Unrealized Arguments and the Grammar of Context (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781009663823)

In null instantiation (NI) an optionally unexpressed argument receives either anaphoric or existential interpretation. One cannot accurately predict a predicator's NI potential based either on semantic factors (e.g., Aktionsart class of the verb) or pragmatic factors (e.g., relative discourse prominence of arguments), but NI potential, while highly constrained, is not simply lexical idiosyncrasy. It is instead the product of both lexical and constructional licensing. In the latter case, a construction can endow a verb with NI potential that it would not otherwise have. Using representational tools of sign based construction grammar, this Element offers a lexical treatment of English null instantiation that covers both distinct patterns of construal of null-instantiated arguments and the difference between listeme-based and contextually licensed, thus construction-based, null complementation.

Author: Rui P. Chaves,Paul Kay,Laura A. Michaelis
ISBN-10: 1009663828
ISBN-13: 9781009663823
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 09/04/2025
Pages: 74
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.25d