Perception verb complements in Akatek, a Mayan language

4. CRITERIA FOR THE SEMANTIC CHARACTERIZATION 83
(104) Isaw somebody to have entered the building.
van der Leek & Jong (1982), 112
(105) *I saw her to make friends with everyone.
Bolinger (1974), 73
(106) *I saw somebody to enter the building.
van der Leek & Jong (1982), 112
To-PVCs are the only complementtype under scrutiny that cannot
contain an action predicate like paint (107). In other words, to-PVCs
cannot denote events. 16
(107) a. Jill saw him paint(ing) the wall.
b. Jill saw his painting of the wall.
c. Jill remembered his painting the wall.
d. *Jill saw him to paint the wall.
e. Jill saw that he painted the wall.
Predicates expressing imperceptible states like own, are ungrammatical
as predicates of NI-PVCs, ing-PVCs and PNOMs but grammatical
when occurring in INOMs and that-PVCs.
(108) a. *Bill saw John own(ing) a house.
Higginbotham (1983), 118
b. *Bill saw John's owning of a house.
c. Bill remembered John's owning a house.
d. Bill saw that John owns a house.
In sum, NI-PVCs, ing-PVCs and PNOMs are restricted to predicates
expressing perceptible processes or perceptible temporary states. IN-
OMs and that-PVCs accept the same predicates as NI-PVCs, ing-PVCs
and PNOMs, but can also take predicates expressing imperceptible or
enduring states. To-PVCs can only contain stative predicates. 17
4.3. Negation. Sentential negation of a PVC is impossible for NI-
PVCs, ing-PVCs and PNOMs, while INOMs, to-PVCs and that-PVCs
can be negated:
(109) a. *Peter saw the ice not melt[ing]. Monnich (1998), 11
16 Unless to-PVCs occur in passivized constructions as in (i).
(i) Jill was seen to paint the wall. Steve Berman (p.c.)
17 With the exception that to-PVCs that occur after passivized PVs are not
restricted to statives as has already been mentioned in the two preceding footnotes.