The Underlying Representation of the Tough Construction in English
نویسنده
چکیده
In this paper, we adopt the theoretical framework of Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) (Bresnan 1982a, Dalrymple et al. 1995) and propose an analysis of the tough construction in English. Our analysis is first presented as one which accounts for two kinds of tough sentences in English, i.e. those with a tough adjective complementing the copula be, and those with a tough noun complementing the copula be. For this purpose, we briefly review Yamamoto (1996) and point out two problems. One concerns the explanation of instances of tough sentences involving tough nouns, and the other, the syntax and semantics of the copular verb be and its complements. Then we go on to present our analysis of the tough construction in English which overcomes difficulties in Yamamoto's analysis. Next, we discuss yet another kind of tough sentence, as noted in Suzuki (1976), where a PP appears as the complement of the copula be. We point out that there are shared properties underlying the surface variations in the three kinds of tough sentences mentioned above.
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