Browsing by Author "Soh, Hooi Ling"

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    Aspect and the organization of argument structure and phrase structure: evidence from Malay
    (1994) Soh, Hooi Ling; Guilfoyle, Eithne
    This thesis investigates the role of aspect in the organization of Argument structure and Phrase structure. We propose that aspectual roles are linked with the theta roles of the arguments in Argument structure. On the basis of constructions with the ter- prefix and the -kan suffix in Malay, we argue that it is possible to delink or add an aspectual role to a given argument. The delinking and adding mechanisms enable us to provide a unified account of ter- and -kan and permit finer operations on arguments. We also associate the aspectual roles with the projections of Phrase structure. We argue for an aspect phrase outside VP based on the prefix ter- and certain aspectual markers. We show that the outer aspect identifies the occurrence of the event, and whether the outer aspect is filled or not is determined by the aspectual tier of the verb's argument structure.
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    External arguments and ter- in Malay
    (University of Calgary, 1995-01) Soh, Hooi Ling
    The verbal prefix ter- in Malay is associated with three unrelated meanings: adjectival passive (be V-ed), accidental (happened to V) and abilitative (able to V). We argue that the prefix ter- has no independent semantic content, and the various interpretations of ter- result from ter- suppressing certain elements in the argument structure of the verb. Based on the behavior of the prefix ter, we propose a model of argument structure which allows us to modify the semantic roles within the thematic and the aspectual tiers of the argument structure. We propose that argument structure operations include the delinking of a semantic role (thematic and/or aspectual) from the argument. This delinking mechanism permits finer operations on arguments, resulting in a more articulated inventory of argument types.