TY - CHAP
T1 - New semantic primes and new syntactic frames
T2 - "Specificational BE" and "abstract THIS/IT"
AU - Goddard, Cliff
AU - Wierzbicka, Anna
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - In this chapter we first propose a new semantic prime: specificational BE, i.e. BE (SOMEONE/SOMETHING). We then show how the new prime can be used to analyse some classic problems in the semantics of naming and reference, and make some initial observations about its cross-linguistic realisations. In the second part of the chapter, we explore a newly recognised syntactic option of the prime This, here termed "abstract THIS/IT", which is of particular importance to discourse anaphora. The third and final part of the chapter shows how using these new possibilities together enables improved analyses of certain English grammatical constructions, such as presentational "it-constructions", clefts, and specificational sentences.
AB - In this chapter we first propose a new semantic prime: specificational BE, i.e. BE (SOMEONE/SOMETHING). We then show how the new prime can be used to analyse some classic problems in the semantics of naming and reference, and make some initial observations about its cross-linguistic realisations. In the second part of the chapter, we explore a newly recognised syntactic option of the prime This, here termed "abstract THIS/IT", which is of particular importance to discourse anaphora. The third and final part of the chapter shows how using these new possibilities together enables improved analyses of certain English grammatical constructions, such as presentational "it-constructions", clefts, and specificational sentences.
KW - Linguistic Structures (incl Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics)
UR - http://books.google.com.au/books?id=RE9Ale7afmEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA35
UR - http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=SLCS%20102
UR - http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/33441556
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9789027205698
T3 - Studies in Language Companion Series (SLCS)
SP - 35
EP - 57
BT - Cross-Linguistic Semantics
A2 - Goddard, Cliff
PB - John Benjamins Publishing Company
CY - Amsterdam, Netherlands
ER -