Adverbial modification with causative verbs

It is not unusual to render the meaning of verbs just by naming a monolithic
semantic predicate and indicating its adicity. This approach does not uncover the
 differences between various verb classes, however. One type of evidence that speaks
against such treatment is modification. In the present chapter, I will show that the
various cases of adverbial modification with causative verbs require the
decomposition of their lexical meaning. Consequently, the semantic representations must
display a higher degree of granularity than Davidson (1967b) suggested for action
verbs. Adverbials may be anchored to variables that refer to cause, effect, or state.
A dilemma emerges: Semantic integration of an adverbial modifier requires that
the relevant variable be bound by a λ-operator (cf. Higginbotham 1985, Bierwisch
1988, von Stechow 2012). Only the highest-ranked referential argument variable
can be λ-bound at the point of determining reference. I will offer a solution that is
based on the modification template as originally proposed by Zimmermann (1992).
The template, however, needs to be refined in order for technical implementation
to work and, thus, cover the entire range of cases. The empirical data discussed in
the present chapter come from the Slavic languages.