An experimental study of the two readings of the complement of explain verbs in Russian: Remarks on Bondarenko
Mikhail Knyazev
November 2024
 

As commonly discussed in recent literature, the complement of explain (and similar verbs) is interpreted either as a fact/proposition to be explained (explanandum) or as a proposition provided as an explanation for some other fact/proposition (explanans). Unlike the explanans, the explanandum is usually associated with nominal constructions, e.g. the fact that, nominalized clauses, but is also attested with simple declarative clauses. Bondarenko [2021, 2022] examines this ambiguity on the basis or Russian, providing arguments, mainly from strong islandhood, that apparent explanandum CP complements are covertly nominalized with a null D0. This is used to support the claim about the fundamental dichotomy of clausal complements which can be semantically either arguments (DP) or modifiers (CP). The paper reports a mini corpus study of the ambiguity with ob’’jasnit’ ‘explain’ and an acceptability rating study (with ob’’jasnit’ ‘explain’ and three other verbs) which tested whether wh-argument extraction from explanandum čto-clauses is unacceptable (as opposed to explanans clauses), controlling for a possible dispreference for such clauses without extraction and also comparing them with overtly nominalized (to, čto) clauses, taken to be strong islands. The results provide general support for Bondarenko’s analysis despite some variation between verbs. Importantly, the experiment used instrumental/manner phrases to control the explanandum reading, which the corpus study has shown to be very strongly related. The corpus study also raises the possibility of the existence of a third reading of the complement of ob’’jasnit’ ‘explain’, characterized as “subjective”/nonfactive explanandum.
Format: [ pdf ]
Reference: lingbuzz/008733
(please use that when you cite this article)
Published in: Tipologija morfosintaksičeskix parametrov [Typology of Morphosyntactic Parameters]
keywords: clausal complements, explain verbs, dp-shells, wh-extraction, experimental syntax, corpus study, russian, syntax
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