bare predication
DESCRIPTION
Bare predication. Bert Le Bruyn BKL Taaldag. Topic. I am linguist. a. Facts. Marie is een meisje. Marie est une fille. Mary is a girl Marie is meisje. Marie est fille. Mary is a girl Most nouns seem to require the indefinite article in predicate position. ???. ???. Facts. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Bare predication
Bert Le BruynBKL Taaldag
Topic
I am linguist.a
Facts
Marie is een meisje.Marie est une fille.Mary is a girl
Marie is meisje.Marie est fille.Mary is a girl
Most nouns seem to require the indefinite article in predicate position.
???
???
Facts
Sil is beenhouwer.Sil est boucher.Sil is butcher
There is a class of nouns that, on their unmarked use, do not take the indefinite article in predicate position.
Research questions
Why do most nouns need the indefinite article ?
What is so special about nouns like ‘butcher’?
Silent hope: The answer to the second question might lead
to an answer to the first question.
Facts
‘Butcher’ nouns typically include professions, ‘religion names’ and nationalities:
Jan is moslim. Jean est musulman.
John is muslim
Marie is Belg. Marie est Belge.
Mary is Belgian
Cross-linguistic validity (SWZ 2007)
SPANISH Es negrero.
is trader_in_black_slavesPORTUGUESE João é médico.
John is doctor
Cross-linguistic validity (SWZ 2007)
ITALIAN Gianni è dottore.
John is doctorDANISH Olivier var skuespiller.
Oliver was actor
Cross-linguistic validity (SWZ 2007)
SWEDISH Herr Weber är katolik.
Mr Weber is catholicNORWEGIAN Han er lærer.
he is teacher
Claims
‘bare predication nouns’ cannot be distinguished from ‘non-bare predication nouns’ by temporal means
the distinction between ‘bare predication nouns’ and ‘non-bare predication nouns’ is not lexical
the distinction between bare predication and non-bare predication is one between ‘accidental’ and ‘inherent’ predication.
Claims
‘bare predication nouns’ cannot be distinguished from ‘non-bare predication nouns’ by temporal means
the distinction between ‘bare predication nouns’ and ‘non-bare predication nouns’ is not lexical
the distinction between bare predication and non-bare predication is one between ‘accidental’ and ‘inherent’ predication.
Bare predication and time
Two proposals: Bare predication is transient whereas non-
bare predication is permanent. Bare predication is linked to ‘splittable’
events whereas non-bare predication is linked to ‘non-splittable’ events (Roy 2006)
Bare predication and time
Two proposals: Bare predication is transient whereas
non-bare predication is permanent. Bare predication is linked to ‘splittable’
events whereas non-bare predication is linked to ‘non-splittable’ events. (Roy 2006)
Transient vs. permanent
(a)Paul was dokter.Paul était médecin.Paul was doctor
(b)Paul was een dokter.Paul était un médecin.Paul was a doctor
(c)Marie is een kind.Marie est un enfant.Mary is a child
The transient vs. permanent
distinction is not correct.
(Roy 2006, SWZ 2007)
Bare predication and time
Two proposals: Bare predication is transient whereas non-
bare predication is permanent. Bare predication is linked to ‘splittable’
events whereas non-bare predication is linked to ‘non-splittable’ events. (Roy 2006)
Roy (2006)
No difference between nouns, everything is in the syntax.
| | | |
All nouns come with an event argument that has to be bound
- by Tense
- by Indefinite article
Signals that the predication is linked to the reference time (in the broad sense)
Signals that the predication is linked to the reference time (in the broad sense) and that the reference time cannot be split up into smaller intervals.
Roy (2006)
Jean est professeur le jour, danseur la nuit.John is teacher by day, dancer at night
*Jean est un professeur le jour, un danseur la nuit.John is a teacher by day, a dancer at night
Paul est devenu chanteur.Paul has become singer
*Paul est devenu un chanteur.Paul is become singer
day | night | day | night |…
not singer | singer
Roy (2006)
Roy (2006)
Marie is meisje.Marie est fille.Mary is a girl
These sentences are strange because the property of being a girl is not likely to change within the time of reference.
Semantics + world knowledge
Predication with the indefinite article can never appear in by day / by night and become sentences…
… and pragmatic plausibility does not play a role.
event-non-splittability ~ indefinite article
Prediction
FalsificationLa chenille est devenue un papillon.The caterpillar has become a butterfly
In Lady Hawke is Rutger Hauer ‘s nachts een wolf en overdag een mens.In Lady Hawke is Rutger Hauer by night a wolf and by day a man
SEMANTICS IS NOT ON
THE RIGHT TRACK
Roy (2006)
Claims
‘bare predication nouns’ cannot be distinguished from ‘non-bare predication nouns’ by temporal means
the distinction between ‘bare predication nouns’ and ‘non-bare predication nouns’ is not lexical
the distinction between bare predication and non-bare predication is one between ‘accidental’ and ‘inherent’ predication.
Claims
‘bare predication nouns’ cannot be distinguished from ‘non-bare predication nouns’ by temporal means
the distinction between ‘bare predication nouns’ and ‘non-bare predication nouns’ is not lexical
the distinction between bare predication and non-bare predication is one between ‘accidental’ and ‘inherent’ predication.
Bare predication and the lexicon
(i) All nouns can appear in non-bare predication.
(ii) All nouns can appear in bare predication.
Even though this does not exclude a lexical approach it makes it less appealing.
Bare predication and the lexicon
Sil is beenhouwer. Sil est boucher.
Sil is butcher
Sly is een beenhouwer. Sly est un boucher
Sly is a butcher
(SWZ 2007)
‘bare predication nominals’
Bare predication and the lexicon‘non-bare predication nominals’
Only +human nouns are allowed to occur in bare predication.
‘Kind nouns’ can never occur in bare predication.
(Matushansky & Spector 2005, SWZ 2007)
(Kupferman 1991, Roy 2006)
wolf
ex. White Fang is een wolf.Croc-Blanc est un loup.WF is a wolf
ex. Ik ben wolf.Je suis loup.I am wolf
“I play the part of wolve”“WF belongs to the kind wolf”
Bare predication and the lexicon
‘They usually [...] denote specific roles in society: professions, religions or nationalities. Other nominals (non-human or human) that are not related to such roles generally resist taking up a bare nominal position.’ (SWZ 2007)
→ World knowledge seems to be a better candidate than the lexicon.
Claims
‘bare predication nouns’ cannot be distinguished from ‘non-bare predication nouns’ by temporal means
the distinction between ‘bare predication nouns’ and ‘non-bare predication nouns’ is not lexical
the distinction between bare predication and non-bare predication is one between ‘accidental’ and ‘inherent’ predication.
Claims
‘bare predication nouns’ cannot be distinguished from ‘non-bare predication nouns’ by temporal means
the distinction between ‘bare predication nouns’ and ‘non-bare predication nouns’ is not lexical
the distinction between bare predication and non-bare predication is one between ‘accidental’ and ‘inherent’ predication.
The proposal
General idea: the indefinite article is a marker of kind-membership predication
-Background on kinds
-Background on articles
-Why kind-membership predication has to go with the indefinite article
-Kind-membership and bare predication
ex. White Fang is een wolf.Croc-Blanc est un loup.WF is a wolf
“WF belongs to the kind wolf”
Background on kinds
giraffesthe giraffes that come and eat here every day
If at least two individuals show the same non-accidental behaviour they qualify as a kind in a given world.
Non-accidental behaviour
At least two
Dodos are extinct.
Intuitive but not unproblematic.
→ can be avoided if we take into account possible worlds
Background on articles
Marking uniquenessIn languages that distinguish between a definite and an indefinite article the definite article (in the singular) is marked for uniqueness whereas the indefinite article is unmarked.
I saw the teacher.I saw a teacher.
Absence of articles
Only possible in predicate position.
Absence of articles: unmarked for uniqueness
Background on articles
both constructions are unmarked for uniqueness
both pragmatically imply non-uniqueness
wherever both (i.e. in predicate position) are possible the construction with the indefinite article marks non-uniqueness
(marked form linked to marked meaning)
Bare vs. article
Why kind-membership has to go with the indefinite article
Kinds are sets of at least two elements.
Bare predication is unmarked for uniqueness / non-uniqueness.
Kind-membership predication is sensitive to the uniqueness / non-uniqueness contrast.
bare predication
indefinite article
Kind-membership and bare predication
-teacher
-plumber
-jew
-catholic
-...
-wolf
-dog
-sock
-building
-...
+ indefinite article - indefinite article
Non-accidental Accidental
Constraint on kinds!
Further research
Mijn vader is diabeticus.My father is diabeticnoun
Google: 56 bare vs. 7 non-bare Mijn vader is alcoholieker.
My father is alcoholic
Google: 43 bare vs. 8 non-bare Mijn vader is drugsverslaafde.
My father is drug addict
Google: 171 bare vs. 172 non-bare Mijn vader is drinker.
My father is drinker
Google: 6 bare vs. 364 non-bare