Bare nominals and reference to capacities
| Autor: | Yoad Winter, Henriëtte de Swart, Joost Zwarts |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2007 |
| Předmět: |
060201 languages & linguistics
Linguistics and Language Interpretation (logic) Computer science 06 humanities and the arts Grammar and Cognition Romance languages The formal semantics of locative cases Semantics Syntax Language and Linguistics Linguistics Philosophy of language 030507 speech-language pathology & audiology 03 medical and health sciences 0602 languages and literature Predicative expression Layer (object-oriented design) Letteren 0305 other medical science |
| Zdroj: | Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 25(1), 195. Springer Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 25, 1, pp. 195-222 Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 25, 195-222 |
| ISSN: | 0167-806X |
| Popis: | Prefinal version. This paper concentrates on the syntax and semantics of bare nominals in Germanic and Romance languages. These languages do not normally allow nominals to occur without an article. However, some syntactic configurations, including predicative constructions, supplementives and some prepositional phrases, allow bareness of certain nominals. We argue that bare nominals in these constructions refer to capacities: professions, religions, nationalities or other roles in society. Capacities are analyzed as entities of type e, sortally distinct from regular individuals as well as kinds. We further argue that the capacity interpretation is associated with NP – a layer within the DP that lacks number features. This accounts for the number-neutral status of bare nominals. We also show some patterns in languages other than Romance and Germanic that provide further cross-linguistic support for the postulation of capacities as a separate ontological category, specific to a low position within the DP. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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