Estar = Ser + P

XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
Estar = Ser + P
Ángel J. GALLEGO
Juan URIAGEREKA
CLT – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
University of Maryland
<[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
GOALS: (i) defend the hypothesis that estar = ser + (a terminal-coincidence) P
(ii) argue that estar-licensing predicates are more complex than ser-licensing ones
1. Background
(1)
A customary assumption about predicates is that they come in stage level (SL)
and individual level (IL) guises (see Carlson 1977 and Kratzer 1995).
a. Obama {es/*está}
americano.
Obama be- IL/ SL-3.SG American
‘Obama is American’
b. Obama {*es/está}
preocupado.
Obama be-IL/SL.3.SG worried
‘Obama is worried’
(2)
(Spanish)
(Spanish)
Notice, though, that when the relevant morphology is absent, adjectives can
select both ser and estar, a picture that changes if present (e.g. –nte) or past
participial morphemes (–do; including the suppletive forms in (d)) show up:
a. {Es/Está} alto, gordo, moreno, rojo, suave, bonito, estúpido, alegre, manso ... (Spanish)
be-IL/SL.3.SG tall fat
dark
red soft pretty stupid happy tame
‘(S)he/It is tall, fat, dark, red, soft, pretty, stupid, happy, tame’
b. {Es/*Está} amenazante, ilusionante, alucinante, valiente, durmiente …
be-IL/ SL.3.SG threatening encouraging amazing valiant asleep
‘(S)he/It is threatening, encouraging, amazing, valiant, asleep,…’
(Spanish)
c. {*Es/Está} amenazado, ilusionado, alucinado, molido, cansado, renacido … (Spanish)
be-IL/SL.3.SG threatened encouraged amazed ground, tired
reborn
‘(S)he/It is threatened, encouraged, amazed, ground, reborn,…’
d. {*Es/Está} hecho (#hacido), puesto (#ponido), cubierto (#cubrido) ...
be-IL/SL.3.SG done
put
covered
‘He/It is done, put, covered, described . . .
. . . descrito (#describido), roto (#rompido), dicho (#decido) …
described
broken
said
. . . described, broken, said’
(Spanish)
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XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
Lexicalization of morphemes:
e. Es
{algo
/alguien} aburrido, leído, cansado, complicado, ...
be-IL-3.SG something/someone bored read tired
complicated
‘It/(S)he is {something/someone} boring, read, exhausting, difficult’
(3)
(Spanish)
The contrasts in (2) were already observed by Hanssen (1913), who capitalized
on it to argue for the Aspect Generalization below (see Bosque 1990, Leonetti
1994, and Marín 2004 for additional discussion):
Aspect Generalization (first version)
a. Imperfective (=IL) predicates select ser
b. Perfective (=SL) predicates select estar
(4)
Together with the participial facts just discussed and their suppletive forms, as
Luján (1980) observed, we find typical ser selection with adjectives ending in –
oso, –és, –az, –al, –to, –ario, and –ble:
a. {Es/*está} ruidoso, cortés, capaz, cabal, discreto, temerario, imposible ... (Spanish)
be-IL/ SL-3.SG noisy corteous capable trustworthy discrete daring impossible
‘This/(S)he is noisy, corteous, capable, trustworthy, discrete, daring, impossible’
(5)
Interestingly, whereas predicates that usually select ser can be used with estar (if the
appropriate context is provided), predicates that select estar cannot be forced into the
ser-mode, regardless of the context (unless a different, passive, reading is at stake).
a. Ronaldinho es
genial, pero el año pasado no estuvo genial.
(Spanish)
Ronaldinho be-IL.3.SG brilliant but the year passed not be-SL.PST.3.SG brilliant
‘Ronaldinho is brilliant, but he was not brilliant last year’
b. *Ronaldinho está
agotado, pero normalmente no lo
es.
(Spanish)
Ronaldinho be-SL-3.SG exhausted but normally
not CL-it be-IL-3.SG
c. Ronaldinho (siempre) es
*emocionado, *ilusionado, (*)contratado … (Spanish)
Ronaldinho always be-IL.3.SG thrilled
excited
hired
‘Ronaldinho is (always) thrilled, excited, hired,…’
This is unexpected if the ser/estar trigger (perfectivity, boundedness, or whatever
relevant property) is ‘lexical’ (= inherent; as per Kratzer 1995).
2. Estar = Ser + P
(6)
The data seen so far lead to the conclusion that ser selection is more basic than
estar selecttion, a fact we take in order to argue, in the spirit of Benveniste’s
(1960) analysis of have (see Freeze 1992 and Kayne 1993), that estar is more
complex than ser.
More precisely, we would like to follow Uriagereka (2001) and argue that, just
like have is be plus a preposition, estar is ser plus a preposition, an element that
will provide the relevant context for estar-selection to be licensed.
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XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
a. [serP
ser [SC DP AP ]]
b. [estarP P+ser [SC DP tP ]]
[from Uriagereka 2001]
spelled-out as estar
(7)
A similar proposal has been recently put forward by Karen Zagona (see Zagona
2009), who takes ser and estar to be “a byproduct of a difference in their formal
features. Briefly stated, I argue that estar has an uninterpretable prepositional
feature […] checked by a preposition in the complement of estar.”
a. estar: [ v [uP] . . . ]
[from Zagona 2009: 3]
(8)
Uriagereka’s (2001) analysis can readily explain the data discussed so far, once
we assume that the P that incorporates into ser is present in Spanish past
participles (including suppletive forms; see examples (a) and (b)), and DPs with
a full-fledged P providing aspectual properties (see (c)).
(Spanish)
a. Estoy
avergonzado.
be-SL.1.SG ashamed
‘I am ashamed’
b. Está
suelto (#soltado).
be-SL.3.SG loose released
‘I am loose’
c. Estoy *(de) profesor.
be-SL.3.SG of teacher
‘I work as a teacher’
(9)
(Spanish)
Furthermore, (6) can also be taken as the key to account for the fact that estar is
higher than ser in the hierarchy of auxiliaries –just like haber (Eng. have) is
higher than ser (Eng. be):
a. Obama ha
sido
elegido.
Obama have-3.SG being-IL elected
‘Obama has been elected’
b. *Obama es habido elegido.
Obama be-IL.3.sg having
‘Obama is having elected’
c. Obama está
siendo ovacionado.
Obama be-SL.3.SG being-IL ovationed
‘Obama is being given an ovation’
d. *Obama es
estando ovacionado.
Obama be-IL.3.SG being-SL ovationed
‘Obama is being given an ovation’
(10)
(Spanish)
HABER >> SER
(Spanish)
SER >> HABER
(Spanish)
ESTAR >> SER
(Spanish)
SER >> ESTAR
(Spanish)
The general idea is consistent with a simple fact about languages that present the
ser/estar distinction, vis-à-vis those which do not. Consider the question-answer
pairs in (a) and (b):
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XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
a. A: Is John *(there)?
B: No, he’s not *(there).
b. A: Está
Juan (ahí)?
be-SL.3.SG Juan there
‘Is Juan there?’
B: No, (él) no está
(aquí).
no he not be-SL-3.SG here
‘No, he is not here)
(11)
Languages like Catalan are relevant in this respect, since it must overtly express
the locative clitic Spanish optionally spells-out: hi.
A: Que *(hi)
és,
en Joan?
Q
CL.there be-IL.3.SG the Joan
‘Is Joan there?’
B: Sí, (sí que) *(hi)
és.
yes yes that CL.there be-IL.3.SG
‘Yes, he is here’
(12)
(Catalan)
Catalan data are a bit more complicated, though, since both estar and ser can
appear in locative sentences. Typically, the contrast below is phrased in terms of
‘length:’ (12a) is used as if the sentence contained a null indexical with the
rough meaning of ‘now;’ on the other hand, (12b) is used to indicate that Joan is
home, but has stayed there for some time (see Ramos 2002, Rigau 1997, and
references therein for discussion).
a. En Joan és
a casa.
the Joan be-IL-3.SG at home
‘Joan is at home (now)’
b. En Joan està
a casa.
the Joan be-SL-3.SG at home
‘Joan is at home’
(13)
(Spanish)
(Catalan)
(Catalan)
Interestingly, estar and the locative clitic hi cannot coappear –unless the
pronominal variant, estar-se (Eng. be-SE), with the meaning of ‘remain,’ is used.
a. En Joan hi
és.
the Joan CL.there be-IL-3.SG
‘Joan is there (=at home)’
b. *En Joan hi
està.
the Joan CL.there be-SL-3.SG
‘Joan is there (=at home)’
c. En Joan s’hi
està.
the Joan SE-CL-there be-SL-3.SG
‘Joan remains there’
(Catalan)
(Catalan)
(Catalan)
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XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
(14)
Catalan manifests the same basic ser/estar asymmetries (as the data below
indicate). However, the facts involving the clitic hi raise the following question:
what is the distinction between estar and ser-hi? Why do they both exist, if the
former is (allegedly) the incorporated version of the latter?
a. {És/*Està} agradable, intel·ligent, al·lucinant …
be-IL/SL-3.SG nice
intelligent amazing
‘(S)he is nice, intelligent, amazing’
b. {*És/Està} cansat, fet, arreglat, ofès, modificat …
be-IL/SL-3.SG tired done fixed ofended modified
‘(S)he is tired, done, fixed, ofended, modified’
(Catalan)
(Catalan)
The form with the clitic has a transparent semantics (= be there), but the SL
version appears to involve a meaning related to Latin STARE, which means ‘stand
(still)’ or ‘remain.’ If this is correct, then estar and ser-hi do not actually compete,
even though the former covertly involves the syntax of the latter (i.e. be + P). See
Batllori (1992) and Batllori & Roca (2004) for discussion.
(15)
Therefore, we need to qualify the analysis above in order to capture the fact that estar
only appears with adjectives that involve the relevant (aspectual) morphology. We do
that assuming that all adjectives can actually be decomposed as an adposition plus an
incorporated noun (see Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2003 and Mateu 2002).
a. [serP
ser [SC DP [P+N] ]]
b. [estarP PT+ser [SC DP [tP [P+N]] ]]
In a nutshell, we take it that the P that incorporates into ser is of the ‘terminalcoincidence’ sort (using Hale & Keyser’s 2002 terminology), which we signal by
means of the subscript ‘T.’ For us, then, all adjectives involve a P, but estar-licensing
ones must crucially involve an extra aspectual layer, indicating telicity, perfectivity, or
the relevant analogous notion. If correct, what incorporates into ser is not any kind of
contextual (=aspectual) element, but one deplyoing SL-like properties.
This may require further qualification of the data in (10)-(11) in that estar
involved a contextual element with the semantics of NOW or HERE (see Kayne
2005), analogous to “context variables,” whose range is left to the speaker to
confine, as in Higginbotham (1988) and Raposo & Uriagereka (1995).
(16)
Stativity (IL) = central-coincidence
Perfectivity (SL) = terminal-coincidence
The opposition that emerges […] appears to be rather pervasive in the lexical and functional
systems of the grammars of natural languages. It is probably to be identified with the wellknown telicity opposition, and with the central and terminal coincidence opposition to which
we have referred on occasion […] Central coincidence consistently corresponds to stativity.
Terminal coincidence, on the other hand, corresponds to change and therefore to the various
active, dynamic, and otherwise nonstative event types […] If stativity is identified with central
coincidence, then it is probable that this identification is the only way in which stativity is
attributable to a head, as opposed to a construction […] [from Hale & Keyser 2002: 218-221]
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XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
(17)
The syntax of adjectives must therefore be as follows:
a. Morphologically simple AA
PP
/
P
\
√R
(e.g. alto, gordo, moreno, rojo, suave, bonito, estúpido, alegre, manso)
- P is of the central-coincidence sort (spelled-out as ∅, or –nte, –ble, –ario, –al, etc.)
- license ser selection (and estar, by adding a second p in the relevant context)
b. Morphologically complex AA
pP
/
p
\
PP
/
P
\
√R
(e.g. amenazado, ilusionado, alucinado, molido, cansado, renacido)
- P is of the central-coincidence sort (spelled-out as ∅)
- p is of the terminal-coincidence sort (spelled-out as –do, and suppletive forms)
- license estar selection
(18)
However, if p is spelled-out (say, as –do), what is incorporating into ser?
Technically, there are two options: either p incorporates into ser, but the
downstairs copy is also pronounced, as part of the adjective’s morphology (option
(a)), or else a double does (option (b)). Another option, which we dismiss here, is
that the process involves not incorporation, but Chomsky’s Agree.
a.
serP
/
ser
spelled-out as estar
\
pP
/
p
–do
b.
\
PP
/
\
P √ILUSIÓN
IN
spelled-out as estar
serP
/
ser
\
pP
/
\
NOW/HERE p’
/
\
p
PP
–do /
\
P √ILUSIÓN
IN
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XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
(19)
The fact that perfective adjectives (and thus estar) involve more structure may
provide an answer to the contrast below. As this pair shows, only estar allows
postverbal subjects, a fact we relate to the availability of an extra landing site (a
focus reading for (b) must be ignored):
a. Estará
el hombre tonto.
be-SL.FUT.3.SG the man
silly
‘The man must be feeling silly’
b. *?Será
el hombre tonto.
be-IL.FUT.3.SG the man
silly
‘The man must be silly’
(Spanish)
(Spanish)
3. Some problematic cases
(20)
The analysis just sketched must face some complicated scenarios:
a. ser/estar as auxiliaries
b. locative sentences
c. non-copulative uses of ser
d. linguistic variation (Catalan-Spanish)
e. some PPs asymmetries
(21)
Consider the auxiliary uses of ser and estar:
a. Es
{*conquistar/*conquistando/conquistado}
be-IL-3.SG conquer-INF/GER/P.PART
‘He is conquer/conquering/conquered’
(Spanish)
b. Está
{*conquistar/conquistando/conquistado}
be-SL-3.SG conquer-INF/GER/P.PART
‘He is conquer/conquering/conquered’
(Spanish)
(22)
One other problematic datum is (a) below, which shows that locative PPs that
licenses estar, even though they appear to signal essential (IL-like) qualities.
a. Vitoria {está/*es} en el País
Vasco.
Vitoria be-SL/IL-3.SG in the Country Basque
‘Vitoria is in the Basque Country’
(Spanish)
In order to square this data we propose that locative properties (holding for cities
or people) are in general transitory, despite our world (=encyclopedic)
knowledge, and therefore select estar.
(23)
There are also some cases where ser is used, but the meaning seems to be
similar to “happen,” “take place,” and others:
a. El partido es
a las cinco.
the game be-IL-3.SG to the five
‘The game is at five’ (The game starts at five)
(Spanish)
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XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
b. Eso ya
fue.
that already be-IL-3.SG
‘That already happened’
c. Quién es
(ahora)?
who be-IL-3.SG now
‘Who is next?’
b. Cuánto
es
(esto)?
how-much be-IL-3.SG this
‘How much (expensive) is this?’
(24)
(Spanish)
(Spanish)
Also, we want to note that the different behaviour shown by Catalan and
Spanish (see Brucart 2005 for discussion of the basic facts, and a proposal).
a. {És/*Està}
mort.
be-{IL/SL}-3.SG dead
‘(S)he is dead’
b. {*Es/Está}
muerto.
be-{IL/SL}-3.SG dead
‘(S)he is dead’
(25)
(Spanish)
(Catalan)
(Spanish)
Finally, notice that although some PPs trigger estar selection, others do ser
selection.
a. María {*es/está}
de profesora.
María be-{IL/SL}-3.SG of teacher
‘María is here as a teacher’
b. María {es/*está} de Zamora.
María be-{IL/SL}-3SG of Zamora
(Spanish)
(Spanish)
4. Conclusions
4.1. In the spirit of Benveniste’s analysis of have (= be+P) we have defended
Uriagereka’s (2001) analysis of estar, according to which this copula is a more complex
version of ser: ser + P.
4.2. The p element that is incorporated into ser to yield estar has a terminal-coincidence
flavor (in Hale & Keyser’s 1998; 2002 sense).
4.3. The analysis has consequences for the analysis of adjectives (and, in general, of
predicates): (i) adjectives can be decomposed as an adposition and a noun (see
Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2003, and Mateu 2002), and (ii) Kratzer’s (2995) SL - IL cut
cannot be a lexical (=inherent/oblivious) property, but in fact a semantic consequence of
a specific syntax, in line with so-called exoskeletal (neo-decompositional) approaches to
lexical items (see Borer 2005, Hale & Keyser 1998; 2002, Ramchand 2008).
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XIX Colloquium on Generative Grammar
April 1-3 2009, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Vitoria-Gasteiz (the Basque Country)
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