Editing Lexical semantics (section)

==== Marked inchoatives ====
Some languages (e.g., [[German language|German]], [[Italian language|Italian]], and [[French language|French]]), have multiple morphological classes of inchoative verbs.<ref name="Schafer">{{cite book|last1=Schafer|first1=Florian|title=The Syntax of (Anti-)Causatives|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=9789027255099|page=1|year=2008}}</ref> Generally speaking, these languages separate their inchoative verbs into three classes: verbs that are obligatorily unmarked (they are not marked with a [[reflexive pronoun]], [[clitic]], or [[affix]]), verbs that are optionally marked, and verbs that are obligatorily marked. The causative verbs in these languages remain unmarked. [[Martin Haspelmath|Haspelmath]] refers to this as the [[anticausative]] alternation.
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| header =
| width = 170

| image1 = Zerbrach.png
|thumb
| caption1 = Underlying tree structure for (4a)

| image2 = Hanszerbrach.png
|thumb
| caption2 = Underlying tree structure for (4b)

}}
For example, inchoative verbs in [[German language|German]] are classified into three morphological classes. ''Class A'' verbs necessarily form inchoatives with the reflexive pronoun ''{{lang|de|sich}}'', ''Class B'' verbs form inchoatives necessarily without the reflexive pronoun, and ''Class C'' verbs form inchoatives optionally with or without the reflexive pronoun. In example (5), the verb ''{{lang|de|zerbrach}}'' is an unmarked inchoative verb from ''Class B'', which also remains unmarked in its causative form.<ref name="Schafer" />

: '''German'''<ref name="Schafer" />
{{interlinear |lang=de |number=(5) a.
|Die Vase '''zerbrach'''.
|the  vase  '''broke'''
|'The vase broke.'
}}
{{interlinear |lang=de |number={{hidden text|(5)}} b.
|Hans '''zerbrach''' die Vase.
|John  '''broke'''   the vase
|'John broke the vase.'
}}

{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| header =
| width = 170

| image1 = offnete.png
|thumb
| caption1 = Underlying tree structure for (5a)

| image2 = Hansoffnete.png
|thumb
| caption2 = Underlying tree structure for (5b)

}}

In contrast, the verb ''öffnete'' is a ''Class A'' verb which necessarily takes the reflexive pronoun ''sich'' in its inchoative form, but remains unmarked in its causative form.

: '''German'''<ref name="Schafer" />
{{interlinear |lang=de |number=(6) a.
|Die Tür öffnete '''sich'''.
|the door opened '''REFL'''
|'The door opened.'
}}
{{interlinear |lang=de |number={{hidden text|(6)}} b.
|Hans '''öffnete''' die Tür.
|John opened the door
|'John opened the door.'
}}

There has been some debate as to whether the different classes of inchoative verbs are purely based in morphology, or whether the differentiation is derived from the lexical-semantic properties of each individual verb. While this debate is still unresolved in languages such as [[Italian language|Italian]], [[French language|French]], and [[Greek language|Greek]], it has been suggested by linguist Florian Schäfer that there are semantic differences between marked and unmarked inchoatives in [[German language|German]]. Specifically, that only unmarked inchoative verbs allow an unintentional causer reading (meaning that they can take on an "''x unintentionally caused y''" reading).<ref name="Schafer" />