Predicate-argument structure
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Definition
Predicate-argument structure is another term for argument structure.
Morphology
Level of representation, which is part of the lexical representation of verbs (or adjectives), where the information about the theta-grid is decoded, and as such is part of the syntactic structure of verbs.
Example
One way to represent the predicate-argument structure (PAS) of the causative verb break is (i).
(i) break: <Agent, Theme>
In (i) break is specified as having an external argument ( Agent) and an internal argument ( Theme).
Links
Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics
References
- Booij, G.E. and T. v. Haaften. 1988. On the external syntax of derived words: evidence from Dutch. Yearbook of Morphology 1, pp. 29-44
- Spencer, A. 1991. Morphological Theory. Blackwell: Oxford.