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Non-Verbal Predication: Copular sentences at the syntax-semantics interface (Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics) - Hardcover

Roy, Isabelle

 
9780199543540: Non-Verbal Predication: Copular sentences at the syntax-semantics interface (Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0199543542 ISBN 13: 9780199543540
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

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.

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About the Author

Isabelle Roy is an Associate Professor at the Unversity of Paris 8. She received her PhD from the University of Southern California in 2006.

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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication date
2013
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0199543542
ISBN 13 
9780199543540
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
230