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The Syntax and Semantics of Split Constructions

A Comparative Study

  • Book
  • © 2004

Overview

Authors:
  1. Alastair Butler
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  2. Eric Mathieu
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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
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  2. Introduction

    • Alastair Butler, Eric Mathieu
    Pages 1-31

  3. WH Constructions

    • Alastair Butler, Eric Mathieu
    Pages 33-59

  4. Negative Constructions

    • Alastair Butler, Eric Mathieu
    Pages 61-89

  5. Interfacing Syntax and Semantics

    • Alastair Butler, Eric Mathieu
    Pages 91-128

  6. The Account

    • Alastair Butler, Eric Mathieu
    Pages 129-167

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 169-223
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Keywords

About this book

Split constructions are very widespread in natural languages. The separation of the semantic restriction of a quantifier from that quantifier is a typical example of such a construction. This study addresses the problem that such discontinuous strings exhibit a number of locality constraints, including intervention effects. These are shown to follow from the interaction of a minimalist syntax with a semantics that directly assigns a model-theoretic interpretation to syntactic logical forms. The approach is shown to have wide empirical coverage and a conceptual simplicity. The book will be of interest to scholars and advanced students of syntax and semantics.

Reviews

'Butler and Mathieu argue persuasively that many apparently far-flung

constructions belong together under the rubric of 'split construction'.

Their generalizations are provocative and well-supported, and the theory

is firmly grounded in Predicate Logic with Barriers, a dynamic logic that

provides a fresh perspective on ideas and generalizations that have been,

and continue to be, central to syntactic and semantic theory.' - Christopher Potts, Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts

About the authors

ALASTAIR BUTLER is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Formal Language Games Research Group at the Institute for Logic, Language and Information, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research interests are topics in natural language syntax and semantics.

ERIC MATHIEU is an affiliated Researcher in the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at University College, London. His work is on the syntax-semantics interface.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Syntax and Semantics of Split Constructions

  • Book Subtitle: A Comparative Study

  • Authors: Alastair Butler, Eric Mathieu

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230501607

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave Language & Linguistics Collection, Education (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2004

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4039-2112-3Published: 07 April 2004

  • eBook ISBN: 978-0-230-50160-7Published: 07 April 2004

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 223

  • Topics: Syntax, Comparative Linguistics, Grammar

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