Valence-changing morphology
We defined the (syntactic) VALENCE of a verb to be the number of terms (i.e. non-oblique arguments) it subcategorizes for. Intransitive verbs have only one term, namely the subject; so, their valence is one. Transitive verbs take an object as well as a subject; so, their valence is two. Ditransitive verbs have a valence of three (SUBJ, OBJ, OBJ2).
In many languages there are morphological processes which apply to verbs and change their valence, either increasing or reducing the number of term arguments. For example, some intransitive verbs in English become transitive when the prefix out- is added. This prefix triggers an increase in valence from one to two.1
(1) a Jack ran faster than the giant.
b Jack outran the giant.
(2) a This watchband will last longer than the watch.
b This watchband will outlast the watch.
We can classify these processes in two different ways: syntactic and semantic. In terms of the syntactic effect, we distinguish processes that increase the valence of the verb from those that decrease the valence. The examples in (1–2) illustrate a VALENCE-INCREASING process; VALENCE-DECREASING examples will be provided below. In terms of the semantic effect, we distinguish processes that involve a change in meaning from those that do not. The alternation in (1–2) is one which changes meaning, since the meaning of the derived transitive form contains elements which are not present in the meaning of the intransitive base form; e.g. outrun means ‘run faster than (someone).’
We will consider several examples of MEANING PRESERVING alternations. We will note in particular that these operations do not affect the argument structure of the verb, but only the assignment of Grammatical Relations. We will look at examples of MEANING-CHANGING alternations, specifically operations that add a new argument to the argument structure. We will look at a very interesting process known as NOUN INCORPORATION.
1. This prefix can also appear on transitive verbs; but if the base verb is ambiguous between a transitive and an intransitive sense, it is generally the intransitive sense that is selected when the prefix is present.
