Nonverbal predication : copular sentences at the syntax-semantics interface

This book considers the syntax and semantics of non-verbal predicates (i.e., nominal, adjectival and prepositional predicates) in copular sentences. Isabelle Roy explores how a single structure for predication can account for the different interpretations of non-verbal predicates. The book departs f...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal : Roy Isabelle (Auteur)
Format : Thèse ou mémoire
Langue : anglais
Titre complet : Nonverbal predication : copular sentences at the syntax-semantics interface / Isabelle Roy
Publié : Oxford : Oxford University Press , 2013
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (XIV-212 p.)
Collection : Oxford studies in theoretical linguistics ; 45
Note de thèse : Texte remanié de : Thèse de doctorat : Linguistique : University of Southern Califormnia : 2006
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Documents associés : Autre format: Nonverbal predication
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Résumé : This book considers the syntax and semantics of non-verbal predicates (i.e., nominal, adjectival and prepositional predicates) in copular sentences. Isabelle Roy explores how a single structure for predication can account for the different interpretations of non-verbal predicates. The book departs from earlier studies by arguing in favor of a ternary distinction between defining / characterizing / situation-descriptive predicates rather than the more common stage-level/individual distinction. The distinction is based on two semantic criteria, namely maximality (i.e., whether the predicate describes an eventuality that has spatio-temporal properties or not) and density (i.e. whether the spatio-temporal properties are perceived as atomic or not). The author argues in favor of a strong correlation between the semantics properties of predicates and their internal syntactic structure. Her analysis accounts for seemingly unrelated cross-linguistic data: the indefinite article in French, the distribution of the two copulas 'ser'/'estar' in Spanish, and case marking on Russian predicates.
Bibliographie : Bibliogr. p. [199]-206. Index
ISBN : 978-0-19-954354-0
978-0-19-954355-7
0-19-954355-0