Semantics and Morphosyntactic Variation: Qualities and the Grammar of Property Concepts

Systematic variation in form between semantic equivalents across languages is a key explanandum of linguistic theory. Two contrasting views of the role of lexical semantics in the analysis of such variation can be found in the literature: (1) uniformity, whereby lexical meaning is universal, and mor...

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Hoofdauteurs: Francez, Itamar, Koontz-Garboden, Andrew
Formaat: Online
Taal:Engels
Gepubliceerd in: Oxford University Press 2021
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author Francez, Itamar
Koontz-Garboden, Andrew
author_browse Francez, Itamar
Koontz-Garboden, Andrew
author_facet Francez, Itamar
Koontz-Garboden, Andrew
author_sort Francez, Itamar
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Systematic variation in form between semantic equivalents across languages is a key explanandum of linguistic theory. Two contrasting views of the role of lexical semantics in the analysis of such variation can be found in the literature: (1) uniformity, whereby lexical meaning is universal, and morphosyntactic variation arises from idiosyncratic differences in the inventory and phonological shape of language-particular functional material, and (2) transparency, whereby systematic variation in form arises from systematic variation in the meaning of basic lexical items. This volume contrasts these views as applied to the empirical domain of property concept sentences—sentences expressing adjectival predication and their translational equivalents across languages. Demonstrating that property concept sentences vary systematically between possessive and predicative form, the authors propose a transparentist analysis of this variation that links it to the lexical denotations of basic property concept lexemes. At the heart of the analysis are qualities: mass-like model-theoretic objects that closely resemble scales. The authors contrast their transparentist analysis with uniformitarian alternatives, demonstrating its theoretical and empirical advantages. They then show that the proposed theory of qualities can account for interesting and novel observations in two central domains of grammatical theory: the theory of lexical categories, and the theory of mass nouns. The overall results highlight the importance of the lexicon as a locus of generalizations about the limits of crosslinguistic variation.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-292662025-07-21T15:57:15Z Semantics and Morphosyntactic Variation: Qualities and the Grammar of Property Concepts Francez, Itamar Koontz-Garboden, Andrew morphosyntactic variation property concepts lexical semantics lexical categories qualities mass nouns adjectives semantic variation Denotation Lexeme Part of speech Predicate (grammar) Syntax thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFG Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFG Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology Systematic variation in form between semantic equivalents across languages is a key explanandum of linguistic theory. Two contrasting views of the role of lexical semantics in the analysis of such variation can be found in the literature: (1) uniformity, whereby lexical meaning is universal, and morphosyntactic variation arises from idiosyncratic differences in the inventory and phonological shape of language-particular functional material, and (2) transparency, whereby systematic variation in form arises from systematic variation in the meaning of basic lexical items. This volume contrasts these views as applied to the empirical domain of property concept sentences—sentences expressing adjectival predication and their translational equivalents across languages. Demonstrating that property concept sentences vary systematically between possessive and predicative form, the authors propose a transparentist analysis of this variation that links it to the lexical denotations of basic property concept lexemes. At the heart of the analysis are qualities: mass-like model-theoretic objects that closely resemble scales. The authors contrast their transparentist analysis with uniformitarian alternatives, demonstrating its theoretical and empirical advantages. They then show that the proposed theory of qualities can account for interesting and novel observations in two central domains of grammatical theory: the theory of lexical categories, and the theory of mass nouns. The overall results highlight the importance of the lexicon as a locus of generalizations about the limits of crosslinguistic variation. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2017-03-01 23:55:55 2018-10-03 09:09:28 2020-04-01T13:35:38Z 2017 book 628110 OCN: 976434207 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31448 9780198744580 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/29266 eng Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31448/1/628110.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31448/1/628110.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31448/1/628110.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31448/1/628110.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31448/1/628110.pdf Oxford University Press 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198744580.001.0001 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198744580.001.0001 db4e319f-ca9f-449a-bcf2-37d7c6f885b1 RCUK 9780198744580 192 Oxford, UK open access
spellingShingle morphosyntactic variation
property concepts
lexical semantics
lexical categories
qualities
mass nouns
adjectives
semantic variation
Denotation
Lexeme
Part of speech
Predicate (grammar)
Syntax
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFG Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFG Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
Francez, Itamar
Koontz-Garboden, Andrew
Semantics and Morphosyntactic Variation: Qualities and the Grammar of Property Concepts
title Semantics and Morphosyntactic Variation: Qualities and the Grammar of Property Concepts
title_full Semantics and Morphosyntactic Variation: Qualities and the Grammar of Property Concepts
title_fullStr Semantics and Morphosyntactic Variation: Qualities and the Grammar of Property Concepts
title_full_unstemmed Semantics and Morphosyntactic Variation: Qualities and the Grammar of Property Concepts
title_short Semantics and Morphosyntactic Variation: Qualities and the Grammar of Property Concepts
title_sort semantics and morphosyntactic variation qualities and the grammar of property concepts
topic morphosyntactic variation
property concepts
lexical semantics
lexical categories
qualities
mass nouns
adjectives
semantic variation
Denotation
Lexeme
Part of speech
Predicate (grammar)
Syntax
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFG Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFG Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
topic_facet morphosyntactic variation
property concepts
lexical semantics
lexical categories
qualities
mass nouns
adjectives
semantic variation
Denotation
Lexeme
Part of speech
Predicate (grammar)
Syntax
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFG Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFG Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFK Grammar, syntax and morphology
url 628110
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