On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish
-
Bozena Cetnarowska
Abstract
The article discusses adjectival modification in Polish, focusing on pre-head attributive adjectives. Pre-nominal position is often associated with qualifying (i.e. descriptive) modifiers while classifying modifiers (which express inherent properties of nouns) are typically assigned to the post-head position in Polish. Thus, the contrast arises between QualAdj+Noun and Noun+ClassAdj sequences, as illustrated by the expressions młoda foka ‘young seal’ (QualAdj+N) vs. foka szara ‘grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus )’ (N+ClassAdj). However, it is argued here that pre-nominal adjectives can be ambiguous between classifying and qualifying reading. The article considers also the question whether pre-nominal classifying adjectives can be regarded as informationally marked.
Abstract
The article discusses adjectival modification in Polish, focusing on pre-head attributive adjectives. Pre-nominal position is often associated with qualifying (i.e. descriptive) modifiers while classifying modifiers (which express inherent properties of nouns) are typically assigned to the post-head position in Polish. Thus, the contrast arises between QualAdj+Noun and Noun+ClassAdj sequences, as illustrated by the expressions młoda foka ‘young seal’ (QualAdj+N) vs. foka szara ‘grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus )’ (N+ClassAdj). However, it is argued here that pre-nominal adjectives can be ambiguous between classifying and qualifying reading. The article considers also the question whether pre-nominal classifying adjectives can be regarded as informationally marked.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- List of abbreviations xi
- List of figures xiii
- Editors' note xv
- Preface xvii
- Introduction 1
- The overgeneration problem and the case of semipredicatives in Russian 13
- Polish equatives as symmetrical structures 61
- Syntactic (dis)agreement is not semantic agreement 95
- A Note on Oblique Case: Evidence from Serbian / Croatian 117
- The structure of null subject DPs and agreement in Polish impersonal constructions 129
- The feature geometry of generic inclusive null DPs in Hungarian 165
- Possessives within and beyond NP 193
- On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish 221
- Determiners and Possessives in Old English and Polish 247
- Agreement and definiteness in Germanic DPs 267
- Transparent free relatives 295
- Index 319
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- List of abbreviations xi
- List of figures xiii
- Editors' note xv
- Preface xvii
- Introduction 1
- The overgeneration problem and the case of semipredicatives in Russian 13
- Polish equatives as symmetrical structures 61
- Syntactic (dis)agreement is not semantic agreement 95
- A Note on Oblique Case: Evidence from Serbian / Croatian 117
- The structure of null subject DPs and agreement in Polish impersonal constructions 129
- The feature geometry of generic inclusive null DPs in Hungarian 165
- Possessives within and beyond NP 193
- On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish 221
- Determiners and Possessives in Old English and Polish 247
- Agreement and definiteness in Germanic DPs 267
- Transparent free relatives 295
- Index 319
