Where, how and why does argument structure vary? A usage-based investigation into the Dutch transitive-prepositional alternation

ith a large number of quite diverse Dutch verbs, the language user has a choice to express the object argument as a direct object (1) or a prepositional object (2). (1) Dirk zoekt zijn sleutels. (2) Dirk zoekt naar zijn sleutels. 'Dirk is searching his keys.' (1) De koning regeert zijn volk. (2) De koning regeert over zijn volk 'The king rules his people.' This project will investigate what makes the language user opt for (1) or the alternative in (2). In doing so, we will consider a wide range of possible factors: e.g. a subtle difference in meaning, a number of linguistic parameters or even... Mehr ...