Cover not available
Part of
Advances in the Syntax of DPs: Structure, agreement, and case
Edited by Anna Bondaruk, Gréte Dalmi and Alexander Grosu
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 217] 2014
► pp. 221–246

On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish

The article discusses adjectival modification in Polish, focusing on pre-head attributive adjectives. Pre-nominal position is often associated with qualifying (i.e. descriptive) modifiers while classifying modifiers (which express inherent properties of nouns) are typically assigned to the post-head position in Polish. Thus, the contrast arises between QualAdj+Noun and Noun+ClassAdj sequences, as illustrated by the expressions młoda foka ‘young seal’ (QualAdj+N) vs. foka szara ‘grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus )’ (N+ClassAdj). However, it is argued here that pre-nominal adjectives can be ambiguous between classifying and qualifying reading. The article considers also the question whether pre-nominal classifying adjectives can be regarded as informationally marked.

Published online: 14 October 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.217.09cet
References
Aboh, Enoch O., Corver, Norbert, Dyakonova, Marina & van Koppen, Marjo
2010 DP-internal information structure: Some introductory remarks. Lingua 120: 782–801. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, Judy
1993 Topics in the Syntax of Nominal Structure Across Romance. PhD dissertation, City University of New York.Google Scholar
Bouchard, Denis
1998 The distribution and interpretation of adjectives in French: A consequence of Bare Phrase Structure. Probus 10(2): 139– 183. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2002 Adjectives, Number and Interfaces: Why Languages Vary. Oxford: Elsevier Science.Google Scholar
2009 A solution to the conceptual problem of cartography. In Alternatives to Cartography, Jeroen van Craenenbroeck (ed.), 245–274. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cetnarowska, Bożena, Pysz, Agnieszka & Trugman, Helen
2011a Accounting for some flexibility in a rigid construction. In Generative Investigations: Syntax, Morphology and Phonology, Piotr Bański, Beata Łukaszewicz, Monika Opalińska & Joanna Zaleska (eds), 24–47,Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
2011b Distribution of classificatory adjectives and genitives in Polish NPs. In On Words and Sounds: A Selection of Papers from the 40th PLM, 2009, Kamila Dębowska-Kozłowska & Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk (eds), 273–303. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
Cetnarowska, Bożena & Trugman, Helen
2012 Falling between the chairs: Are classifying adjective+noun complexes lexical or syntactic formations? In Current Issues in Generative Linguistics: Syntax, Semantics and Phonology, Joanna Błaszczak, Bożena Rozwadowska & Wojciech Witkowski (eds), 138–154. Wrocław: CGLiW. [URL]Google Scholar
Cinque, Guglielmo
1994 On the evidence for partial N-movement in the Romance DP. In Paths towards Universal Grammar. Studies in Honor of Richard S. Kayne, Guglielmo Cinque, Jan Koster, Jean-Yves Pollock, Luigi Rizzi & Raffaella Zanuttini (eds), 85–110. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Deprez, Viviane
2006 On the conceptual role of number. In New Perspectives on Romance Linguistics [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 275], Chiyo Nishida & Jean-Pierre Y. Montreuil (eds), 67–82. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dryer, Matthew S
2005 Order of adjective and noun. In The World Atlas of Language Structures, Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil & Bernard Comrie (eds), 354–357. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2011 Order of adjective and noun. In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, Ch. 87, Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil & Bernard Comrie (eds). Munich: Max Planck Digital Library. [URL] (26 September 2013).Google Scholar
Gębka-Wolak, Małgorzata
2000 Związki linearne między składnikami grupy nominalnej we współczesnym języku polskim (Linear Relations between Elements of a Nominal Group in Contemporary Polish).Toruń: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika.Google Scholar
Halmøy, Madeleine
2010 The Norwegian Nominal System. A Neo- Saussurean Perspective. PhD dissertation, University of Tromsø.Google Scholar
Jadacka, Hanna
2005 Kultura języka polskiego: fleksja, słowotwórstwo, składnia (Culture of the Polish Language: Flexion, Morphology and Syntax). Warszawa: PWN.Google Scholar
Kamp, Hans & Partee, Barbara
1995 Prototype Theory and compositionality. Cognition 57: 129–191. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kiparsky, Paul
1973 ‘Elsewhere’ in phonology. In A Festschrift for Morris Halle, Stephen Anderson & Paul Kiparsky (eds), 93–106.New York NY: Holt, Rinehart and Wiston.Google Scholar
Lambrecht, Knud
1994 Information Structure and Sentence Form. Topic, Focus, and the Mental Representation of Discourse Referents. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nagórko, Alicja
1997 Zarys gramatyki polskiej (Polish Grammar. An Outline), 2nd edn. Warszawa: PWN.Google Scholar
Otwinowska-Kasztelanic, Agnieszka
2000 A Study of the Lexico-Semantic and Grammatical Influence of English on the Polish of the Younger Generation of Poles (19-35 years of Age). Warszawa: Dialog.Google Scholar
Przepiórkowski, Adam, Bańko, Mirosław, Górski, Rafał L. & Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Barbara
2012 Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego (National Corpus of Polish). Warszawa: PWN.Google Scholar
Rutkowski, Paweł
2007 The syntactic properties and diachronic development of post-nominal adjectives in Polish. In Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics: The Toronto Meeting 2006, Richard Compton, Magdalena Goledzinowska & Ulyana Savchenko (eds), 326–345. Ann Arbor MI: Michigan Slavic Publications.Google Scholar
2009 Fraza przedimkowa w polszczyźnie. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo UW, Wydział Polonistyki.Google Scholar
2012 Is nP Part of Universal Grammar? Journal of Universal Language 13(2): 119–144.Google Scholar
Rutkowski, Paweł & Progovac, Ljiliana
2005 Classification Projection in Polish and Serbian: The position and shape of classifying adjectives. In Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics: The South Carolina Meeting, Steven Franks, Frank Y. Gladney & Mila Tasseva-Kurktchieva (eds), 289–299. Ann Arbor MI: Michigan Slavic Publications.Google Scholar
Scott, Gary-John
1998 Stacked adjectival modification and the structure of nominal phrases. SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics and Phonetics 8: 59–89.Google Scholar
Selkirk, Elisabeth
1995 Sentence prosody: Intonation, stress and phrasing. In The Handbook of Phonological Theory, John A. Goldsmith (ed.), 550–569. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Szymańska, Izabela
2000 On the adjectival modification in Polish noun phrases. From the X-bar theory towards a functional explanation. Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Linguistica Anglica 2: 175–192.Google Scholar
Tabakowska, Elżbieta
2007 Iconicity and linear ordering of constituents within Polish NPs. In Cognitive Paths into the Slavic Domain, Dagmar Divjak & Agata Kochańska (eds), 411–430. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Topolińska, Zuzanna
1984 Składnia grupy imiennej (The syntax of a nominal group). In Gramatyka współczesnego języka polskiego. Składnia (Grammar of Contemporary Polish. Syntax), Maciej Grochowski, Stanisław Karolak & Zuzanna Topolińska (eds), 301–389. Warszawa: PWN.Google Scholar
Trugman, Helen
2010 Modifiers of bare nouns in Russian. In Current Issues in Formal Slavic Linguistics, Gerhild Zybatow, Philip Dudchuk, Serge Minor & Ekaterina Pshehotskaya (eds), 245–270. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
2011 Instances of posthead modification in Russian NPs. In On Words and Sounds: A Selection of Papers from the 40th PLM, 2009, Kamila Dębowska-Kozłowska & Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk (eds), 247–279. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.Google Scholar
Vallduví, Enric & Engdahl, Elisabet
1996 The linguistic realisation of information packaging. Linguistics 34(3): 459–520. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Waugh, Linda R
1977 A Semantic Analysis of Word Order. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Willim, Ewa
2000 Some aspects of the grammar and interpretation of adjectival modification. In Proceedings of Generative Linguistics in Poland 1 , Piotr Bański & Adam Przepiórkowski (eds), 156–167. Warszawa: IPIPAN.Google Scholar
2001 On NP-internal agreement: A study of some adjectival and nominal modifiers in Polish. In Current Issues in Formal Slavic Linguistics, Gerhild Zybatow, Uwe Junghanns, Grit Mehlhorn & Luka Szucsich (eds), 80–95. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Zubizarreta, Maria Luisa
1998 Prosody, Focus, and Word Word Order. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar