This paper presents a categorial analysis of several types of verbs
selecting a verbal complement in Dutch. In particular, we
demonstrate that the various word orders found in the verbal complex
can be accounted for by mechanisms operating in the lexicon only.
Our theoretical starting point is the proposal of
[
10], who accounts for `verb raising' by stipulating a
polymorphic category for verbs inducing this type of word order.
The effect of polymorphism is equivalent to using a categorial rule
of division in the lexicon. We implement this rule as a recursive
constraint. The coverage of the analysis is extended by showing
that various other word order possibilities within the verb cluster
imply that harmonic and disharmonic versions of division are needed.
Finally, we argue that overgeneration can be avoided by requiring
that the argument of a `verb raising' verb must be a `verbal
complex'.
