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Unrealized Arguments and the Grammar of Context

Unrealized Arguments and the Grammar of Context

Unrealized Arguments and the Grammar of Context

Authors:
Rui P. Chaves, University of Buffalo
Paul Kay, University of California, Berkeley
Laura A. Michaelis, University of Colorado Boulder
Published:
No date available
Format:
Adobe eBook Reader
ISBN:
9781009663809

    In null instantiation (NI) an optionally unexpressed argument receives either anaphoric or existential interpretation. One cannot accurately predict a predicator's NI potential based either on semantic factors (e.g., Aktionsart class of the verb) or pragmatic factors (e.g., relative discourse prominence of arguments), but NI potential, while highly constrained, is not simply lexical idiosyncrasy. It is instead the product of both lexical and constructional licensing. In the latter case, a construction can endow a verb with NI potential that it would not otherwise have. Using representational tools of sign based construction grammar, this Element offers a lexical treatment of English null instantiation that covers both distinct patterns of construal of null-instantiated arguments and the difference between listeme-based and contextually licensed, thus construction-based, null complementation.

    Product details

    No date available
    Adobe eBook Reader
    9781009663809
    75 pages
    229 × 152 mm

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Introduction
    • 2. Null instantiation
    • 3. Formalization
    • 4. Conclusion
    • References.
    Resources for
    Type
    Attestation
    Size: 165.85 KB
    Type: application/pdf
      Authors
    • Rui P. Chaves , University of Buffalo
    • Paul Kay , University of California, Berkeley
    • Laura A. Michaelis , University of Colorado Boulder