Prepositions and Complement Clauses: A Syntactic and Semantic Study of Verbs Governing Prepositions and Complement Clauses in Present-Day English (Linguistics (Dis)) - Softcover

Rudanko, Juhani

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791428745 ISBN 13: 9780791428740

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1996

Synopsis

Provides a pioneering and data-oriented investigation of the syntax and semantics of important prepositional complementation patterns dependent on the prepositions in, to, at, on, with, and of in present-day English.

This book provides a pioneering and data-oriented investigation of the syntax and semantics of important prepositional complementation patterns dependent on the prepositions in, to, at , on, with, and of in current English. The investigation is based on a sample of matrix verbs that governs the pattern of sentential complementation. The data includes the Brown and LOB corpora, English dictionaries and grammars, and the intuitions of native speakers.

Rudanko sets up taxonomies of matrix verbs and argues that they often can be based on relatively few core classes. He questions whether verbs selecting a pattern also select other patterns of sentential complementation. Noting the quantity and quality of such alternation, he observes how differences in form are linked to differences in meaning. The study of relevant matrix verbs, supplemented with discussion of alternation and other syntactic and semantic properties of the patterns, points to the semantic functions that are associated typically with each pattern of complementation.

About this title

About the Author

Juhani Rudanko is Associate Professor of English Philology at the University of Tampere, Finland. He is the author of Complementation and Case Grammar: A Syntactic and Semantic Study of Selected Patterns of Complementation in Present-Day English, also published by SUNY Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791428745
• ISBN 13: 9780791428740
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 211