pds_verb_3 = (COMPS < NP 1 , VPinf [TRANS -, SUBJ 1 ] >)
and in the current version of the italian grammar it could inherit from the ditrans-dirobj-ctrl- synsem type.
When the VPinf is
TRANSITIVE, the situation is a little more complex and the “deactivation”
(see note 4) phenomenon plays a significant role.
In sentence 1 the role assignment is ambiguous:
S vede mangiare G
G could be the inverted
subject OR the direct
object of the PDS verb “mangiare” (eat). If G
is (intepreted as) the subject, no direct object can be expressed:
* S vede mangiare G la bistecca (* S sees eating G a beefsteak)
* S vede mangiare la bistecca G (* S sees eating a beefsteak G)
An agent (a PP introduced by “da” [by] preposition) is allowed, playing the role of a deep
subject (ARG1), as in the sentence 9:
S vede mangiare G da Z
In this case it seems reasonable to assume that the verb “mangiare” is “deactivated” and
exhibits a passive verb valence:
mangiare (act) = (SUBJ 1 , COMPS < NP 2 >)
→
mangiare (deact) = (SUBJ 2, COMPS < PP_da 1 >)
The surface subject of the deactivated verb is allowed, e.g. in the sentence 9:
S lo vede mangiare da Z
and also a doubled cliticization is allowed, as in the sentence 7:
S glielo vede mangiare
In the latter case, the sentence could be paraphrased as
S lo vede essere_mangiato gli (S see him [lo] to-be-eaten by-him [gli])
Has to be emphasized that
only with PDS verbs (and deactivated infinitive complement) the
agent could be cliticized, e.g.:
S vede mangiare una bistecca da G (i) (S sees eat a beefsteak by G)
S gli (i) vede mangiare una bistecca (S sees by-him [gli] eat a beefsteak)
D3.3 Very basic grammar for I Revision 0.1
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DeepThought IST-2000-30161 Page 35 (of 55)
As a first conclusion, one could say that a
