CONTENTS
Series Foreword = xi
Acknowledgments = xiii
Chapter 1 A Learnability Paradox = 1
1.1 Argument Structure and the Lexicon = 3
1.2 The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition = 5
1.3 Baker's Paradox = 7
1.4 Attempted Solutions to Baker's Paradox = 8
Chapter 2 Constraints on Lexical Rules = 45
2.1 Morphological and Phonological Constraints = 45
2.2 Semantic Constraints = 47
2.3 How Semantic and Morphological Constraints Might Resolve Baker's Paradox = 51
2.4 Evidence for Criteria-Governed Productivity = 52
2.5 Problems for the Criteria-Governed Productivity Theory = 56
Chapter 3 Constraints and the Nature of Argument Structure = 62
3.1 Overview: Why Lexical Rules Carry Semantic Constraints = 62
3.2 Constraints on Lexical Rules as Manifestations of More General Phenomena = 65
3.3 A Theory of Argument Structure = 70
3.4 On Universality = 94
Chapter 4 Possible and Actual Forms = 98
4.1 The Problem of Negative Exceptions = 98
4.2 Transitive Action Verbs as Evidence for Narrow Subclasses = 104
4.3 The Nature of Narrow Conflation Classes = 106
4.4 Defining and Motivating Subclasses of Verbs Licensing the Four Alternations = 110
4.5 The Relation Between Narrow-Range and Broad-Range Rules = 152
Chapter 5 Representation = 165
5.1 The Need for a Theory of Lexico-semantic Representation = 166
5.2 Is a Theory of Lexical Semantics Feasible? = 167
5.3 Evidence for a Semantic Subsystem Underlying Verb Meanings = 169
5.4 A Cross-linguistic Inventory of Components of Verb Meaning = 172
5.5 A Theory of the Representation of Grammatically Relevant Semantic Structures = 176
5.6 Explicit Representations of Lexical Rules and Lexicosemantic Structures = 209
5.7 Summary = 245
Chapter 6 Learning = 247
6.1 Linking Rules = 248
6.2 Lexical Semantic Structures = 253
6.3 Broad Conflation Classes (The-matic Cores) and Broad-Range Lexical Rules = 265
6.4 Narrow Conflation Classes and Narrow-Range Lexical Rules = 269
6.5 Summary of Learning Mechanisms = 281
Chapter 7 Development = 282
7.1 Developmental Sequence for Argument Structure Alternations = 283
7.2 The Unlearning Problem = 290
7.3 Children's Argument Structure Changing Rules Are Always Semantically Conditioned = 295
7.4 Do Children's Errors Have the Same Cause as Adults'? = 317
7.5 Acquisition of Verb Meaning and Errors in Argument Structure = 325
7.6 Some Predictions About the Acquisition of Narrow-Range Rules = 347
7.7 Summary of Development = 350
Chapter 8 Conclusions = 352
8.1 A Brief Summary of the Resolution of the Paradox = 352
8.2 Argument Structure as a Pointer Between Syntactic Structure and Propositions = 353
8.3 The Autonomy of Semantic Representation = 356
8.4 Implications for the Semantic Bootstrapping Hypothesis = 360
8.5 Conservatism, Listedness, and the Lexicon = 364
8.6 Spatial Schemas and Abstract Thought = 370
References = 375
Notes = 392
Index = 404
