Nominal argument hierarchies under the thematic proto-role approach

Abstract

The aim of this research is to propose a principle of argument projection which accounts for argument structure in every type of Noun Phrase with a thematic network, independently of this being inherited (deverbal and deadjectival nouns) or inherent (relational and ‘picture’ nouns). The thematic proto-role approach, assumed both for verbs and for nouns, and the possessivization test, which determines which of the arguments is the most prominent, suggest the existence of two different hierarchies for the ordering of noun complements: {Possessor > Proto-Agent > Proto-Patient} for verb-related Noun Phrases and {Proto-Whole > Proto-Part} for those non verb-related.