Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-31-2025
Volume
7
Issue
3
Abstract
In this paper I examine the syntax and semantics of English nonfactive verbs, bare nominals, and small clauses through the colloquial constructions it’s giving and screams+NP. I aim to explain the formality of nonfactives with DP small clauses in American English, as well as the informality of bare nominals in adjectival positions. First I propose a semantics for two nonfactive heads: vATT and vEVI. I demonstrate that all variation in the selection of English small clause type can be reduced to selection by category, and that these nonfactive heads have lost the ability to c-select for DP small clauses. In order for this to work, each small clause type must be syntactically distinct, and for this I argue that EqP shells are independently motivated for DP predication, while AP and PP predicates have no shell, doing away with PredP. To explain bare nominals in adjectival positions, I propose a colloquial null adjectivizer similar to -ish. I argue that what I’ll call vibes-give and vibes-scream are raising and control constructions respectively, and that vibes-give also has a ‘weak’ structure for some speakers, which does not take small clauses at all, and is formed with a silent VIBE(S).
Recommended Citation
Garsten, David. 2025. It’s Giving Nonfactive Small Clause Selection. Yale Working Papers in Grammatical Diversity 7 (3), 1–25.