Home Linguistics & Semiotics On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish

  • Bozena Cetnarowska
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Advances in the Syntax of DPs
This chapter is in the book Advances in the Syntax of DPs

Abstract

The article discusses adjectival modification in Polish, focusing on pre-head attributive adjectives. Pre-nominal position is often associated with qualifying (i.e. descriptive) modifiers while classifying modifiers (which express inherent properties of nouns) are typically assigned to the post-head position in Polish. Thus, the contrast arises between QualAdj+Noun and Noun+ClassAdj sequences, as illustrated by the expressions młoda foka ‘young seal’ (QualAdj+N) vs. foka szara ‘grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus )’ (N+ClassAdj). However, it is argued here that pre-nominal adjectives can be ambiguous between classifying and qualifying reading. The article considers also the question whether pre-nominal classifying adjectives can be regarded as informationally marked.

Abstract

The article discusses adjectival modification in Polish, focusing on pre-head attributive adjectives. Pre-nominal position is often associated with qualifying (i.e. descriptive) modifiers while classifying modifiers (which express inherent properties of nouns) are typically assigned to the post-head position in Polish. Thus, the contrast arises between QualAdj+Noun and Noun+ClassAdj sequences, as illustrated by the expressions młoda foka ‘young seal’ (QualAdj+N) vs. foka szara ‘grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus )’ (N+ClassAdj). However, it is argued here that pre-nominal adjectives can be ambiguous between classifying and qualifying reading. The article considers also the question whether pre-nominal classifying adjectives can be regarded as informationally marked.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. List of contributors ix
  4. List of abbreviations xi
  5. List of figures xiii
  6. Editors' note xv
  7. Preface xvii
  8. Introduction 1
  9. The overgeneration problem and the case of semipredicatives in Russian 13
  10. Polish equatives as symmetrical structures 61
  11. Syntactic (dis)agreement is not semantic agreement 95
  12. A Note on Oblique Case: Evidence from Serbian / Croatian 117
  13. The structure of null subject DPs and agreement in Polish impersonal constructions 129
  14. The feature geometry of generic inclusive null DPs in Hungarian 165
  15. Possessives within and beyond NP 193
  16. On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish 221
  17. Determiners and Possessives in Old English and Polish 247
  18. Agreement and definiteness in Germanic DPs 267
  19. Transparent free relatives 295
  20. Index 319
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.217.09cet

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. List of contributors ix
  4. List of abbreviations xi
  5. List of figures xiii
  6. Editors' note xv
  7. Preface xvii
  8. Introduction 1
  9. The overgeneration problem and the case of semipredicatives in Russian 13
  10. Polish equatives as symmetrical structures 61
  11. Syntactic (dis)agreement is not semantic agreement 95
  12. A Note on Oblique Case: Evidence from Serbian / Croatian 117
  13. The structure of null subject DPs and agreement in Polish impersonal constructions 129
  14. The feature geometry of generic inclusive null DPs in Hungarian 165
  15. Possessives within and beyond NP 193
  16. On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish 221
  17. Determiners and Possessives in Old English and Polish 247
  18. Agreement and definiteness in Germanic DPs 267
  19. Transparent free relatives 295
  20. Index 319
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 13.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/la.217.09cet/html
Scroll to top button