Taming the Hungarian (in)transitivity zoo. Undiagnosed species and a complete derivation of the morphosyntactic patterns.

Abstract

The main empirical contribution of this thesis is the unearthing of two overlooked constructions in Hungarian: the 2DPC and the half-passive. These constructions spice up the verbal domain with their hybrid characteristics, and much of the work was spent to pinpoint the data and establish the relevant generalizations. At the end of the day, an (in)transitivity scale emerged, and constructions with varying degrees of (in)transitivity were brought under a unified analysis on the premises of progressively growing syntactic structures. Putting the relevant slice of the functional sequence under the microscope, I demonstrated how a complex morphosyntactic pattern can be derived with remarkable accuracy. With this, I also displayed the extent to which morphology can be pursued in the syntax, in which a structural approach to morpheme structure was instrumental. Phrasal spell-out along with a gap-based approach gave me the tools to capture morphological diversity, speaker variation and a puzzling morphology vs. syntax/mismatch. But most of all, this thesis is pioneer work in providing a comprehensive and data-oriented account of intricate morphosyntactic patterns with unusual detail and precision.