Abstract

The middle differs from other argument changing operations in that it leads to different readings, in particular anticausative, reflexive, factitive reflexive, and facilitative (modal). Which reading arises with an individual verb depends on the semantic class of the base. Middle verb forms that correspond to an active verb form generally display a reduced argument structure. Some readings also involve changes in the event structure. In this paper I argue that the middle does not change the semantic representation of the verb. Tue different readings result from the interaction of the meaning of the base verb and the way in which argument structure determines event structure. Crucial to the analysis that I propose is the assumption that the highest argument in the argument structure always represents the first participant ofthe event. In contrast to active verb forms, middle verb forms do not project the agent argument into the argument structure. Thus, another argument ends up in the position that represents the first participant of the event. According to this analysis, the different middle readings are due to different interpretation strategies that can apply if the default initiator of an action verb is not projected into the argument position, which represents the actual initiator (or, more generally, the first participant) of the event.