AG 3: Agentivity and event structure: theoretical and experimental approaches
Markus Philipp, University of Cologne, Institute German Language and Literature I, Albertus Magnus Place, 50923 Cologne, 0049 221-4705236, markus.philipp@unikoeln.de
Beatrice Primus, University of Cologne, Institute German Language and Literature I, Albertus Magnus Place, 50923 Cologne, 0049 221-4703434, primus@uni-koeln.de
Abstract
This DGfS-AG aims to bring together theoretical and experimental accounts of different concepts of agentivity and their influence on event interpretation. Events are usually identified by their spatio-temporal properties. However, the way participants are engaged in an event also plays a major role (e.g. Eckardt 2002). While the impact of the semantic property of an incremental theme (or patient) on event interpretation has been widely discussed (following e.g. Krifka 1998), the influence of the (possibly contextually driven) semantic properties of the agent or causer role on event interpretation is still understudied, particularly from an experimental perspective. We also have a poor understanding of the impact of different agentivity features (or entailments, e.g Dowty 1991) on event interpretation. Additionally, a related open question is to what extent event interpretation is semantically determined and/or pragmatically driven. Presentations on the following and related topics may contribute towards a clarification of the relationship between agentivity and event structure in this AG:
- features of agentivity (volitionality, causation, etc.) in event interpretation
- agentivity and point-of-view aspect (e.g. the progressive)
- agentivity and non-culminating events
- agent-oriented adverbial modification
- agentivity and event interpretation in nominalizations
A primary focus lies on accounts that try to integrate experimental data and theoretical considerations with respect to agentivity in event interpretation. The AG will serve as a discussion forum for researchers from different fields such as theoretical syntax and semantics, psycho- and neurolinguistics at the syntax-semantics interface and experimental pragmatics.
References:
Eckardt, Regine. 2002. Event semantics. In: Fritz Hamm & T. Ede Zimmermann (eds.). Semantics. Linguistische Berichte, Special Issue 10, 91-128.
Dowty, David R. 1991. Thematic proto-roles and argument selection. Language 67, 547-619.
Krifka, Manfred. 1998. The origins of telicity. In: Susan Rothstein (ed.). Events and grammar. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 197–235
Programm
Mittwoch, 24. Februar 2016 | |
14:00 – 14:30 |
Welcome / Introduction |
14:30 - 15:00 | Simon Kasper: The perceptual and sociocultural foundations of agentivity in language |
15:00 - 16:00 | Franziska Kretzschmar, Svenja Lüll, Phillip Alday, Ina Bornkessel- Schlesewsky & Matthias Schlesewsky: Actor prototypicality in the comprehension of intransitive clauses in German |
16:00 - 16:30 | Kaffepause |
16:30 - 17:00 | Valentina Apresjan: Agentivity, control and semantic structure in Russian Causatives |
17:00 - 18:00 | Fabienne Martin: On atypical agents |
18:00 - 18:30 | Tim Graf, Markus Philipp, Beatrice Primus: Agentivity and impersonal passives |
Donnerstag, 25. Februar 2016 | |
9:00 – 9:30 | |
9:30 - 10:00 | Vasiliki Koukoulioti & Stavroula Stavrakaki: The situation of aspect from the viewpoint of language pathology: a comparison between stroke induced aphasia and semantic dementia |
10:00 - 11:00 | Stefan Hinterwimmer: Experiencer Verbs as Indicators of Perspective-Taking |
11:00 - 11:30 | Kaffeepause |
11:30 - 12:00 | Marta Donazzan & Lucia M. Tovena: |
12:00 - 13:00 | Robert D. Van Valin Jr.: Agents, effectors and event structure |
Freitag, 26. Februar 2016 | |
11:30 – 12:00 | Anke Lensch: Agentivity in Nominalizations of Phrasal Verbs. On Passers-by and Winder-uppers |
12:00 - 12:30 | Ekaterina Gabrovska & Wilhelm Geuder: Agentivity and Force Exertion: the German Verb "schlagen" |
12:30 - 13:00 | Hamida Demirdache, Angeliek van Hout, Jinhong Liu, Fabienne Martin and Iris M. Strangmann: Testing the Agent Control Hypothesis with non-culminating events. Experimental evidence from Adult Dutch and Mandarin |
13:00 - 13:30 | Odelia Ahdout: Psych Nominalizations in Hebrew |
13:30 - 14:00 | Final discussion (optional) |