Relative obliqueness and the contribution of nonheads in the subcategorization of Old English compound verbs

Abstract

Although the argument structure of preposition–verb (P–V) compounds in Old English (OE) is jointly determined by the head V and the nonhead P, the contribution of the nonhead is limited, often resulting in a seemingly peculiar case-government pattern for a given P–V compound. This paper shows that a new understanding of the case-assigning properties of the head in OE P–V compounds, which is built on the relative obliqueness among OE NP arguments, with accusative NPs less oblique than dative or genitive NPs and verbal arguments less oblique than prepositional arguments, enables us not only to explain the contribution of the nonhead without weakening the traditional priority of the head but also to improve upon the argument attraction process as an account of subcategorization inheritance, demonstrating how the mechanism of argument attraction can be constrained in a principled way.