ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies
ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies 

On syntactic selection of adjective (phrases)

DOI:10.30842/alp2306573718372103
PDF, 1.65 Mb
Grashchenkov P. V. O sintaksicheskoy selektsii (gruppy) prilagatelnogo. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2022. 18(3): 72–103.

The paper proposes an analysis of the syntactic structure of nominal predication in Russian, in particular, of nominal predication with adjectives. We analyze a number of semantic and distributive properties that distinguish nominal predications with short and long adjectival forms. The main issue raised in the paper is the syntactic status of Russian (long form) adjectives in the structure of nominal predications. We consider in detail the so-called attributive approach to the derivation of nominal predications with long form adjectives, i.e. undertake an analysis that derives predicative adjectives from noun phrases. We discuss some critical views on this approach and propose a mechanism by which predicative adjectives get the values of grammatical features relevant to them. The aspects of adjectival grammar important for our study are agreement and semantic role assignment. We also investigate different distributional constraints differentiating adjectival modification and predication. We show that the mechanisms that stand behind the predicative use in the case of short and long form adjectives differ in many respects. Clause structures with the two forms also vary crucially. The paper proposes an approach that makes it possible to eliminate the shortcomings inherent in attributive analyses of predicative long forms. The most important problem addressed in the paper is evaluation of the “projection potential” of adjectives as a separate grammatical category. We also discuss the parallelism between Russian short form adjectives and stative predicates in languages that lack an adjectival class. Russian short forms turn out to be similar to stative verbs in that they pattern with verbs with respect to semantic role assignment, featural composition and agreement.

Keywords
syntax, adjectives, Russian, predication, noun phrase
References
Babby 1973
L. Babby. The Deep Structure of Adjectives and Participles in Russian. Language. 1973. Vol. 49. P. 349–360.
Babby 1975
L. Babby. A transformationa grammar of Russian adjectives. Hague; Paris: Mouton, 1975.
Babby 1985
L. Babby. Glubinnaya struktura prilagatelnykh i prichastiy v russkom yazyke [The deep structure of adjectives and participles in the Russian language]. T. V. Bulygina, A. E. Kibrik (eds.). Novoye v zarubezhnoy lingvistike [New in foreign linguistics]. Iss. XV. Moscow: Progress, 1985. P. 156–170.
Babby 1994
L. Babby. A Theta-theoretic analysis of Adversity Impersonal Sentences in Russian. S. Avrutin, S. Franks, L. Progovac (eds.). Annual workshop on formal approaches to Slavic linguistics. The MIT meeting 1993. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Slavic Publications, 1994. P. 25–67.
Bailyn 2012
J. Bailyn. The syntax of Russian. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Baker 2003
M. C. Baker. Lexical categories: Verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Baykov 2022
F. V. Baykov. Otritsatelnyye mestoimeniya vnutri gruppy prilagatelnogo: yeksperimentalnoye issledovaniye. Doklad na konferentsii «Grammaticheskiye protsessy i sistemy v sinkhronii i diakhronii» [Negative pronouns within the adjective phrase: an experimental study. The talk at the conference “Grammatical processes and systems in synchrony and diachrony”].
Bhat 1994
D. N. S. Bhat. The adjectival category: Criteria for differentiation and identification. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1994.
Boeckx et al. 2010
C. Boeckx, N. Hornstein, J. Nunes. Control as Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Borik 2014
O. Borik. The argument structure of long and short form adjectives and participles in Russian. Lingua. 2014. Vol. 149. P. 139–165.
Bowers 1993
J. Bowers. The syntax of predication. Linguistic Inquiry. 1993. Vol. 24. P. 591–656.
Cinque 1993
G. Cinque. On the evidence for partial N-movement in the Romance DP. Venice Working Papers in Linguistics. 1993. Vol. 3. № 2. P. 21–24.
Cinque 2010
G. Cinque. The syntax of adjectives. A comparative study. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010.
Croft 1991
W. Croft. Syntactic categories and grammatical relations. Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Dixon 2004
R. M. W. Dixon. Adjective classes in typological perspective. R. M. W. Dixon, A. Y. Aikhenvald (eds.). Adjective classes. A cross-linguistic typology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. P. 1–49.
Filip 2001
H. Filip. The semantics of case in Russian secondary predication. R. Hastings, B. Jackson, Z. Zvolenszky (eds.). Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 9. Ithaca; NY: CLC Publications; Department of Linguistics, Cornell University, 2001. P. 192–211.
Geist 2010
L. Geist. The argument structure of predicate adjectives in Russian. Russian Linguistics. 2010. Vol. 34. P. 239–260.
Grashchenkov 2018
P. V. Grashchenkov. Grammatika prilagatelnogo. Tipologiya atributivnosti i adyektivnosti [The Grammar of Adjectives. Typology of Adjectives and Attributives]. Moscow: YASK, 2018.
Grashchenkov, Grashchenkova 2007
P. Grashchenkov, A. Grashchenkova. Argument structure of Russian adjectives. Talk given at the Workshop on argument structure and syntactic relations. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. 23–25 May, 20.
Gruzdeva 2012
E. Yu. Gruzdeva. Aspektualnyye klassy glagolov v nivkhskom yazyke [Aspectual classes of verbs in Nivkh]. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2012. T. VIII. Pt. 2. P. 458–533.
Isachenko 1963
A. V. Isachenko. Transformatsionnyy analiz kratkikh i polnykh prilagatelnykh [Transformational analysis of short and full adjectives]. T. N. Moloshnaya (ed.). Issledovaniya po strukturnoy tipologii [Research on structural typology]. Moscow: Publishing House Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1963. P. 61–93.
Kayne 1994
R. Kayne. The antisymmetry of syntax. (Linguistic Inquiry Monograph. No. 25.) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.
Kovtunova 2002
I. I. Kovtunova. Russkiy sintaksis: poryadok slov i aktualnoye chleneniye predlozheniya [Russian syntax: word order and information structure]. Moscow: URSS, 2002.
Landau 2008
I. Landau. Two routes of control: Evidence from case transmission in Russian. Natural language and linguistic theory. 2008. Vol. 26. Iss. 4. P. 877–924.
Lyutikova 2022
E. A. Lyutikova. On the structure of Russian infinitival clauses. Proceedings of the FASL conference, 2022. In print.
Madariaga 2006
N. Madariaga. Why Russian semi-predicative items always agree. Journal of Slavic Linguistics. 2006. Vol. 14. Iss. 2. P. 45–78.
Markman 2008
V. Markman. The case of predicates (revisited): Predicate instrumental in Russian and its restrictions. Journal of Slavic Linguistics. 2008. Vol. 16. Iss. 2. P. 187–246.
Matushansky 2006
O. Matushansky. How to be short: some remarks on the syntax of Russian adjectives. Séminaire de l’UMR 7023, CNRS. Universite Paris 8, 2006.
Matushansky 2008
O. Matushansky. A case study of predication. Studies in formal Slavic linguistics. F. Marušič, R. Žaucer (eds.). Contributions from formal description of Slavic languages 6.5. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2008. P. 213–239.
Pereltsvaig 2007
A. Pereltsvaig. The universality of DP: A view from Russian. Studia Linguistica. 2007. Vol. 61. Iss. 1. P. 59–94.
Ramchand 2008
G. C. Ramchand. Verb meaning and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Richardson 2007
K. Richardson. Case and aspect in Slavic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Siegel 1976
M. E. Siegel. Capturing the Russian adjective. B. H. Partee (ed.). Montague grammar. New York: Academic Press, 1976. P. 293–309.
Strigin, Demjjanow 2001
A. Strigin, A. Demjjanow. Secondary predication in Russian. ZAS Papers in Linguistics. 2001. Vol. 25. P. 1–79.
Testelets 1990
Ya. G. Testelets. Nablyudeniye nad semantikoy oppozitsiy “imya / glagol” i “sushchestvitelnoye / prilagatelnoye” (k postanovke problemy) [Observations on the semantics of oppositions “noun / verb” and “noun / adjective” (problem statement)]. V. M. Alpatov (ed.). Chasti rechi: teoriya i tipologiya [Parts of speech: theory and typology]. Moscow: Nauka, 1990. P. 77–95.
Keywords
syntax, adjectives, Russian, predication, noun phrase
ScopusSCImago Journal & Country RankE-Library.ruCrossRefCyberLeninkaVAKERIH Plus