A corpus-based analysis of pronoun choice in German relative
clauses
This paper investigates the conditions that govern the choice between the German
neuter singular relative pronouns das ‘that’ and
was ‘what’. We show that das requires a
lexical head noun, while in all other cases was is usually the
preferred option; therefore, the distribution of das and
was is most successfully captured by an approach that does
not treat was as an exception but analyzes it as the elsewhere
case that applies when the relativizer fails to pick up a lexical gender feature
from the head noun. We furthermore show how the non-uniform behavior of
different types of nominalized adjectives (positives allow both options, while
superlatives trigger was) can be attributed to semantic
differences rooted in syntactic structure. In particular, we argue that
superlatives select was due to the presence of a silent
counterpart of the quantifier alles ‘all’ that is part of the
superlative structure.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.
was as a default relativizer
- 2.1Analysis: Inherent gender features trigger das
- 2.1.1Syntax
- 2.1.2Spelling out RP
- 2.1.3Some further consequences of the analysis: wh-forms vs. d-forms
- 3.Beyond the basic generalization
- 3.1Distributive quantifiers: Cases of noun ellipsis
- 3.2Deadjectival nouns
- 3.2.1Anaphoric/elliptical readings
- 3.2.2Non-elliptical readings: Nominalized positives
- 3.2.3Non-elliptical readings: Nominalized superlatives
- 4.Semantics/pragmatics and choice between das vs. was
- 4.1Reference to objects as opposed to properties or propositional meanings
- 4.2Particularization by means of das vs. totalization by means of was
- 5.Concluding summary
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
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