Object experiencer nominalizations in Italian: the anticausative hypothesis versus the light verb construction hypothesis

Abstract This research analyses Object Experiencer (OE) nominalizations, a widely discussed topic in the broader debate on the lexicalist versus the syntactic hypotheses concerning nominalizations. I tested two types of hypotheses to explain Italian OE nominalizations: the anticausative hypothesis and the light verb construction hypothesis. The former proposes that causative psych nominalizations from OE verbs undergoing causative-anticausative alternation are derived from the anticausative alternant. The light verb construction hypothesis suggests that OE nominalizations derive from light verb constructions that encode the result of the change in emotional state. I show that the anticausative hypothesis does not explain some counterexamples, whereas the light verb construction hypothesis correctly explains all OE nominal constructions, regardless of whether they derive from verbs that undergo the causative-anticausative alternation. Psych nominalizations inherit their argument and event structure from light verb constructions and show a resultative semantics.