abstract -

Eventualities under deadjectival nominalizations
Xavier Villalba (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
In languages such as Greek or Spanish, besides standard derivational nominalizations (1),
qualitative adjectives can form neuter nominalizations, where no affix is added, and the
adjective surfaces in neuter form (2) (see also [3] for Serbo-Croatian):
(1)
a.
(2)
a.
i
kalo-sin-i
b.
the.F good-ness-F
'goodness'
to
kal-o
b.
the.NEUT
good-NEUT
'good'
la
bondad
the.F goodness(F)
'goodness'
lo
bueno
the.NEUT
good-NEUT
'good'
Yet, beyond general comparisons ([2], [3], [7]), little is known for certain about the proper
structure of neuter nominalizations in (2), and its exact relation with the underlying adjective
and with the corresponding abstract nominalization. In this communication I will concentrate
of the eventive properties of both kinds of nominalizations based on adjectives (I will set
aside participles), an issue that has yield a great deal of attention when studying deverbal
nominalizations, but little when considering deadjectival ones.
First of all, neuter nominalizations based on adjectives seem to lack eventive
properties altogether, in contrast with their predicative and abstract nominal correlates. Note,
for instance, agentivity:
(3)
a.
b.
c.
Al-Assad es brutal para lograr sus objetivos.
Al-Assad is brutal to obtain his goals
*lo brutal de al-Assad para lograr sus objetivos
the.NEUT brutal of Al-Assad to obtain his goals
la brutalidad de al-Assad para lograr sus objetivos
the.F brutality of Al-Assad to obtain his goals
Here the PP only counts as an agentive controller of the infinitive in the abstract
nominalization.
A similar contrast arises with temporal duration:
(4)
a.
b.
c.
Al-Assad fue brutal durante meses.
Al-Assad is brutal for months
*lo brutal de al-Assad durante meses
the.NEUT brutal of Al-Assad for months
la brutalidad de al-Assad durante meses
the.F brutality of Al-Assad for months
Finally, neuter nominalizations cannot freely inherit the argument structure of the adjective:
(5)
a.
b.
c.
Al-Assad fue capaz de asesinar a su pueblo.
Al-Assad was capable of murder to his people
*lo capaz de al-Assad de asesinar a su pueblo.
the.NEUT capable of Al-Assad of murder to his people
la capacidad de al-Assad capaz de asesinar a su pueblo
the.F capacity of Al-Assad of murder to his people
(Note that when past participles are considered, neuter nominalizations seem to maintain
argument and eventive structures: lo ya sabido por todos lit. 'the.NEUT already known by
everybody'.)
All in all, the evidence so far considered suggests that the eventuality properties of
adjectives are filtered out by neuter nominalizations, but not by their abstract correlates. Why
should this be so?
I will suggest that the source of the difference is rooted in the kind of nominalization
process, and the kind of semantic object formed. First, there is ample evidence that whereas
abstract nominalizations are lexically formed (5a), neuter nominalizations are syntactically
formed (5b), involving a subject-predicate structure (see [8] for Spanish, and [4,5] for parallel
nominalization structures in Japanese and Dutch):
(5)
a.
b.
[D la [NumP [de Juan] [NumP [ClassP -a [nP -ez [aP bell-]]]]]]
[D lo [AP Juan [A' bello ]]]
Besides explaining the nominal vs. adjectival behavior of the each type regarding
modification, the analysis in (5) paves the way for a new approach to the eventuality contrast
discussed so far. The neuter article projects the property encoded by the adjective into its
nominal correlate (i.e. lo is the morphological realization of Chierchia's ∩ operator; see [5]
for the original insight based on color nominalization structures in Dutch). As a result, the
neuter nominalization is no longer compatible with the original eventive nor argumental
features of the adjective (cf. (3b),(4b),(5b)).
In abstract nominalizations, instead the stative eventuality is preserved by the lexical
nominalizer, and incorporated into the resulting bare nominal (see [1] for stative nominals in
general) and more complex cases, along the lines suggested by [6] (cf. (3c),(4c),(5c)):
(6)
a.
b.
(7)
a.
b.
(8)
a.
b.
<ek,t> (property of kinds of objects): [nP belleza ]
Había belleza en su rostro.
'There was beauty in his/her face.'
<eo,t> (property of objects): [NumP Num [NP bellezas ] ]
Las dos bellezas eran distintas.
'Each kind of beauty was different.'
<eo> (object): [DP D [NumP Num [NP bellezas ] ] ]
Las dos bellezas eran altas/estaban enfermas.
'Both beauties were tall/were sick.'
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