Such is such , and so is so , in English, Danish and German

We investigate the etymologically related words: so and such (English); sa and sadan (Danish); and so and solch (German). Similarities and differences that have t o be accounted for cross-linguistically are i) position (pre- or post- indefinite article), ii) semantics (degree or referential readings) and iii) agreement morphology (in Danish and German). English such may have either a degree reading or an identifying (referential) reading and may only prec ede the indefinite article. Danish and German allow inflected sadan/solch to follow the article. English and Danish so/sa only have a degree reading, while German so may be identifying. We discuss two possible syntac tic derivations, predicate raising and XP movement from an attributive adjective position within the nominal. The analysis accounts for the morphological agreement of predicate and attributiv e adjectives in Danish and German.

[1]  Erik Andersson,et al.  Svenska Akademiens grammatik , 1999 .

[2]  Sten Vikner,et al.  Noun phrase structure and movement , 2011 .

[3]  Liliane Haegeman,et al.  English Grammar: A Generative Perspective , 1998 .

[4]  Jan Svartvik,et al.  A __ comprehensive grammar of the English language , 1988 .

[5]  N. Corver,et al.  Much-support as a last resort , 1997 .

[6]  Horst Lohnstein,et al.  ‚Nur so' - Strukturaspekte der Vergleichskonstruktion 1 , 2005 .

[7]  Norbert Corver,et al.  The Internal Syntax of the Dutch Extended Adjectival Projection , 1997 .

[8]  Daniel Hole,et al.  Definite type and indefinite token: the article son in colloquial german , 2000 .

[9]  Christopher Kennedy,et al.  Attributive Comparative Deletion , 2000 .

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

[11]  Elizabeth Ritter,et al.  Cross-Linguistic Evidence for Number Phrase , 1992, Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique.

[12]  S. Vikner Predicative Adjective Agreement and Optimality Theory , 2005 .

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

[14]  Johanna L. Wood Much About Such , 2002 .

[15]  Norbert Corver,et al.  Predication in nominal phrases , 1997 .

[16]  Lars-Olof Delsing,et al.  The internal structure of noun phrases in the Scandinavian languages , 1993 .

[17]  Solveig Granath,et al.  The Construction 'AdjP - a(n) - Noun' in Present-day English Syntax , 2002 .

[18]  Hans Rademacher,et al.  The ϑ-functions , 1973 .