Predicates and Their Subjects

Rothstein, Susan Deborah

ISBN 10: 0792364090 / ISBN 13: 9780792364092

Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000

About this Item

Presents a study of the syntax-semantics interface focusing on the structure of the subject-predicate relation. This 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. Series: Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy. Num Pages: 367 pages, biography. BIC Classification: 2AB; 2CSJ; CFG; CFK. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly. Dimension: 244 x 170 x 22. Weight in Grams: 698. . 2000. Hardback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780792364092

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Predicates and Their Subjects
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792364090
• ISBN 13: 9780792364092
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

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'.