go_be : isInchoative [VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = true

Inchoative = change + result, no external cause.

theorem Minimalist.inchoative_with_cause : isInchoative [VerbHead.vCAUSE, VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = true

Inchoative with CAUSE: [vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] is still inchoative (no vDO).

theorem Minimalist.causative_is_do_go_be : isCausative [VerbHead.vDO, VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = true

Causative = external cause + change + result.

theorem Minimalist.causative_with_cause : isCausative [VerbHead.vDO, VerbHead.vCAUSE, VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = true

Causative with CAUSE head.

theorem Minimalist.inchoative_not_causative : isCausative [VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = false

Inchoative is NOT causative (no vDO).

theorem Minimalist.causative_not_inchoative : isInchoative [VerbHead.vDO, VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = false

Causative is NOT inchoative (has vDO).

theorem Minimalist.state_neither : isInchoative [VerbHead.vBE] = false ∧ isCausative [VerbHead.vBE] = false

A pure state is neither inchoative nor causative.

theorem Minimalist.activity_neither : isInchoative [VerbHead.vDO] = false ∧ isCausative [VerbHead.vDO] = false

An activity is neither inchoative nor causative.

theorem Minimalist.cause_shared_across_alternation : hasCause [VerbHead.vDO, VerbHead.vCAUSE, VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = true ∧ hasCause [VerbHead.vCAUSE, VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = true

CAUSE is present in both causative and anticausative alternants.

theorem Minimalist.anticausative_is_cause_go : isAnticausative [VerbHead.vCAUSE, VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = true

Anticausative = CAUSE + change, no agent.

theorem Minimalist.causative_not_anticausative : isAnticausative [VerbHead.vDO, VerbHead.vCAUSE, VerbHead.vGO, VerbHead.vBE] = false

Causative with vDO is NOT anticausative.