Syntactic realizations of plural in Romance and Germanic nominalizations
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Artemis Alexiadou
Abstract
This paper offers a syntactic account for the various ways in which Plural is expressed within Argument-Supporting Nominals (ASNs) in Romance and Germanic. We first show, starting from Romanian data, that pluralization is connected to aspectual properties like (a)telicity and (un)boundedness. These properties may be realized under the syntactic category of verbal Aspect, that of nominal Number, or encoded by a [±count] features on the nominal category Classifier.We then support our theory with a comparison between the Romanian Infinitive/Supine and Spanish Nominal Infinitives (SNIs). The latter are fully nominal, but lack plural and we relate this to a [–count] feature in their Classifier. The comparison with English also shows the relevance of inner Aspect to nominalizations. The picture we get allows a better understanding of morphological and syntactic processes at work in nominalizations and of their nominal and verbal properties.
Abstract
This paper offers a syntactic account for the various ways in which Plural is expressed within Argument-Supporting Nominals (ASNs) in Romance and Germanic. We first show, starting from Romanian data, that pluralization is connected to aspectual properties like (a)telicity and (un)boundedness. These properties may be realized under the syntactic category of verbal Aspect, that of nominal Number, or encoded by a [±count] features on the nominal category Classifier.We then support our theory with a comparison between the Romanian Infinitive/Supine and Spanish Nominal Infinitives (SNIs). The latter are fully nominal, but lack plural and we relate this to a [–count] feature in their Classifier. The comparison with English also shows the relevance of inner Aspect to nominalizations. The picture we get allows a better understanding of morphological and syntactic processes at work in nominalizations and of their nominal and verbal properties.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Editors’ introduction 1
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Part 1. Language contact and bilingualism
- Subject pronoun expression in bilinguals of two null subject languages 9
- Where are hiatuses left? 23
- Loanword adaptation in the French of Spanish-speaking immigrants in Montréal 39
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Part 2. Phonology and interfaces
- Morphology and phonology of word-final vowel deletion in spoken Tuscan Italian 57
- Relativization, intonational phrases and rich left peripheries 73
- Stress domain effects in French phonology and phonological development 89
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Part 3. Syntax and morphophonology
- Syntactic realizations of plural in Romance and Germanic nominalizations 107
- The syntax of Spanish parecer and the status of little pro 125
- Two types of (apparently) ditransitive light verb constructions 139
- Modal ellipsis in French, Spanish and Italian 157
- Optional prepositions in Brazilian Portuguese 171
- An apparent ‘number case constraint’ in Romanian 185
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Part 4. Semantics and morphology
- Generic bare singulars in Brazilian Portuguese 203
- Aspect shift in stative verbs and their arguments 217
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Part 5. Psycholinguistics
- Experimenting with wh -movement in Spanish 233
- How Spanish phonotactics informs psycholinuistic models of speech production 249
- Index 265
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Editors’ introduction 1
-
Part 1. Language contact and bilingualism
- Subject pronoun expression in bilinguals of two null subject languages 9
- Where are hiatuses left? 23
- Loanword adaptation in the French of Spanish-speaking immigrants in Montréal 39
-
Part 2. Phonology and interfaces
- Morphology and phonology of word-final vowel deletion in spoken Tuscan Italian 57
- Relativization, intonational phrases and rich left peripheries 73
- Stress domain effects in French phonology and phonological development 89
-
Part 3. Syntax and morphophonology
- Syntactic realizations of plural in Romance and Germanic nominalizations 107
- The syntax of Spanish parecer and the status of little pro 125
- Two types of (apparently) ditransitive light verb constructions 139
- Modal ellipsis in French, Spanish and Italian 157
- Optional prepositions in Brazilian Portuguese 171
- An apparent ‘number case constraint’ in Romanian 185
-
Part 4. Semantics and morphology
- Generic bare singulars in Brazilian Portuguese 203
- Aspect shift in stative verbs and their arguments 217
-
Part 5. Psycholinguistics
- Experimenting with wh -movement in Spanish 233
- How Spanish phonotactics informs psycholinuistic models of speech production 249
- Index 265
