Syntactically Complex Demonstratives and Sortal Inherency
نویسنده
چکیده
Two problems related to the analysis of noun phrases in which demonstratives occur are discussed: (1) it is shown that there exists an infinite number of syntactically complex demonstrative noun phrases and thus an infinite number of noun phrases which are neither purely referential not purely quantificational, (2) some problems concerning the semantic role of the common noun to which demonstrative apply can be treated within the generalised quantifier theory. This can be done using the distinction between sortally inherent and sortally not inherent quantifiers.
منابع مشابه
Applying Constraints derived from the Context in the process of Incremental Sortal Specification of German ung-Nominalizations
Many German nominalizations with the affix -ung are sortally ambiguous. Within a sentence, lexico-semantic and/or syntactic phenomena may support disambiguation. The sortal interpretation of a nominalization may vary depending on the underlying syntactic analysis of one and the same, syntactically ambiguous sentence. We model the process of sortal disambiguation as a constraint-based incrementa...
متن کاملReference, perception, and attention
I examine John Campbell’s claim that the determination of the reference of a perceptual demonstrative requires conscious visual object-based selective attention. I argue that although Campbell’s claim to the effect that, first, a complex binding parameter is needed to establish the referent of a perceptual demonstrative, and, second, that this referent is determined independently of, and before...
متن کاملDemonstratives and DP Structure in Formosan Languages
This paper studies the noun phrase structure of Paiwan demonstratives by examining in detail the typology of demonstratives, possessives and numerals in Formosan languages. Four main issues are addressed: in Formosan languages (A) whether the word order variation in nominals may be best accounted for along the lines of the antisymmetry condition in Kayne (1994); (B) whether demonstratives, poss...
متن کاملComplex demonstratives as quantifiers: objections and replies
In ‘‘Complex Demonstratives: A Quantificational Account’’ (MIT Press 2001) (henceforth CD), I argued that complex demonstratives are quantifiers. Many philosophers had held that demonstratives, both simple and complex, are referring terms. Since the publication of CD various objections to the account of complex demonstratives I defended in it have been raised. In the present work, I lay out the...
متن کاملEros Corazza ‘she’ and ‘he’: Politically Correct Pronouns
It is argued that the pronouns ‘she’ and ‘he’ are disguised complex demonstratives of the form ‘that female/male’. Three theories of complex demonstratives are examined and shown to be committed to the view that ‘s/he’ turns out to be an empty term when used to refer to a hermaphrodite. A fourth theory of complex demonstratives, one that is hermaphrodite friendly, is proposed. It maintains that...
متن کامل