The English noun phrase: gradience and change

本课题探讨了英语名词短语(NP)的等级和变化问题，重点研究了确定和修饰之间的等级。传统上被称为确定和修饰的东西在这里将被视为某些语义特征(例如指代性、限制性)的典型聚类，这些特征通常映射到某些形式属性(例如与中心语的邻接、与冠词的共现)。因此，梯度结构在这里被定义为偏离原型，共享确定和修改的属性。此外，还将考察在多大程度上梯度结构的存在会在多大程度上导致使用中的梯度，因为(I)语言提供了两个结构来表达相同的意思，或者(Ii)一个结构可以被两种方式解释。例如。指称锚定(与确定有关)通常由S所有格(斯坦纳的房子)来表达，但也可以通过名词(N，N)结构(斯坦纳的房子)来表达。本文的实证分析将集中在《S的书》、《女性杂志》和《N N结构》(石墙、牛津衬衫)上，并将包括以下几个步骤：1.我们将外推足够的特征，以捕捉在共时、历时和类型学上可信的决定和修饰。2.运用语料库分析的方法，考察S动词和N-N结构的历史发展。3.将在一系列心理语言学研究中测试使用中的优雅程度。由于语义和构式的重叠，不同的构式在其历史发展过程中能在多大程度上相互影响，这一问题应该得到实证分析的阐明。这个项目的最终目的是(1)加深我们对英语NP的结构和发展的了解，以及(2)提出一个关于渐变和变化的心理语言学解释。

The present project approaches the question of gradience and change in the English noun phrase (NP), focussing on gradience between Determination and Modifikation. What is traditionally referred to as determination and modification will be viewed here as the prototypical clustering of certain semantic features (e.g. referentiality, restrictiveness) which typically map to certain formal properties (e.g. adjacency to head, co-occurence with articles). Accordingly, gradient constructions are defines here as diverging from the prototype, sharing both properties of determination and modification. Moreover, it will be investigated in how far the existence of gradient constructions can give rise to gradience in use, in that (i) the language provides two constructions to convey the same meaning, or (ii) one construction can be interpreted in two ways. For example. referential anchoring (associated with determination) is typically expressed by a s-genitive (the Steiners' house) but can also be conveyed by a noun + noun (N+N) construction (the Steiner house). The empirical analysis will focus on s-genitives (John's book, women's magazines) and N+N constructions (stone wall, Oxford shirts) and will comprise the following steps: 1. Adequate features will be extrapolated to capture determination and modification which are synchronically, diachronically, and typologically plausible. 2. The historical development of s-genitives and N+N constructions will be investigated in a corpus analysis. 3. Gradience in use will be tested in a series of psycholinguistic studies. The empirical analysis should cast light on the question in how far different constructions can affect each other in their historical development, due to semantic and constructional overlaps between them. The ultimate goal of this project is (1) to deepen our insights into the structure and the development of the English NP, which is still little understood, and (2) to propose a psycholinguistic account of gradience and change.