29.2959, Books: The typology and formal semantics of adnominal possession: Karvovskaya

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-2959. Thu Jul 19 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.2959, Books: The typology and formal semantics of adnominal possession: Karvovskaya

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Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2018 13:51:44
From: Karijn Hootsen [gw.uilots.lot at uu.nl]
Subject: The typology and formal semantics of adnominal possession: Karvovskaya

 


Title: The typology and formal semantics of adnominal possession 
Series Title: LOT Dissertation Series  

Publication Year: 2018 
Publisher: Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT)
	   http://www.lotpublications.nl/
	

Book URL: https://www.lotpublications.nl/the-typology-and-formal-semantics-of-adnominal-possession 


Author: Lena Karvovskaya

Paperback: ISBN:  9789460932830 Pages: 267 Price: Europe EURO 34.00


Abstract:

This book is an inquiry into the relation between the formal marking of
possessive constructions and their corresponding interpretations. On the one
hand, a single language can have multiple marking strategies to express
adnominal possession. In English, for instance, this student’s friend and a
friend of this student represent distinct strategies for marking adnominal
possession. On the other hand, a single possessive construction can have
multiple interpretations, some of which are more prominent than others. Thus,
John's head is more readily interpreted as John's body part than as a bust
representing John.

This thesis offers a unified analysis of the semantics of adnominal possessive
constructions. A fundamental distinction is established between idiosyncratic
and non-idiosyncratic possessive strategies. Idiosyncratic possessive
strategies are reserved for stereotypical relations that are systematically
derived from the possessed noun. Typically, idiosyncratic strategies are
limited in distribution and involve less morphology than non-idiosyncratic
ones. The choice between an idiosyncratic and a non-idiosyncratic strategy is
determined by the principle, Maximize Presupposition. A speaker intending to
refer to a stereotypical relation will choose the idiosyncratic strategy. By
contrast, the choice of a non-idiosyncratic strategy gives rise to the
inference that the stereotypical relation does not hold. This hypothesis is
tested against a typologically rich sample of languages. The analysis is
extended to account for more complex systems of possessive marking, including
languages that make use of possessive classifiers.

Through its combination of formal semantics and descriptive linguistics, the
thesis will be of interest to theoretically and typologically oriented
linguists alike.
 



Linguistic Field(s): Semantics


Written In: English  (eng)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/books/get-book.cfm?BookID=129213




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