Predicates and Their Subjects 2004 Edition Contributor(s): Rothstein, Susan (Author) |
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ISBN: 0792364090 ISBN-13: 9780792364092 Publisher: Springer
Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions Published: November 2000 Annotation: Predicates and their Subjects is an in-depth study of the syntax-semantics interface focusing on the structure of the subject-predicate relation. Starting from where the author's 1983 dissertation left off, the book argues that there is syntactic constraint that clauses (small and tensed) are constructed out of a one-place unsaturated expression, the predicate, which must be applied to a syntactic argument, its subject. The author shows that this predication relation cannot be reduced to a thematic relation or a projection of argument structure, but must be a purely syntactic constraint. Chapters in the book show how the syntactic predication relation is semantically interpreted, and how the predication relation explains constraints on DP-raising and on the distribution of pleonastics in English. The second half of the book extends the theory of predication to cover copular constructions; it includes an account of the structure of small clauses in Hebrew, of the use of be' in predicative and identity sentences in English, and concludes with a study of the meaning of the verb be'. Click for more in this series: Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Language Arts & Disciplines | Grammar & Punctuation - Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics - Semantics |
Dewey: 415 |
LCCN: 00034898 |
Series: Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy |
Physical Information: 1.27" H x 6.52" W x 9.32" L (1.59 lbs) 352 pages |
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Index |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Predicates and their Subjects is an in-depth study of the syntax-semantics interface focusing on the structure of the subject-predicate relation. Starting from where the author's 1983 dissertation left off, the book argues that there is syntactic constraint that clauses (small and tensed) are constructed out of a one-place unsaturated expression, the predicate, which must be applied to a syntactic argument, its subject. The author shows that this predication relation cannot be reduced to a thematic relation or a projection of argument structure, but must be a purely syntactic constraint. Chapters in the book show how the syntactic predication relation is semantically interpreted, and how the predication relation explains constraints on DP-raising and on the distribution of pleonastics in English. The second half of the book extends the theory of predication to cover copular constructions; it includes an account of the structure of small clauses in Hebrew, of the use of be' in predicative and identity sentences in English, and concludes with a study of the meaning of the verb be'. |
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