The Russian be-possessive: subjecthood and argument structure

Authors

  • Aysa Arylova University of Groningen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/bells.v1i1.71

Abstract

The paper touches upon two aspects of the Russian be-possessive: subjecthood and argument structure. A brief presentation of subjecthood tests (reflexive binding, word order, presupposed reference and substitution by PRO) demonstrates that the PP-possessor is the subject of the construction, although morphological subject characteristics embellish the possessum. A look at the argument structure of the be-possessive constitutes a step towards the understanding of the idiosyncrasies of the construction. I consider a range of the existing analyses of the argument structure of the be-possessive and argue that the construction should be analyzed as a dyadic unaccusative, as proposed in Chvany (1975).

 

Author Biography

Aysa Arylova, University of Groningen

CLCG, PhD student (promovendus)

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Published

2010-12-06

How to Cite

Arylova, Aysa. 2010. “The Russian Be-Possessive: Subjecthood and Argument Structure”. Bergen Language and Linguistics Studies 1 (1). https://doi.org/10.15845/bells.v1i1.71.