The Semantics of Generics in Dutch and Related Languages

Albert Oosterhof | Ghent University

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027255051 | EUR 115.00 | USD 173.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027290731 | EUR 115.00 | USD 173.00

This monograph is a comprehensive study of the various ways in which genericity can be expressed in Dutch, dialects of Dutch, and languages related to Dutch. On the basis of empirical (corpus- and questionnaire-based) data, a wide range of topics are discussed which have been addressed in the literature on the semantics and pragmatics of generics. The empirical data presented in this book shed new light on issues crucial to the study of genericity. A number of widely accepted ideas are shown to be problematic. For example, arguments are presented against the well-known claim that progressive forms typically exclude characterizing interpretations. Furthermore, the author shows that speakers do not agree in their judgements of the acceptability of bare plurals (as well as other noun phrase types) in generic contexts. Such data are a problem for the influential thesis that bare plurals refer to kinds unambiguously.

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 122] 2008. xviii, 286 pp.

Publishing status: Available
Published online on 19 September 2008

https://doi.org/10.1075/la.122

Table of Contents

Preface and acknowledgements | pp. xv–xvi

List of abbreviations | pp. xvii–xviii

Chapter 1. Introduction | pp. 1–5

Part I. Theoretical perspectives

Chapter 2. Generalization | pp. 9–47

Chapter 3. Kind reference | pp. 49–64

Part II Empirical perspectives

Chapter 4. The empirical base of semantic research | pp. 67–90

Chapter 5. Corpus- and questionnaire-based studies | pp. 91–132

Part III. Issues in the syntax-semantics interface

Chapter 6. The semantics of bare arguments | pp. 135–172

Chapter 7. Formal accounts of genericity, reference and the syntax-semantics interface | pp. 173–226

Chapter 8. An alternative description of the syntax and semantics of articles | pp. 227–270

Chapter 9. Conclusions and issues for future research | pp. 271–276

Index | pp. 285–286

Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

Order by:

Acquaviva, Paolo

2024. Nouns, Names, and Abstract Kinds. In Nouns and the Morphosyntax / Semantics Interface, ► pp. 37 ff.

Lipták, Anikó & Rint Sybesma

2023. Missing and not found. Linguistic Variation

Skrzypek, Dominika, Anna Kurek-Przybilski & Alicja Piotrowska

2022. Expressions of genericity in Mainland Scandinavian languages. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 25:1 ► pp. 43 ff.

Redolfi, Michela, Sergio Miguel Pereira Soares, Anna Czypionka & Tanja Kupisch

2021. Experimental evidence for the interpretation of definite plural articles as markers of genericity – How Italian can help. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 6:1

van Rooij, Robert & Schulz, Katrin

2020. A Causal Semantics of IS Generics. Journal of Semantics 37:2 ► pp. 269 ff.

Belk, Zoë

2019. LF Bracketing Paradoxes: A New Account. Syntax 22:1 ► pp. 24 ff.

Czypionka, Anna & Tanja Kupisch

2019. (The) polar bears are pink. How (the) Germans interpret (the) definite articles in plural subject DPs. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 22:3 ► pp. 247 ff.

Kurek, Anna

2017. Hvordan Skildres Generisitet I Norsk Faglitteratur?. Folia Scandinavica Posnaniensia 22:1 ► pp. 4 ff.

Oosterhof, Albert & Gudrun Rawoens

2017. Register variation and distributional patterns in article omission in Dutch headlines. Linguistic Variation 17:2 ► pp. 205 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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