English Object Alternations : A Unified Account

A hallmark of the English verb lexicon is the availability of multiple argument realization options for many English verbs. Studies of the English verb lexicon have drawn attention to one facet of this phenomenon: the availability of a range of object alternations (Levin 1993)—alternate realizations of the VP-internal arguments of apparently triadic verbs. One of the best-known of these alternations is the locative alternation, which comes in “putting” and “removing” subtypes, as illustrated in (1) and (2).

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