Abstract

Argument Structure (AS) of a Predicate is a list of its arguments. For example the Persian verb xord (ate) in "Ali sib ra xord." Has two arguments, while the verb dād (gave) in "Ali sib rā be Zahrā dād." has three arguments: Ali, Sib, and Zahrā. The argument structure of a verb is usually changed by affixation, so that the argument structure of a derived word is different form that of the stem. This paper intends to study the argument structure of Persian verbal derivations and the effect of affixation on the argument structure of the base. The theoretical framework of this paper is Lieber's view (1992) which states that the argument structure of each word is a projection of the Lexical Conceptual Structure (LCS) of that word. So the Study of AS of a word and the changes made in it must be done according to the LCS and the changes made in it. This paper studies the effect of affixation on the argument structure of a word through the changes it may have on the LCS of that word. It will also illustrate that only those affixes that changes the LCS of the word will affect the AS of the base; it means the affixes which do not have any effects on the LCS of a word have no changes on its AS.