Overview

This is an in-depth study of the syntax-semantics interface focusing on the structure of the subject-predicate relation. Starting where the author's 1983 dissertation left off, the text 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 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 popular 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"".

Full Product Details

Author:   Susan Rothstein
Publisher:   Springer
Imprint:   Springer
Edition:   2004 ed.
Volume:   74
Dimensions:   Width: 17.00cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 24.40cm
Weight:   1.540kg
ISBN:  

9780792364092

ISBN 10:   0792364090
Pages:   352
Publication Date:   30 November 2000
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of print, replaced by POD  
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Table of Contents

1: Why’ subject’ is a grammatical concept.- 1.1 Aristotelian assumptions.- 1.2 Aboutness.- 1.3 Pivots and the semantic prominence of subjects.- 1.4 The structural nature of the subject.- 1.5 Conclusions and directions.- 1.6 Appendix: some theoretical preliminaries.- I: The Syntax of Predication.- 2: The grammatical theory of predication.- 3: The syntactic properties of subjects.- 4: Predication as a thematic relation.- 5: The syntactic forms of predication.- II: The Semantics of Predication.- 6: Interpretation.- 7: The semantics of pleonastics.- III: The Syntax and Semantics of Copular Constructions.- 8: Predication structures in Modern Hebrew identity constructions.- 9: Copular constructions in English.- IV: The Copula.- 10: The meaning of ‘Be’.

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