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'.
| ISBN: | 9781402020582 |
| Publication date: | 6th October 2004 |
| Author: | Susan Rothstein |
| Publisher: | Springer an imprint of Springer Netherlands |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 352 pages |
| Series: | Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy |
| Genres: |
Semiotics / semiology Philosophy of language Grammar, syntax and morphology |
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'.
Predicates and Their Subjects features in the following genres: Semiotics / semiology, Philosophy of language, Grammar, syntax and morphology
Predicates and Their Subjects is available in Paperback, Hardback
Predicates and Their Subjects was written by Susan Rothstein and published by Springer an imprint of Springer Netherlands
Predicates and Their Subjects has 352 pages
Yes it is part of Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy series