Why `again' introduces an ambiguity

What is it about?

A simple, non-ambiguous sentence like `John opened the door' can be combined with a word like `again'. Suddenly, `John opened the door again' has two meanings: 1) John opened the door before and is repeating this action, or 2) the door was open before and John is resorting it back to this state. The question now arises why `again' introduces these two meanings. Many existing approaches argue that a verb like `open', while looking like a single element, actually consists of multiple parts. They generally assume that `open' consists of a result (the state of being open) and a causative part (allowing John to cause the door to become open). While in English these parts are not identifiable by looking at the shape of the verb, the Dutch equivalent of `to open' is `opendoen', which consists of the result 'open' and the causative 'doen' (meaning `to do'). The two readings of `again' then follow from the ability of `again' to refer to either the causative part (resulting in reading 1) or the resultative part (resulting in reading 2). However, as I show in this paper, there are many predictions that this approach makes, that are not borne out and phenomena that cannot be explained. I therefore present an analysis of the ambiguity introduced by `again' that treats verbs like single elements. The basic meaning of `again' is the one giving us the reading in 2). Reading 1) is a more specified reading, adding information about how the reading in 1) came to be (the door became open again because John opened it again). I identify several factors that can trigger the more specified reading in 1), including the position of `again' and placing emphasis on certain parts of the sentence. I also present evidence from several elements in Dutch, all equivalents of English `again', yet all displaying slightly different behavior.

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Photo by Romain Vignes on Unsplash

Photo by Romain Vignes on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The discussion of whether or not verbs have ``hidden complexities'', such as the division between a resultative and a causative part discussed above, that can be targeted by linguistic operations, relates to the bigger issue of how we think about language. Verbs express events, that other parts of the sentence (such as the subject and the object) can play a part in. In many ways, this means that verbs determine the core of the sentence. Understanding the structure of verbs and which elements can and cannot affect this structure is therefore crucial to our understanding of language.