A comparative perspective on intensive reflexives
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Dana Cohen
Abstract
Position variability is one of the defining properties of intensive reflexives (IRs). This distributional pattern often leads to isomorphic, even polysemous treatments. This paper presents a unified account of IRs based on the examination of IRs in English and Hebrew. The proposed analysis establishes a single core function for the expression, the establishment of comparison. This core function involves a set of relations (inclusion, exclusion and scalarity) that bear the status of conversational implicatures in this construction. It is argued that the choice of IR position marks scope differences and signals variations in information structure. Despite various morpho-syntactic differences between the languages, the proposed analysis is shown to account for the function of IRs in English and Hebrew alike.
Abstract
Position variability is one of the defining properties of intensive reflexives (IRs). This distributional pattern often leads to isomorphic, even polysemous treatments. This paper presents a unified account of IRs based on the examination of IRs in English and Hebrew. The proposed analysis establishes a single core function for the expression, the establishment of comparison. This core function involves a set of relations (inclusion, exclusion and scalarity) that bear the status of conversational implicatures in this construction. It is argued that the choice of IR position marks scope differences and signals variations in information structure. Despite various morpho-syntactic differences between the languages, the proposed analysis is shown to account for the function of IRs in English and Hebrew alike.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface VII
- List of contributors IX
- List of abbreviations XI
- Introduction 1
- Contrastive topics and distributed foci as instances of sub-informativity 15
- Givenness and discourse anaphors 51
- Constraints on subject-focus mapping in French and English 77
- Wh -questions in French and English 101
- A comparative perspective on intensive reflexives 139
- Focus types and argument asymmetries 169
- Topicality in L1-acquisition 199
- Formal and functional constraints on constituent order and their universality 231
- On the foundations of the contrastive study of information structure 277
- Subject index 305
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface VII
- List of contributors IX
- List of abbreviations XI
- Introduction 1
- Contrastive topics and distributed foci as instances of sub-informativity 15
- Givenness and discourse anaphors 51
- Constraints on subject-focus mapping in French and English 77
- Wh -questions in French and English 101
- A comparative perspective on intensive reflexives 139
- Focus types and argument asymmetries 169
- Topicality in L1-acquisition 199
- Formal and functional constraints on constituent order and their universality 231
- On the foundations of the contrastive study of information structure 277
- Subject index 305
