On Light Nouns
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Raffaele Simone
Abstract
This paper investigates the hypothesis that word classes are not homogeneous, but rather complex sets of entities with (partially) different properties that can be arranged along a scale. Whereas much work has been done on subclasses of verbs, and on scales of ‘verbiness’ (e.g., full-fledged verbs vs. verbs with a grammatical function), less attention has been paid to scales of ‘nouniness’. This paper focuses on a set of nouns – called ‘Light Nouns’ here – that occur as N1 in binominal constructions of the N1 of N2 type in languages such as Italian, English, and French. In this position Light Nouns tend to lose their lexical content and take on a more grammatical meaning that serves to modify N2. We discuss various types of Light Nouns (among which Taxonomic Nouns, Approximators, Quantifiers, and Support Nouns), measure their referentiality according to a set of parameters, and finally rank them along a scale.
Abstract
This paper investigates the hypothesis that word classes are not homogeneous, but rather complex sets of entities with (partially) different properties that can be arranged along a scale. Whereas much work has been done on subclasses of verbs, and on scales of ‘verbiness’ (e.g., full-fledged verbs vs. verbs with a grammatical function), less attention has been paid to scales of ‘nouniness’. This paper focuses on a set of nouns – called ‘Light Nouns’ here – that occur as N1 in binominal constructions of the N1 of N2 type in languages such as Italian, English, and French. In this position Light Nouns tend to lose their lexical content and take on a more grammatical meaning that serves to modify N2. We discuss various types of Light Nouns (among which Taxonomic Nouns, Approximators, Quantifiers, and Support Nouns), measure their referentiality according to a set of parameters, and finally rank them along a scale.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
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PART I. Types of word classes
- Carving verb classes from corpora 17
- Classes of creation verbs 37
- On Light Nouns 51
- The ‘new adjectives’ of Tswana 75
- The Chinese adjective as a word class 95
- Qualifying modifier encoding and adjectival typology 119
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PART II. Minor and neglected word classes
- Hungarian is a classifier language 141
- Cardinal numerals 161
- On the borders of neglected word classes 181
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PART III. Across word classes
- Between adjective and noun 203
- On decategorization and its relevance in German 227
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PART IV. Radical views: Do we really need word classes?
- Word-class features and reduplicative meaning 245
- Half and other unique words 263
- Index of languages 283
- Index of names 285
- Index of subjects 289
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
-
PART I. Types of word classes
- Carving verb classes from corpora 17
- Classes of creation verbs 37
- On Light Nouns 51
- The ‘new adjectives’ of Tswana 75
- The Chinese adjective as a word class 95
- Qualifying modifier encoding and adjectival typology 119
-
PART II. Minor and neglected word classes
- Hungarian is a classifier language 141
- Cardinal numerals 161
- On the borders of neglected word classes 181
-
PART III. Across word classes
- Between adjective and noun 203
- On decategorization and its relevance in German 227
-
PART IV. Radical views: Do we really need word classes?
- Word-class features and reduplicative meaning 245
- Half and other unique words 263
- Index of languages 283
- Index of names 285
- Index of subjects 289
