Nominal categories and the expression of possession
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Catherine O’Connor
Abstract
In this cross-linguistic study we present parallels between (a) the stochastic patterns found in corpus studies of English prenominal possessives, and (b) the rule-governed, categorical features of a highly constrained prenominal possessive construction found in some Germanic, Slavic, and Romance languages. The well-known English tendency for prenominal possessor NPs to be low-weight, animate, and discourse-old or highly accessible corresponds to categorical requirements in what we call the Monolexemic Possessor Construction (MLP). This construction is recognizable by its pre-nominal, one-word, animate possessor that is highly accessible in the discourse context. We identify an accessibility hierarchy of nominal categories in which the MLP can be expressed. This hierarchy is consistent with all 17 languages with MLPs we have found. We show that this accessibility hierarchy (pronoun‹ proper noun‹ kinship term‹ common noun) is a function of the intrinsic discourse-pragmatic features of these nominal categories. While the categorical restriction to pronoun and proper noun possessors in Icelandic, German, and Russian may be largely grammaticized, we show that the discourse-pragmatic constraint is recognizably active in Czech and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian. These results complement studies that attempt to understand how language structure responds to communicative forces and processing constraints.
Abstract
In this cross-linguistic study we present parallels between (a) the stochastic patterns found in corpus studies of English prenominal possessives, and (b) the rule-governed, categorical features of a highly constrained prenominal possessive construction found in some Germanic, Slavic, and Romance languages. The well-known English tendency for prenominal possessor NPs to be low-weight, animate, and discourse-old or highly accessible corresponds to categorical requirements in what we call the Monolexemic Possessor Construction (MLP). This construction is recognizable by its pre-nominal, one-word, animate possessor that is highly accessible in the discourse context. We identify an accessibility hierarchy of nominal categories in which the MLP can be expressed. This hierarchy is consistent with all 17 languages with MLPs we have found. We show that this accessibility hierarchy (pronoun‹ proper noun‹ kinship term‹ common noun) is a function of the intrinsic discourse-pragmatic features of these nominal categories. While the categorical restriction to pronoun and proper noun possessors in Icelandic, German, and Russian may be largely grammaticized, we show that the discourse-pragmatic constraint is recognizably active in Czech and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian. These results complement studies that attempt to understand how language structure responds to communicative forces and processing constraints.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
- Dealing with postmodified possessors in early English 1
- Variation in the form and function of the possessive morpheme in Late Middle and Early Modern English 35
- The great regression 59
- Nominal categories and the expression of possession 89
- Expression of possession in English 123
- A cognitive analysis of John’s hat 149
- The oblique genitive in English 177
- The marker of the English “Group Genitive” is a special clitic, not an inflection 193
- Two prenominal possessors in West Flemish 219
- A Mozart sonata and the Palme murder 253
- Possessive clitics and ezafe in Urdu 291
- References 323
- Index 339
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
- Dealing with postmodified possessors in early English 1
- Variation in the form and function of the possessive morpheme in Late Middle and Early Modern English 35
- The great regression 59
- Nominal categories and the expression of possession 89
- Expression of possession in English 123
- A cognitive analysis of John’s hat 149
- The oblique genitive in English 177
- The marker of the English “Group Genitive” is a special clitic, not an inflection 193
- Two prenominal possessors in West Flemish 219
- A Mozart sonata and the Palme murder 253
- Possessive clitics and ezafe in Urdu 291
- References 323
- Index 339
