A Semantics for the English Existential Construction

A Semantics for the English Existential Construction PDF Author: Louise McNally
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 9780815325574
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Proposes a new semantics for English statements beginning with there, which adopts the generally rejected characterization of them as subject-predicate prepositions in which the subject is a property or description of an individual and the predicate affirms the instantiation of the property of des

A Semantics for the English Existential Construction

A Semantics for the English Existential Construction PDF Author: Louise McNally
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 9780815325574
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Proposes a new semantics for English statements beginning with there, which adopts the generally rejected characterization of them as subject-predicate prepositions in which the subject is a property or description of an individual and the predicate affirms the instantiation of the property of des

A Semantics for the English Existential Construction

A Semantics for the English Existential Construction PDF Author: Louise McNally
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315536471
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
First published in 1997, this book addresses the question: What is the interpretation of English there-existential construction? One of the principal goals is to develop an interpretation for the construction that will specifically address other properties of the postcopular DP. After outlining the problem, the author goes on to present a syntactic motivation for the claim that the postcopular DP is the sole complement to the existential predicate, as well as for the claim that the optional final phrase is a predictive adjunct. In chapter 3 the interpretation for the basic existential construction is developed and then compared to analyses that take the postcopular DP to denote an ordinary individual or a generalised quantifier of individuals. This analysis is then augmented to account for the contribution of the final XP and shows how the predicate restriction can be derived from a more general condition on depictive/circumstantial VP-adjuncts. The final chapter contain some speculative discussion of the broader implications of the proposal in the context of data such as "list" existential and "presentational-there" sentences.

Existential Sentences

Existential Sentences PDF Author: Michael Lumsden
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317933710
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
What is the relationship between the structure of existential sentences and their meaning? How do hearers interpret existential sentences using pragmatic assumptions? This study attempts to account for the relationship between the structure of existential sentences (ES) and their meaning. The study of ES has received a great deal of attention because the construction has complex syntactic properties, is associated with restrictions of a semantic nature, and provides an interesting area for investigation at a pragmatic level.

Definiteness Effects

Definiteness Effects PDF Author: Susann Fischer
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443898007
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 475

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Book Description
This volume explores in detail the empirical and conceptual content of the definiteness effect in grammar. It brings together a variety of relevant observations from a typological, diachronic and a bilingual/second language acquisition perspective, and provides a general overview of different approaches concerned with the syntactic, morphological, semantic, and pragmatic properties of the Definiteness Effect in a series of European and non-European languages.

Semantics. Volume 2

Semantics. Volume 2 PDF Author: Klaus von Heusinger
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110255073
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 1079

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Book Description
No detailed description available for "SEMANTICS (VON HEUSINGER ET AL.) BD. 33.2 HSK E-BOOK".

Ten Lectures on Cognitive Linguistics

Ten Lectures on Cognitive Linguistics PDF Author: George Lakoff
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789004331372
Category : Cognitive grammar
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Ten Lectures on Cognitive Linguistics presents ten lectures, in both audio and transcribed text, given by George Lakoff in Beijing in April 2004. Lakoff gives an account of the background of cognitive linguistics, and basic mechanisms of thought, grammar, neural theory of language, metaphor, implications for Philosophy, and political linguistics. He does so in a manner that is accessible for anyone, including undergraduate level students and a general audience. With the massive experience of being a linguist for over 50 years, and being one of the founding fathers of the field, George Lakoff is one of the best possible experts to introduce Cognitive Linguistics to anyone. The lectures for this book were given at The China International Forum on Cognitive Linguistics in April 2004.

Ten Lectures on Construction Grammar and Typology

Ten Lectures on Construction Grammar and Typology PDF Author: William Croft
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900436353X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
In Ten Lectures on Construction Grammar and Typology, William Croft presents a unified theory of linguistic form and meaning that encompasses crosslinguistic diversity, verbalization and language change. Croft begins from construction grammar, a theory of syntax in which all syntactic structures are a pairing of form and meaning. Constructions are posited as basic; syntactic categories are defined by constructions. The internal structure of constructions directly link elements of constructions to the meanings they express, Constructions across languages can be situated in a space of syntactic variation. Grammar emerges from the verbalization of experience. Constructions occur in a probability distribution across the conceptual space of meanings. These probability distributions evolve, leading to grammatical change in language, modeled in an evolutionary framework.

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, 8 Volume Set

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, 8 Volume Set PDF Author: Martin Everaert
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118358724
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 5254

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Book Description
An invaluable reference tool for students and researchers in theoretical linguistics, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Second Edition has been updated to incorporate the last 10 years of syntactic research and expanded to include a wider array of important case studies in the syntax of a broad array of languages. A revised and expanded edition of this invaluable reference tool for students and researchers in linguistics, now incorporating the last 10 years of syntactic research Contains over 120 chapters that explain, analyze, and contextualize important empirical studies within syntax over the last 50 years Charts the development and historiography of syntactic theory with coverage of the most important subdomains of syntax Brings together cutting-edge contributions from a global group of linguists under the editorship of two esteemed syntacticians Provides an essential and unparalleled collection of research within the field of syntax, available both online and across 8 print volumes This work is also available as an online resource at www.companiontosyntax.com

Essays on Nominal Determination

Essays on Nominal Determination PDF Author: Henrik Høeg Müller
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 902729030X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
This volume brings together scholars of diverse theoretical persuasions who all share an interest in capturing the role that nominal determination and reference assignment play in the complicated interplay between thought, language and communication. The articles can be divided roughly into five main areas of concern: the conceptual level of determination; the emergence and function of articles; their semantic contribution to nominal interpretation; the morphology and syntax of determiners; and the interplay and contrasts between articles, demonstratives and possessives. Thus, linguistic and philosophical issues in the subject field of nominal determination are addressed at all interface levels between morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. This volume shows that different theoretical frameworks may be brought fruitfully together in the effort to formulate new analyses of well-known problems, but also to raise new questions and point to new areas which may prove interesting topics for future research both in functional and formal paradigms.

Semantics in Acquisition

Semantics in Acquisition PDF Author: Veerle van Geenhoven
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402044852
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
This volume contains writings focusing on semantic phenomena and their interpretation in the analysis of the language of a learner. The variety of phenomena that are addressed is substantial: temporal aspect and tense, specificity, quantification, scope, finiteness, focus structure, and focus particles. These phenomena are investigated is many languages. The volume creates a theoretical as well as an empirical bridge between semantic research on the one hand and psycholinguistic acquisition studies on the other.