Resultive

Resultive is a term used in linguistics to describe a type of predicate in which the action described by the verb leaves the referent in a new state that results from that action. In English, resultatives are often expressed by a verb of change followed by an object and a phrase indicating the resultant state, as in John wiped the table clean or The door opened into a new state after the hinge gave way.

A typical resultative construction combines a main verb, an object, and a resultative element that describes the state brought about by the action. Analysis often treats the resultative as either a small clause attached to the verb phrase or as a separate adjectival or nominal phrase that denotes the resulting condition. The essential meaning is that the event causes a change of state in the object or in the referent.

Semantically, resultives fuse event structure with state description: there is a causal link between the action and the ensuing state, and the resultant state is often entailed by the combination of verb and object. The exact interpretation can vary with the verb and the language, including the degree to which the resultant state is necessary or contingent.

Cross-linguistic variation is common. Some languages use adjectives, stative verbs, or postverbal phrases to express the result, while others rely on particles, affixes, or distinct syntactic constructions. Resultatives interact with aspect and lexical semantics, and they raise questions about how much of the resultant state is linguistically encoded versus inferred.

See also: resultative constructions, small clause analysis, causatives, event semantics.