Location and locality
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Henk van Riemsdijk
Abstract
We examine spatial semantics, take notions such as location and change of location to be basic, and address the question of whether these notions are reflected in syntax and morphology. We state that there are indeed languages in which there is a direct grammatical correlate of location and path. Accordingly, we take the abstract structure of a spatial phrase in the verbal domain to be [V’ Vo [PP DIRo [P’ LOCo [N’ No ]]]]. The goal of this paper is to present new evidence for such a structure based on locality considerations. A robust notion of locality (heads involved in a syntactic relation R must be hierarchically adjacent) provides the following predictions: vR(V,PDIR), vR(PDIR,PLOC), vR(PLOC,N), *R(V,PLOC), *R(PDIR,N), *R(V,N).
Abstract
We examine spatial semantics, take notions such as location and change of location to be basic, and address the question of whether these notions are reflected in syntax and morphology. We state that there are indeed languages in which there is a direct grammatical correlate of location and path. Accordingly, we take the abstract structure of a spatial phrase in the verbal domain to be [V’ Vo [PP DIRo [P’ LOCo [N’ No ]]]]. The goal of this paper is to present new evidence for such a structure based on locality considerations. A robust notion of locality (heads involved in a syntactic relation R must be hierarchically adjacent) provides the following predictions: vR(V,PDIR), vR(PDIR,PLOC), vR(PLOC,N), *R(V,PLOC), *R(PDIR,N), *R(V,N).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Phrasal and clausal architecture 1
- Restructuring and clausal architecture in Kannada 8
- The position of adverbials 25
- Bare, generic, mass, and referential Arabic DPs 40
- The possessor raising construction and the interpretation of subject 66
- Syntactic labels and their derivations 93
- Separating “Focus Movement” from Focus 108
- In search for Phases 146
- Wh-movement, interpretation, and optionality in Persian 167
- Structure preservingness, internal Merge, and the strict locality of triads 188
- Using description to teach (about) prescription 206
- ‘More complicated and hence, rarer’ 221
- Prescriptive grammar 243
- The syntax of valuation and the interpretability of features 262
- Linear sequencing strategies or UG-defined hierarchical structures in L2 acquisition? 295
- Minimalism vs. organic syntax 319
- Location and locality 339
- Conceptual space 365
- ‘Adjunct theta-roles’ and the configurational determination of roles 396
- Author index 412
- Subject index 417
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Phrasal and clausal architecture 1
- Restructuring and clausal architecture in Kannada 8
- The position of adverbials 25
- Bare, generic, mass, and referential Arabic DPs 40
- The possessor raising construction and the interpretation of subject 66
- Syntactic labels and their derivations 93
- Separating “Focus Movement” from Focus 108
- In search for Phases 146
- Wh-movement, interpretation, and optionality in Persian 167
- Structure preservingness, internal Merge, and the strict locality of triads 188
- Using description to teach (about) prescription 206
- ‘More complicated and hence, rarer’ 221
- Prescriptive grammar 243
- The syntax of valuation and the interpretability of features 262
- Linear sequencing strategies or UG-defined hierarchical structures in L2 acquisition? 295
- Minimalism vs. organic syntax 319
- Location and locality 339
- Conceptual space 365
- ‘Adjunct theta-roles’ and the configurational determination of roles 396
- Author index 412
- Subject index 417
