Prolegomena to a theory of chorophorics
Francesco-Alessio Ursini | Central China Normal University
The goal of this paper is to offer a theoretical analysis of chorophorics, a recently proposed pro-formal category
that can refer either to “places”, or to locations as arguments of spatial relations. It is suggested that chorophorics are a
common category that displays heterogeneous morphological properties but homogeneous syntactic distribution and semantic
interpretation. Evidence supporting this argument is offered via eight genetically unrelated languages. The evidence shows that at
least three different types of chorophorics can be individuated across languages: chorophorics as a sub-type of prepositions, of
case-marked nouns or of postpositions. A formal account is offered, based on a Lexical Syntax analysis. The account shows that
chorophorics share a similar distribution with prepositional phrases and receive their “place” sense from their distribution in
discourse contexts.
Keywords: spatial adpositions, spatial nouns, chorophorics, lexical typology
Published online: 03 November 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.19072.urs
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.19072.urs
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