| This dissertation investigates the phenomenon of Unaccusativity in Russian, together with certain related phenomena, within the framework of Generative Syntax, including the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1993 et seq.). A considerable number of contrasts, observed cross-linguistically, demonstrate that Intransitive verbs are split into two groups: Unergative and Unaccusative. While both types represent monadic verbs, the difference is that Unergatives have an agentive external argument that originates in the subject position, whereas Unaccusatives have a non-agentive internal argument that is introduced into the derivation in the sister-to-V position. Unaccusative "subjects" exhibit certain properties normally associated with the direct objects of Transitive verbs.; The Russian data is surveyed with respect to Unaccusativity with the primary goal of providing a descriptively adequate account of the empirical facts, as well as a theoretically sound analysis. Several constructions that serve as Unaccusative diagnostics in Russian are thoroughly investigated and analyzed. It is shown that Unaccusativity is a complex phenomenon to which both syntactic and semantic components are integral. These properties are mapped to a distinctive structural configuration; therefore the fundamental distinctive properties of Unaccusative verbs are structurally based.; Chapter 2 presents a non-traditional, "non-quantificational" analysis of the Genitive of Negation construction (the best-known Russian test for Unaccusativity), which explains the mode and optionality of its application in terms of a morphosyntactic "Negation-Verb" amalgamation.; Chapter 3 deals with the Extended Projection Principle (EPP) and the syntactic movement associated with it, demonstrating the need for a more generalized version of the principle. It shows that the EPP can be satisfied in Russian by nominal as well as non-nominal phrases, and therefore the joint Subj/EPP position functions as a mixed A/A-bar position.; In chapter 4, the discourse-related phenomenon of Focus is examined on the basis of Russian data, and a Minimalist account of this phenomenon is proposed. The analysis of the Definiteness effect (treated in the spirit of Existential Closure proposed by Diesing 1992) further supports the structural account of Focusing. |
