Hello:
My Italian lexicon currently allows sentences in passato prossimo ( a kind of present perfect) but in Italian there are two auxiliars (essere & avere), so there are verbs that are used with essere ( to be) and others that are used with avere (have):
"In Italian, compound tenses are formed with an auxiliary verb (either essere "to be" or avere "to have"). Most verbs use avere as their auxiliary verb. The exceptions are reflexive verbs, verbs in the passive voice, and unaccusative verbs (typically non-agentive verbs of motion and change of state, i.e. involuntary actions like cadere (to fall) or morire (to die)).
The distinction between the two auxiliary verbs is important for the correct formation of the compound tenses and is also essential to the agreement of the past participle. Some verbs use both, though, like vivere (to live): in recent past tense you can say io ho vissuto or io sono vissuto (I've lived)."
In order to implement this agreement in the lexicon, I add the variable "aux" to the verb argument category for the auxiliars families. I also create two families of auxiliars, one for essere and the other for avere, because the past participle of the verbs that use essere has subject agreement:
"For the intransitive essere verbs, the past participle always agrees with the subject: lui è partito; lei è partita. This is also true for reflexive verbs, the impersonal si construction, and the passive voice, which also use essere.
The past participle when conjugated with avere never changes to agree with the subject. It agrees with the object though, in sentences where a pronoun replacing the object is proceeding (e.g. Hai mangiato la mela? - Sì, l'ho mangiata (Have you eaten the apple? - Yes, I have eaten it))"
Am I going the right way ?
Thanks for your help,
Lina
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I'm not sure what exactly you mean by 'a variable "aux"'. If you mean a feature "aux", then sure, that sounds right. You could then have a simple hierarchy for the values of this feature:
any_aux
- essere_aux
- havere_aux
Then, the verbs which can go with either of these have features aux=any_aux (e.g., result category is s[aux=any_aux], those with essere are aux=essere_aux, and so on. essere's args are then categories with result s[aux=essere_aux] and havere's are s[aux=havere_aux].
You might find the tutorials at the following site useful:
Hello:
My Italian lexicon currently allows sentences in passato prossimo ( a kind of present perfect) but in Italian there are two auxiliars (essere & avere), so there are verbs that are used with essere ( to be) and others that are used with avere (have):
"In Italian, compound tenses are formed with an auxiliary verb (either essere "to be" or avere "to have"). Most verbs use avere as their auxiliary verb. The exceptions are reflexive verbs, verbs in the passive voice, and unaccusative verbs (typically non-agentive verbs of motion and change of state, i.e. involuntary actions like cadere (to fall) or morire (to die)).
The distinction between the two auxiliary verbs is important for the correct formation of the compound tenses and is also essential to the agreement of the past participle. Some verbs use both, though, like vivere (to live): in recent past tense you can say io ho vissuto or io sono vissuto (I've lived)."
In order to implement this agreement in the lexicon, I add the variable "aux" to the verb argument category for the auxiliars families. I also create two families of auxiliars, one for essere and the other for avere, because the past participle of the verbs that use essere has subject agreement:
"For the intransitive essere verbs, the past participle always agrees with the subject: lui è partito; lei è partita. This is also true for reflexive verbs, the impersonal si construction, and the passive voice, which also use essere.
The past participle when conjugated with avere never changes to agree with the subject. It agrees with the object though, in sentences where a pronoun replacing the object is proceeding (e.g. Hai mangiato la mela? - Sì, l'ho mangiata (Have you eaten the apple? - Yes, I have eaten it))"
Am I going the right way ?
Thanks for your help,
Lina
I'm not sure what exactly you mean by 'a variable "aux"'. If you mean a feature "aux", then sure, that sounds right. You could then have a simple hierarchy for the values of this feature:
any_aux
- essere_aux
- havere_aux
Then, the verbs which can go with either of these have features aux=any_aux (e.g., result category is s[aux=any_aux], those with essere are aux=essere_aux, and so on. essere's args are then categories with result s[aux=essere_aux] and havere's are s[aux=havere_aux].
You might find the tutorials at the following site useful:
http://comp.ling.utexas.edu/wiki/doku.php/openccg
Jason
Yes, I meant a feature ... I will follow your suggestions, thanks for your help.
Lina.