15.2949, Diss: Syntax: Spinillo: 'Reconceptualising...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-15-2949. Mon Oct 18 2004. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 15.2949, Diss: Syntax: Spinillo: 'Reconceptualising...'

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1)
Date: 15-Oct-2004
From: mariangela spinillo < m.spinillo at ucl.ac.uk >
Subject: Reconceptualising the English Determiner Class


	
-------------------------Message 1 ----------------------------------
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 13:46:17
From: mariangela spinillo < m.spinillo at ucl.ac.uk >
Subject: Reconceptualising the English Determiner Class  	

Institution: University College London
Program: PhD in Modern English Language
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2004

Author: Mariangela Spinillo

Dissertation Title: Reconceptualising the English Determiner Class

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax

Subject Language(s):
English (Code: ENG)


Dissertation Director(s):
Bas Aarts
Gerrald Nelson

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis is a defence of the hypothesis that the category of words known
in the literature as determiners or determinatives is not a valid word
class for English.

It is generally assumed that words such as the articles, the
demonstratives, the possessives and the quantifiers (e.g. all, both, some,
any, many, etc.) constitute the English determiner class. Most work on
determiners, however, has been concerned mainly with their semantics and
their function in phrase structure, and little has been said about the
determiner class itself.

In this thesis I look at the makeup of the English determiner class and its
significance as a form class for English. In the first chapter I provide a
historical background of the various ways the words under investigation
have been classed before they came to be grouped together as determiners.
In the following three chapters I examine the determiner status of the
various prenominal elements given as members of the class, and more
generally, reconsider the status of determiner as a valid word class for
English. I show that English determiners do not display a uniform
categorial makeup, and argue that a unified determiner treatment  of these
elements is therefore not justified. Apart from the fact that they all
occur in front of a noun, these words are rather different from one
another, both in their semantics and in their syntax. I show not only that
very few of the elements conventionally classed as determiners have the
properties associated with the class, but also that the vast majority of
these elements display properties which indicate that they belong to other
classes. I argue that of the so-called determiners, only three, namely the
articles 'the' and 'a(n)' and 'every', justify the postulation of the class
for English. Thus I claim that the so-called determiner class in English is
considerably smaller than suggested in the literature, and consists only of
these three elements. Finally, and most importantly, I propose that since
there is already a category available in the language which accounts for
two of these words, namely 'article', this category be extended to include
'every', so that the category determiner can be disposed of.

In the final chapter I discuss how the analysis of the English noun phrase
as NPs benefits from the re-categorisation proposed here.



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