The syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in Spanish
ABSTRACT In Spanish, combining an indefinite plural article and a cardinal number leads to an approximative interpretation similar to that provided by approximators like ‘approximately’. In this paper, we advance a syntactic and semantic analysis of these structures. We show that the construction sh...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo
2020-07-01
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| Series: | DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/pdf/delta/v36n1/1678-460X-delta-36-01-2020360104.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819229437447634944 |
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| author | Fernando Martín Carranza Carlos Muñoz Pérez |
| author_facet | Fernando Martín Carranza Carlos Muñoz Pérez |
| author_sort | Fernando Martín Carranza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT In Spanish, combining an indefinite plural article and a cardinal number leads to an approximative interpretation similar to that provided by approximators like ‘approximately’. In this paper, we advance a syntactic and semantic analysis of these structures. We show that the construction shares a number of properties with structures containing explicit approximative elements, so it justified to assume that a particular constituent contributes the approximative meaning. We propose that an approximative morpheme Approx is combined with the cardinal number; the morphological realization of this morpheme is as the plural affix on the indefinite article. We advance a denotation for Approx, and elaborate the necessary assumptions on the functioning of numerals for our analysis to work at a general level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:13:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4f4d28e0de2b49f38dcf44d7bf47fab8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1678-460X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:13:10Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada |
| spelling | doaj.art-4f4d28e0de2b49f38dcf44d7bf47fab82022-12-21T17:49:17ZengPontifícia Universidade Católica de São PauloDELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada1678-460X2020-07-0136110.1590/1678-460x2020360104The syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in SpanishFernando Martín Carranzahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8555-1332Carlos Muñoz Pérezhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5172-3589ABSTRACT In Spanish, combining an indefinite plural article and a cardinal number leads to an approximative interpretation similar to that provided by approximators like ‘approximately’. In this paper, we advance a syntactic and semantic analysis of these structures. We show that the construction shares a number of properties with structures containing explicit approximative elements, so it justified to assume that a particular constituent contributes the approximative meaning. We propose that an approximative morpheme Approx is combined with the cardinal number; the morphological realization of this morpheme is as the plural affix on the indefinite article. We advance a denotation for Approx, and elaborate the necessary assumptions on the functioning of numerals for our analysis to work at a general level.http://www.scielo.br/pdf/delta/v36n1/1678-460X-delta-36-01-2020360104.pdfcardinal numbersindefinitesapproximativesSpanish |
| spellingShingle | Fernando Martín Carranza Carlos Muñoz Pérez The syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in Spanish DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada cardinal numbers indefinites approximatives Spanish |
| title | The syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in Spanish |
| title_full | The syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in Spanish |
| title_fullStr | The syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in Spanish |
| title_full_unstemmed | The syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in Spanish |
| title_short | The syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in Spanish |
| title_sort | syntax and semantics of approximate indefinites in spanish |
| topic | cardinal numbers indefinites approximatives Spanish |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/pdf/delta/v36n1/1678-460X-delta-36-01-2020360104.pdf |
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