Ambiguous adjectives in French: the case of “gros” when combined with deverbal nouns
In this paper, I analysed the interaction between the French adjective “gros” and -eur deverbal nouns. This adjective gives rise to a preferred non-intersective reading when it is in a prenominal position, but only an intersective reading when it appears after the noun. I claim that it is necessary...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2016-12-01
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| Series: | Linguistica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/linguistica/article/view/7213 |
| Summary: | In this paper, I analysed the interaction between the French adjective “gros” and -eur deverbal nouns. This adjective gives rise to a preferred non-intersective reading when it is in a prenominal position, but only an intersective reading when it appears after the noun. I claim that it is necessary to take into account both the semantics of the adjective and the semantics of the noun to account for the ambiguity present at the DP-level (a “blame both” analysis). An abstract operator, eur, is always present within deverbal nouns such as “fumeur” (“smoker”), and is partially responsible for the interpretation of the DP: if the adjective is within the scope of this operator, the DP will assume a non-intersective reading, whereas when it is outside of its scope, the DP bears an intersective interpretation. The adjective “gros” itself actually has two semantic values: one modifies the event argument present in deverbal nouns, and the other modifies the individual argument of the noun (the agent of the verbal root). |
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| ISSN: | 0024-3922 2350-420X |