This is a study of the meaning and syntax of non-(lexical)verbal causation. Macroscopically, it examines the preposition 'from' as attested in contexts like \"X is/comes from Y\". Syntactic diagnostics are applied to formally distinguish the causative from the spatial interpretations of `from'-PPs in Greek, English, Dutch, and German. The syntactic landscape of causative 'from' will turn out to be very minimal with 'from' directly selecting the Cause-DP, in contradistinction to its spatial counterpart, where 'from' always selects for another PP layer. More microscopically then I focus on the causative interpretations only, which are particularly revealing because (i) they give an in-depth view of CAUSE, stripped of all verbal layers--traditionally considered the locus of CAUSE--suggesting that the source of causation in non-(lexical)verbal environments has to be the preposition per se and (ii) they single-handedly provide a rudimentary structure for causation, where 'from' introduces the Cause in its complement and is predicated of the Causee. Finally, with a basic predicational structure in place, I offer a detailed cross-linguistic account for the syntactic mechanism that forces the use of particle verbs in causative 'from'-less environments.
","abstract_html":"<p>This is a study of the meaning and syntax of non-(lexical)verbal causation. Macroscopically, it examines the preposition 'from' as attested in contexts like "X is/comes from Y". Syntactic diagnostics are applied to formally distinguish the causative from the spatial interpretations of `from'-PPs in Greek, English, Dutch, and German. The syntactic landscape of causative 'from' will turn out to be very minimal with 'from' directly selecting the Cause-DP, in contradistinction to its spatial counterpart, where 'from' always selects for another PP layer. More microscopically then I focus on the causative interpretations only, which are particularly revealing because (i) they give an in-depth view of CAUSE, stripped of all verbal layers--traditionally considered the locus of CAUSE--suggesting that the source of causation in non-(lexical)verbal environments has to be the preposition <em>per se</em> and (ii) they single-handedly provide a rudimentary structure for causation, where 'from' introduces the <em>Cause</em> in its complement and is predicated of the <em>Causee</em>. Finally, with a basic predicational structure in place, I offer a detailed cross-linguistic account for the syntactic mechanism that forces the use of particle verbs in causative 'from'-less environments.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ioannidou, Alexandra"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Linguistics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Marcel den Dikken"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Christina Tortora","William McClure","Thomas Leu"],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:54Z","subjects":["Linguistics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4255","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Marcel den Dikken"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Christina Tortora","William McClure","Thomas Leu"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ioannidou, Alexandra"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-04-13T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Linguistics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Linguistics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4255"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This is a study of the meaning and syntax of non-(lexical)verbal causation. Macroscopically, it examines the preposition 'from' as attested in contexts like \"X is/comes from Y\". Syntactic diagnostics are applied to formally distinguish the causative from the spatial interpretations of `from'-PPs in Greek, English, Dutch, and German. The syntactic landscape of causative 'from' will turn out to be very minimal with 'from' directly selecting the Cause-DP, in contradistinction to its spatial counterpart, where 'from' always selects for another PP layer. More microscopically then I focus on the causative interpretations only, which are particularly revealing because (i) they give an in-depth view of CAUSE, stripped of all verbal layers--traditionally considered the locus of CAUSE--suggesting that the source of causation in non-(lexical)verbal environments has to be the preposition per se and (ii) they single-handedly provide a rudimentary structure for causation, where 'from' introduces the Cause in its complement and is predicated of the Causee. Finally, with a basic predicational structure in place, I offer a detailed cross-linguistic account for the syntactic mechanism that forces the use of particle verbs in causative 'from'-less environments.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Syntax of Non-Verbal Causation: The Causative Apomorphy of 'From' in Greek and Germanic Languages"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Marcel den Dikken"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Christina Tortora","William McClure","Thomas Leu"],"dc:creator":["Ioannidou, Alexandra"],"dc:date.available":["2021-04-13T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This is a study of the meaning and syntax of non-(lexical)verbal causation. Macroscopically, it examines the preposition 'from' as attested in contexts like \"X is/comes from Y\". Syntactic diagnostics are applied to formally distinguish the causative from the spatial interpretations of `from'-PPs in Greek, English, Dutch, and German. The syntactic landscape of causative 'from' will turn out to be very minimal with 'from' directly selecting the Cause-DP, in contradistinction to its spatial counterpart, where 'from' always selects for another PP layer. More microscopically then I focus on the causative interpretations only, which are particularly revealing because (i) they give an in-depth view of CAUSE, stripped of all verbal layers--traditionally considered the locus of CAUSE--suggesting that the source of causation in non-(lexical)verbal environments has to be the preposition per se and (ii) they single-handedly provide a rudimentary structure for causation, where 'from' introduces the Cause in its complement and is predicated of the Causee. Finally, with a basic predicational structure in place, I offer a detailed cross-linguistic account for the syntactic mechanism that forces the use of particle verbs in causative 'from'-less environments.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4255"],"dc:subject":["Linguistics"],"dc:title":["The Syntax of Non-Verbal Causation: The Causative Apomorphy of 'From' in Greek and Germanic Languages"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Linguistics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:54Z"}