SGER: The Morphosyntactic Basis of Crosslinguistic Variation in Event Encoding

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

This SGER grant will permit exploratory investigations into the roots of crosslinguistic similarities and divergences in the linguistic encoding of events. This project takes as its starting point the hypothesis that chains of happenings in the real world are construed by all languages as events in the same way(s). If so, crosslinguistic differences in the ways that events are expressed are "superficial": they should be traceable to differences in the morphosyntactic and lexical resources available to languages to encode particular event representations. That is, in general crosslinguistic differences should not arise due to differences in how languages construe the underlying happenings in the world as events, as has sometimes been proposed. However, if a language lacks the morphosyntactic device needed to permit a particular event representation to surface, it might avail itself of a different construal, if one is available, to express the same happening. The full-scale exploration of these ideas comprises a two-part research program. First, it requires determining which kinds of chains of happenings in the world may be construed as events and determining the appropriate linguistic representation of these events; this topic is the purview of a theory of event structure. Second, it requires uncovering the range of morphosyntactic and lexical resources used to encode events crosslinguistically and then correlating them with the typological traits of the languages manifesting them. These correlations are essential to the identification of the interactions between the type of event being encoded, the typological traits of the language it is being encoded in, and the morphosyntactic devices the language makes available for encoding the components of such an event. Together these determine how particular event structures are expressed or, possibly, prevented from surfacing in a given language. The formulation of a comprehensive crosslinguistically viable theory of event encoding, then, can build on previous work in lexical semantics and morphosyntactic typology. In so doing, this research program will bring together two lines of largely independent research. The morphosyntactic basis of event encoding constitutes a large but underexplored area. A two-pronged approach will be pursued in this exploratory project. First, a small workshop will be held to explore foundational issues and discuss effective paths for further research. Second, we plan to extend an earlier pilot case study of directed motion events in order to more accurately delineate the morphosyntactic and lexical factors that affect event encoding. As part of this study, a database of properties will be designed that can be used in hypothesis exploration and can serve as a model for future research. The larger research program set out here should lead to the deepening of existing typological generalizations and the discovery of new ones. It will allow a more refined understanding of the representation of events and the semantic determinants of grammatical structure. By clarifying and systematizing similarities and differences between languages, the research results should have practical applications to second language pedagogy and machine translation, both of which rely on the best available theoretical work on the relationships between languages.