John Benjamins Publishing Company
Depictive secondary predicates in Spanish and the relative/absolute distinction
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Abstract
This study accounts for the unacceptability of individual-level gradable adjectives as (depictive) secondary predicates on the basis of two factors: (a) the semantics of gradable adjectives—specifically the way their comparison classes are formed in the syntax, giving rise to the difference between relative/absolute adjectives; (b) the pragmatic inference of temporal persistence that characterizes IL predicates. Absolute adjectives are evaluated with respect to a comparison class composed of counterparts (stages) of an individual, so that the property they express must be interpreted as subject to variation. Therefore, the inference of temporal persistence which seems to be at the basis of the individual-level character of predicates does not arise, giving rise to the stage-level interpretation that absolute adjectives receive. The inference of temporal persistence arises by default in the case of relative adjectives since in the comparison class selected by these adjectives there are no stages (of an individual) instantiating different degrees of the property but just different individuals manifesting different degrees of it. The inference of temporal persistence associated with relative adjectives makes the simultaneity constraint required by secondary predication contexts (McNally 1994) trivial and uninformative. As a consequence, only absolute adjectives are allowed in this syntactic environment.
Abstract
This study accounts for the unacceptability of individual-level gradable adjectives as (depictive) secondary predicates on the basis of two factors: (a) the semantics of gradable adjectives—specifically the way their comparison classes are formed in the syntax, giving rise to the difference between relative/absolute adjectives; (b) the pragmatic inference of temporal persistence that characterizes IL predicates. Absolute adjectives are evaluated with respect to a comparison class composed of counterparts (stages) of an individual, so that the property they express must be interpreted as subject to variation. Therefore, the inference of temporal persistence which seems to be at the basis of the individual-level character of predicates does not arise, giving rise to the stage-level interpretation that absolute adjectives receive. The inference of temporal persistence arises by default in the case of relative adjectives since in the comparison class selected by these adjectives there are no stages (of an individual) instantiating different degrees of the property but just different individuals manifesting different degrees of it. The inference of temporal persistence associated with relative adjectives makes the simultaneity constraint required by secondary predication contexts (McNally 1994) trivial and uninformative. As a consequence, only absolute adjectives are allowed in this syntactic environment.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
- Root gerunds in Old Romanian 1
- Old French possessives and ellipsis 21
- The generalization of preposition para via fusion and ensuing loss of compositionality 39
- On capacities and their epistemic extensions 59
- Beyond the subject DP versus the subject pronoun divide in agreement switches 79
- Epistemic adverbs, the prosody-syntax interface, and the theory of phases 99
- Romanian tough-constructions and multi-headed constituents 119
- Depictive secondary predicates in Spanish and the relative/absolute distinction 139
- Gender agreement with animate nouns in French 159
- French loanwords in Korean 177
- Affirmative polar replies in Brazilian Portuguese 195
- Participle fronting and clause structure in Old and Middle French 213
- “Toned-up” Spanish 233
- On null objects and ellipses in Brazilian Portuguese 257
- Age effects and the discrimination of consonantal and vocalic contrasts in heritage and native Spanish 277
- The linguistic competence of second-generation bilinguals 301
- The X 0 syntax of “dative” clitics and the make-up of clitic combinations in Gallo-Romance 321
- Some notes on falloir , devoir , and the theory of control 341
- The phonology of postverbal pronouns in Romance languages 361
- From N to particle 379
- Marsican deixis and the nature of indexical syntax 399
- Index 415
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
- Root gerunds in Old Romanian 1
- Old French possessives and ellipsis 21
- The generalization of preposition para via fusion and ensuing loss of compositionality 39
- On capacities and their epistemic extensions 59
- Beyond the subject DP versus the subject pronoun divide in agreement switches 79
- Epistemic adverbs, the prosody-syntax interface, and the theory of phases 99
- Romanian tough-constructions and multi-headed constituents 119
- Depictive secondary predicates in Spanish and the relative/absolute distinction 139
- Gender agreement with animate nouns in French 159
- French loanwords in Korean 177
- Affirmative polar replies in Brazilian Portuguese 195
- Participle fronting and clause structure in Old and Middle French 213
- “Toned-up” Spanish 233
- On null objects and ellipses in Brazilian Portuguese 257
- Age effects and the discrimination of consonantal and vocalic contrasts in heritage and native Spanish 277
- The linguistic competence of second-generation bilinguals 301
- The X 0 syntax of “dative” clitics and the make-up of clitic combinations in Gallo-Romance 321
- Some notes on falloir , devoir , and the theory of control 341
- The phonology of postverbal pronouns in Romance languages 361
- From N to particle 379
- Marsican deixis and the nature of indexical syntax 399
- Index 415
