The Role of Dimensions in the Syntax of Noun Phrases

An extended noun phrase may contain an expression that describes some dimension. Weight is described by each of the prenominal expressions in heavy rock, too much ballast, 2 pound rock, 2 pounds of rocks. The central claim of this paper is that the position of these types of expressions within the noun phrase limits the kinds of dimensions they may describe. The limitations have to do with whether or not the dimension tracks relevant part-whole relations. An analogy is made between these constraints and the well-known constraints on thematic relations that are incurred by the position of a noun phrase in a clause. A proposal is made about the meanings of expressions like too much and 2 pounds which explains their common cross-categorial distribution and this informs the analysis of their use in noun phrases. A position is taken on the meaning of the count mass distinction which, in conjunction with the hypothesis about dimensions, explains asymmetries in the distribution of prenominal adjectives with count and mass nouns.

[1]  U. Shlonsky.  Quantifiers as functional heads: A study of quantifier float in Hebrew , 1991 .

[2]  Richard Montague,et al.  Comments on Moravcsik’s Paper , 1973 .

[3]  Roberto Zamparelli,et al.  A Theory of Kinds, Partitives and of/z Possessives , 1998 .

[4]  Joan Bresnan,et al.  Syntax of the Comparative Clause Construction in English , 1973 .

[5]  Frank Nuessel,et al.  X̄ syntax: a study of phrase structure. Linguistic Inquiry Monograph Two: Ray Jackendoff, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1977. xii, 249 pp. $11.50 (subscribers to Linguistic Inquiry pay $9.50). , 1979 .

[6]  Richard Montague.  The Proper Treatment of Mass Terms in English , 1973 .

[7]  Guglielmo Cinque,et al.  On the Evidence for Partial N-Movement in the Romance DP , 1993 .

[8]  Renate Bartsch.  The grammar of adverbials : a study in the semantics and syntax of adverbial constructions , 1976 .

[9]  Harry Bunt,et al.  Mass Terms and Model-Theoretic Semantics , 1985 .

[10]  Joost Zwarts,et al.  Vectors as Relative Positions: A Compositional Semantics of Modified PPs1 , 1997, J. Semant..

[11]  Louisa Sadler,et al.  Prenominal adjectives and the phrasal/lexical distinction , 1994, Journal of Linguistics.

[12]  J. Barwise,et al.  Generalized quantifiers and natural language , 1981 .

[13]  R. Vos.  LAS CONSTRUCCIONES DE CUANTIFICADOR NOMINAL EN HOLANDÉS Y ESPAÑOL , 2002 .

[14]  Peter Coopmans,et al.  Lexical specification and insertion , 2000 .

[15]  Halldor Armann Sigurðsson,et al.  THE STRUCTURE OF THE ICELANDIC NP , 1993 .

[16]  Liliana Sánchez,et al.  Syntactic structures in nominals : a comparative study of Spanish and Southern Quechua , 1996 .

[17]  Giuliana Giusti,et al.  The Categorial status of Determiners , 1997 .

[18]  David Adger,et al.  Functional Heads and Interpretation , 1994 .

[19]  A. Bello,et al.  Gramatica de la lengua castellana destinada al uso de los americanos , 1887 .

[20]  Manfred Krifka,et al.  Nominal Reference, Temporal Constitution and Quantification in Event Semantics , 1989 .

[21]  Chung-Ying Cheng.  Comments on Moravcsik’s Paper , 1973 .

[22]  Willard Van Orman Quine,et al.  Word and Object , 1960 .

[23]  English Adjective-Noun Compounds And Related Constructions , 2002 .

[24]  Peter A. Machonis.  Syntax of Idioms , 2004 .

[25]  Norbert Corver,et al.  Predicate Movement in Pseudopartitive Constructions , 1998 .

[26]  Kimiko Nakanishi,et al.  Domains of measurement: Formal properties of non -split /split quantifier constructions , 2004 .

[27]  W. Klooster.  The structure underlying measure phrase sentences , 1972 .

[28]  Jane Grimshaw,et al.  Words and Structure , 2004 .

[29]  Christopher Kennedy,et al.  Polar Opposition and the Ontology of ‘Degrees’ , 2001 .

[30]  H. M. Vos,et al.  A Grammar of Partitive Constructions , 1999 .

[31]  William O'grady,et al.  The Syntax of Idioms , 1998 .

[32]  H. Cartwright.  Amounts and Measures of Amount , 1975 .

[33]  Christopher Kennedy.  The Syntax and Semantics of Gradability and Comparison , 1999 .

[34]  David R. Dowty,et al.  Word Meaning and Montague Grammar , 1979 .

[35]  Tyler Burge.  A Theory of Aggregates , 1977 .

[36]  Rita Nolan,et al.  Mass Terms: Some Philosophical Problems. , 1981 .

[37]  Barry Schein,et al.  Events and the semantic content of thematic relations , 2002 .

[38]  M. Liberman,et al.  The Stress and Structure of Modified Noun Phrases in English , 1992 .

[39]  Steven Abney,et al.  The English Noun Phrase in its Sentential Aspect , 1972 .

[40]  Francis Jeffry Pelletier,et al.  Mass Terms: Some Philosophical Problems , 1980 .

[41]  Elisabeth Löbel,et al.  Q as a Functional Category , 1989 .

[42]  R. Oehrle,et al.  Books Awaiting Review , 1984, CL.

[43]  Arnim von Stechow,et al.  Semantik: Ein Internationales Handbuch Der Zeitgenössischen Forschung , 1991 .

[44]  A. Kratzer.  Severing the External Argument from its Verb , 1996 .

[45]  Giuliana Giusti,et al.  The categorial status of quantified nominals , 1991 .

[46]  J. Smith.  Circumstantial complements and direct objects in the Romance languages: configuration, Case, and thematic structure , 1992 .

[47]  C. Barker,et al.  Partitives, Double Genitives and Anti-Uniqueness , 1998 .

[48]  Joseph Henry Allen,et al.  Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges: Founded on Comparative Grammar , 1975 .

[49]  Roberto Zamparelli,et al.  Layers in the determiner phrase , 2000 .

[50]  Jan Tore Lønning,et al.  Mass terms and quantification , 1987 .

[51]  John Nerbonne,et al.  Nominal comparatives and Generalized Quantifiers , 1995, J. Log. Lang. Inf..

[52]  Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm,et al.  "A piece of the cake" and "a cup of tea" : partitive and pseudo-partitive nominal constructions in the Circum-Baltic languages , 2001 .

[53]  H. Borer.  In name only , 2005 .

[54]  H. V. Riemsdijk.  Categorial feature magnetism: The endocentricity and distribution of projections , 1998 .

[55]  Petra Hendriks,et al.  Review of C. Kennedy, Projecting the adjective. The syntax and semantics of gradability and comparison , 1999 .

[56]  Roger Schwarzschild,et al.  Measure Phrases as Modifiers of Adjectives , 2005 .