UMASS LINGUISTICS SYNTAX GROUP, NOVEMBER 11, 2004

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pseudo coordinative predicates, agreement and aktionsart
Mark de Vos (University of Leiden)

English pseudo coordination of verbs is puzzling because they do not, at
first glance, appear to be real coordinative structures but of a more
subordinative nature. For instance, it is possible to extract from them in
violation of the Coordinate Strucure Constraint. It is possible to show
that verbal pseudo coordinations are not uniform, a fact which makes them
appear more ambiguous than they really are. This talk explores the
possibilities of analysing certain pseudo coordinative structures as
complex heads. The analysis allows the analysis of pseudo coordination in
terms of garden-variety coordination albeit within the verb phrase itself.
The analysis also bears on the debate between Move vs Agree as well as the
status of aktionsart primitives within the syntax.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------