Event Structure

Working paper · October 2026 · Compare · Payment

payGIVE

Ten languages. Each card prints that language’s arguments. Recipient, Amount, and Consideration stay labeled on the card.

pay hub EN pay JA harau ZH fù ES pagar FR payer IT pagare HU fizet PL płacić BG плащам DE bezahlen

Merge ApplHAVE puts Recipient with the Amount on every twin. Agree Case cloth is what the cards differ on. Move Only Mandarin 把 fronts that same MeasureP.

Examples from the micro-entries. Each card quotes one diagnostic already printed on that language’s page. English, Japanese, and Mandarin flag those frames as constructed. Spanish, French, and Italian flag the Consideration strings as constructed (French and Italian are polarity flips of the NegQ printed on the sell page). Hungarian flags the whole card as constructed: no fizet clause is printed on the site. Polish flags the whole card as constructed: no płacić clause is printed on the site. Bulgarian flags the whole card as constructed: no плащам clause is printed on the site. German flags the whole card as constructed: no bezahlen clause is printed on the site. Nothing here is a new elicitation.

Ten languages

Ten argument lists. Chips name the roles on that card. Color is the derivation-sheet wash.

EN

pay

Pat paid Chris twenty dollars for the lawnmower.

constructed · DOC + for-Consideration

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat Recipient Chris MeasureP twenty dollars Consideration for the lawnmower

Agree ACC on the money; the DOC also ACCs Recipient

Full micro-entry

JA

払う harau

Pat-wa Chris-ni nijū-doru-o shibakariki-no daikin-to-shite harawanakatta no ka.

constructed · Consideration PP · not a second o

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat-wa Recipient Chris-ni MeasureP nijū-doru-o Consideration daikin-to-shite

Agree ni Recipient · o MeasureP

Full micro-entry

ZH

付 fù

帕特没为割草机付给克里斯二十美元吗？

constructed · 为-Consideration · not a second 把

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent 帕特 Recipient 给克里斯 MeasureP 二十美元 Consideration 为割草机

Move 把 may front this same QP; this string leaves it postverbal

Full micro-entry

ES

pagar

Pat le pagó veinte dólares a Chris por el cortacésped.

constructed · por+DP = Consideration, not a Price QP

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat Recipient le / a Chris MeasureP veinte dólares Consideration por el cortacésped

Agree DAT Recipient · ACC MeasureP

Full micro-entry

FR

payer

Pat a payé vingt dollars à Chris pour une tondeuse.

constructed · polarity flip of the printed NegQ

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat Recipient à Chris MeasureP vingt dollars Consideration pour une tondeuse

Agree DAT Recipient (à or lui) · ACC MeasureP

Full micro-entry

IT

pagare

Pat ha pagato venti dollari a Chris per un tosaerba.

constructed · polarity flip of the printed NegQ

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat Recipient a Chris MeasureP venti dollari Consideration per un tosaerba

Agree DAT Recipient (a or gli) · ACC MeasureP

Full micro-entry

HU

fizet

Pat Chrisnek húsz dollárt fizetett egy fűnyíróért.

constructed · no printed fizet clause · -nek Recipient is packaging

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat Recipient Chrisnek MeasureP húsz dollárt Consideration egy fűnyíróért

Agree ACC MeasureP · one Focus host · -nek is open packaging

Full micro-entry

PL

płacić

Pat zapłacił Chrisowi dwadzieścia dolarów za kosiarkę.

constructed · no printed płacić clause · DAT Recipient is packaging · za is a hunch

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat Recipient Chrisowi MeasureP dwadzieścia dolarów Consideration za kosiarkę

Move under nie the MeasureP QP is GEN; DAT Recipient stays

Full micro-entry

BG

плащам

Pat плати двадесет долара на Chris за една косачка.

constructed · no printed плащам clause · на+DP Recipient is packaging · за is a hunch

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat Recipient на Chris MeasureP двадесет долара Consideration за една косачка

Agree under не the MeasureP stays; на Recipient stays; no GEN-neg

Full micro-entry

DE

bezahlen

Pat hat Chris zwanzig Euro für den Rasenmäher bezahlt.

constructed · no printed bezahlen clause · DAT Recipient is packaging · für is a hunch

RolesHide roles AgentRecipientMeasurePConsideration
Agent Pat Recipient Chris MeasureP zwanzig Euro Consideration für den Rasenmäher

Agree under nicht the accusative stays; be- does not separate

Full micro-entry

Where they diverge

Only cloth already stated on the ten micro-entries. Japanese and Mandarin cards quote the NegQ that already carries Consideration; the affirmative without it is on the micro-entry. Polarity is not the cloth difference. The Hungarian card, the Polish card, the Bulgarian card, and the German card are constructed end to end.

Case cloth

  • EN DOC applied object (Pat paid Chris twenty dollars) and a to-frame. Recipient is ACC in the DOC.
  • JA No English DOC. Amount o. Double-o blocks goods + money.
  • ZH Amount is the money QP, often 把-fronted, with no second 把.
  • ES Amount ACC. No English DOC applied-object ACC.
  • FR Amount ACC. lui and à are printed as separate clothes, not doubled in one clause.
  • IT Amount ACC. gli and a are printed as separate clothes, not doubled in one clause.
  • HU Amount accusative. No particle on fizet. One preverbal Focus host: Amount and Recipient cannot both be it.
  • PL Amount accusative in the affirmative. Under sentential nie that same MeasureP QP is genitive (tej kwoty, trzech tokenów). The Recipient is not rewritten. No particle on płacić. Bound za- of zapłacić is not the preposition za.
  • BG Amount is the direct object. Nominal case is gone, so that slot is not a noun ending. Under sentential не the same MeasureP stays (тази сума, три токена, двадесет долара, decimal 0,3 ETH). There is no genitive of negation. No particle on плащам. пре- belongs to the unfilled companion превеждам.
  • DE Amount accusative in the affirmative and under sentential nicht (den Betrag, drei Token, zwanzig Euro, decimal 0,3 ETH). There is no genitive of negation. be- on bezahlen is inseparable. It is not abbuchen’s separable ab. Companion überweisen stays unfilled; its separable über- is not copied onto bezahlen.
  • All Not four objects. Goods are not a DOC applied object, not a second o, and not a second 把. Spanish, French, and Italian likewise reject goods + MeasureP as two bare objects. Hungarian, Polish, and German reject the same pair as two bare accusatives. Bulgarian rejects it as two bare objects. German also stars document + money. Invoice + money is payBILL, not this root.

Recipient marking

  • EN ACC in the DOC. to-PP in the other frame.
  • JA ni.
  • ZH 给.
  • ES DAT le / a.
  • FR DAT lui or à.
  • IT DAT gli or a.
  • HU Preferred -nak/-nek. No printed fizet string shows the suffix. The letter stays open as elicitation.
  • PL Preferred morphological DAT komuś / Chrisowi. Weak mu / jej is the Recipient, not doubling. No printed płacić string shows the dative. The letter stays open as elicitation.
  • BG Preferred на + DP. Full noun phrases do not inflect for dative; на is the nominal spell-out already printed for ATT’s Target. Direction on плащам is money TO. FEE’s printed на is the Payer, money FROM. No printed плащам string shows the Recipient. Clitic doubling of that на-phrase is unchecked. The letter stays open as elicitation.
  • DE Preferred morphological dative jemandem / ihm / bare Chris. No printed bezahlen string shows the dative. The letter stays open as elicitation. ihn / jemanden as a second accusative is starred.

MeasureP packaging

  • All One ⟨Amount, Denomination⟩.
  • EN ACC in both the DOC and the to-frame (twenty dollars).
  • JA #P under o (nijū-doru-o). nijū-doru-de as Theme is sell’s Price cloth, not harau.
  • ZH Measure word stays inside one QP (二十美元 / 二十块). 把二十付了美元 is the split. 把 fronts that one money QP; the card’s string is the postverbal twin (付给克里斯二十美元), same object.
  • ES ACC (veinte dólares; printed WH ¿Cuántos dólares no le pagó?).
  • FR ACC: vingt dollars on the printed sell-fr NegQ, vingt euros on the printed FEE contrast.
  • IT ACC: venti dollari on the printed sell-it NegQ, venti euro on the printed FEE contrast.
  • HU Accusative family Mit / …-t, the measuring letter live on FEE and FIN. The fizet string húsz dollárt is constructed. LBC reuses printed Mit húsz számolnak fel? as Mit húsz fizetett?, tagged constructed.
  • PL Affirmative accusative family tę kwotę / trzy tokeny / dwadzieścia dolarów / decimal 0,3 ETH, the measuring letter live on FEE and FIN. Under nie the whole QP is genitive. Leaving the accusative under nie is starred. LBC reuses printed FEE/FIN splits as Ile zapłacił Pat dolarów?, tagged constructed. Genitive dolarów after dwadzieścia is numeral government, not GEN-neg.
  • BG Direct-object family тази сума / три токена / двадесет долара / decimal 0,3 ETH, the measuring letter live on FEE, FIN, and deduct. Under не the object stays. A genitive rewrite is starred without inventing a spelling. WH clusters do not split Amount from unit; no LBC elicitation is filed. долара after a numeral is the count form inside one QP, the same inner shape as три токена, not GEN-neg. Clitic doubling of the MeasureP is unchecked.
  • DE Accusative family den Betrag / drei Beträge / zwanzig Euro / drei Token / decimal 0,3 ETH, the measuring letter live on FEE, FIN, and deduct. Under nicht the accusative stays. A genitive rewrite (des Betrages, dreier Beträge) is starred. LBC reuses printed FEE splits as Wie viel hat Pat Euro bezahlt? and Was zwanzig hat Pat bezahlt?, tagged constructed.

Consideration P

  • EN for, not Purpose.
  • JA de / no-tame / daikin-to-shite, not a second o.
  • ZH 为 / 买…付, not a second 把.
  • ES por + the leftover DP, not para and not a Price QP.
  • FR pour + the leftover DP, not a price QP.
  • IT per + the leftover DP, not a price QP.
  • HU -ért + the leftover DP, ranked from printed FEE egy bitcoinért. A Purpose stack stays open.
  • PL za+ACC on the leftover DP, ranked as a hunch from printed FEE za jednego bitcoina. Blame’s za is a different licenser. A Purpose stack stays open, not checked.
  • BG за + DP on the leftover goods, ranked as a hunch from printed FEE за един биткойн. Blame’s за is a different licenser. A Purpose stack stays open, not checked. Deduct’s Reason поради is not ranked here.
  • DE für+ACC on the leftover goods (für den Rasenmäher), ranked as a hunch from printed FEE für das Essen / für ein Bitcoin. Blame’s wegen and deduct’s wegen are different licensers. Not a second object and not a price QP. A Purpose stack stays open, not checked.
  • Sell Those letters host Price, because the goods are the Theme. Here they host Consideration, because the money is the Theme.
  • FEE On chargeFEE the human is Payer-as-Source and the money is the MeasureP of a debit. Recipient HAVE stays on this root. chargeFEE · compare.

English, Spanish, French, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Bulgarian, and German sit on Index 2 Payment. Japanese and Mandarin are Beyond Index 2: Index 2 has no Payment cell for either. Hub: pay.