Nominal arguments and nominal predicates
Author
Editor
- Jutta M. Hartmann
- Laszlo Molnarfi
Summary, in English
It is generally assumed that whereas referential nominal phrases are at least of DP size, predicative nominal phrases are structurally smaller. However, this paper argues that at least in Scandinavian, predicative nominal phrases as well as referential nominal phrases can be bigger than, equal to, or smaller than DP. Hence, the only consistent difference between nominal arguments and nominal predicates appears to be a semantic one: predicates but not arguments get a purely intensional interpretation. Some nominal phrases are only good as arguments because their lexical content makes a purely intensional reading hard to get. It is however difficult, if not impossible, to connect the semantic difference between nominal predicates and nominal arguments to any systematic difference in syntactic structure.
Department/s
Publishing year
2006
Language
English
Publication/Series
Comparative Studies in Germanic Syntax: From Afrikaans to Zurich German
Document type
Book chapter
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Topic
- Languages and Literature
Keywords
- nominal phrases arguments predicates bare nouns
Status
Published
Research group
- GRIMM
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISBN: 90 272 3361 6