The present contribution aims at investigating one of the multifarious aspects of lexical complexity, namely the omission of the direct object in transitive verbs, also known as the null instantiation of objects (Fillmore 1986). The latter phenomenon, which is here argued to sometimes lead to changes in the semantic meaning of verbs, is investigated through a contrastive study of the English verb see and Italian vedere, in an attempt to highlight the semantic differences lexicalised by the two verbs.
The Complexity of Null Objects. A Contrastive Study of the English Verb See and Italian Vedere
LORENZETTI, Maria Ivana
2007-01-01
Abstract
The present contribution aims at investigating one of the multifarious aspects of lexical complexity, namely the omission of the direct object in transitive verbs, also known as the null instantiation of objects (Fillmore 1986). The latter phenomenon, which is here argued to sometimes lead to changes in the semantic meaning of verbs, is investigated through a contrastive study of the English verb see and Italian vedere, in an attempt to highlight the semantic differences lexicalised by the two verbs.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
