Relators And Linkers: A Syntax of Predication, Predicate Inversion, And Copulas (Linguistic Inquiry Monographs) - Hardcover

Dikken, Marcel Den

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262042312 ISBN 13: 9780262042314

Publisher: Mit Pr, 2006

Synopsis

In Relators and Linkers, Marcel den Dikken presents a syntax of predication and the inversion of the predicate around its subject, emphasizing meaningless elements (elements with no semantic load) that play an essential role in the establishment and syntactic manipulation of predication relationships. One such element, the RELATOR, mediates the relationship between a predicate and its subject in the base representation of predication structures. A second, the LINKER, connects the predicate to its subject in Predicate Inversion constructions. Den Dikken argues that all subject-predicate relationships are syntactically mediated by a RELATOR and that predication relationships in syntax are configurationally asymmetrical and non-directional. Discussing the inversion of the predicate around its subject and the distribution of LINKER elements surfacing between the inverted predicate and the subject, den Dikken presents an in-depth analysis of Predicate Inversion from the perspective of the minimalist theory of locality.Among the features by which Relators and Linkers distinguishes itself from past studies of predication is a detailed investigation of predication and Predicate Inversion inside the complex nominal phrase that makes a carefully documented case for the existence of two types of qualitative binominal noun phrases, one exploiting a predicate-specifier structure and the other employing a predicate-complement structure cum Predicate Inversion. Empirical data includes examples not only from English and Dutch but also from Hungarian, Hebrew, French, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and other languages. Den Dikken's analysis, cast in terms of the theory of generative grammar, fruitfully brings Chomskyan minimalist principles to bear on the discussion of predication and Predicate Inversion.

About this title

About the Author

Marcel den Dikken is Professor in the Linguistics Program at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is the author of Particles: On the Syntax of Verb-particle, Triadic, and Causative Constructions and The Structure of the Noun Phrase in Rotuman.

Review

"This is den Dikken in top form. Copula constructions and predicate inversion are among the most central and most vexing problems in grammar. Trust den Dikken to defend a theory that is both original and inspiring, controversial and thoroughly argued, far-reaching and broadly documented. *Relators and Linkers* is a must."--Henk van Riemsdijk, Models of Grammar Group, Tilburg University, The Netherlands

"*The Syntax of (In)dependence* is a very impressive piece of work, offering a fresh and illuminating perspective on many of the central problems in the theory of anaphora and variable binding. It provides a good summary of the relevant literature over the past twenty-five years and moves beyond that literature with a comprehensive and compelling new approach. Scholars who have worked on these problems will find much that is new here, including a few vigorous challenges to some long-held factual generalizations. Students encountering these issues for the first time will find this a challenging but definitely rewarding read, and a good entree into the field."--Tim Stowell, Department of Linguistics, University of California, Los Angeles

Edition details

• Publisher: Mit Pr
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0262042312
• ISBN 13: 9780262042314
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 351