Aspectual composition in "ser/estar + adjective" structures: adjectival scalarity and verbal aspect in copular constructions

Silvia Gumiel; Isabel Pérez-Jiménez

doi:10.7557/1.1.1.2321

Aspectual composition in "ser/estar + adjective" structures: adjectival scalarity and verbal aspect in copular constructions

Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics ◽

10.7557/1.1.1.2321 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 33 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Silvia Gumiel ◽

Isabel Pérez-Jiménez

Keyword(s):

Font Size ◽

Verbal Aspect ◽

Individual Level ◽

Distributional Properties ◽

Scalar Properties ◽

Syntactic Context

The distribution of the Spanish copulas ser and estar (‘be’) (specifically in the syntactic context <ser/estar + A>) has been generally accounted for in the literature in aspectual terms, more explicitly, in terms of the distinction between individual-level and stage-level predicates. Our claim is that the distributional properties of adjectives in the <ser/estar + A> structure can be better described if the scalar properties of the adjectives are taken into account, crucially those properties related to the relative vs. absolute distinction (in the sense of Kennedy & McNally 2005): relative adjectives combine with ser, absolute adjectives combine with estar. From this hypothesis, a better theory arises about aspectual composition in the domain of stative predications (in the line of Husband 2010, 2012).

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Verbos y nombres psicológicos: juntos y revueltos

Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics ◽

10.7557/1.1.2.2379 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 91 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rafael Marín ◽

Cristina Sánchez Marco

Keyword(s):

Font Size ◽

Individual Level

En este artículo ofrecemos un estudio sobre las propiedades semánticas y –en menor medida, morfológicas– de los predicados psicológicos. Ponemos especial énfasis en las propiedades que parecen afectar de forma similar a verbos (odiar, preocupar(se)) y a nombres psicológicos (odio, preocupación). Por lo que respecta a los verbos, en la línea sugerida por Fábregas y Marín (2012), demostramos que todos ellos, tanto los de experimentante sujeto (odiar) como los de experimentante objeto (preocupar(se)) denotan estados, si bien los primeros denotan estados individual-level (IL), mientras que los segundos describen estados stage-level (SL). Por lo que respecta a los nombres, de acuerdo con Sanromán (2012), comprobamos que también responden a esta división entre nombres psicológicos de estado IL (odio) y de estado SL (preocupación). Los verbos de apoyo que acompañan a unos nombres y a otros constituyen uno de los indicios más claros de tal distinción: el significado básico de los verbos de apoyo de nombres IL (guardar, tener) es el de posesión; los verbos de apoyo de nombres SL (pasar, salir) expresan, en cambio, desplazamiento. Esta distinción nos permite afinar más el análisis de los verbos psicológicos: los de experimentante sujeto no han sufrido cambio alguno, mientras que los de experimentante objeto son fruto de un cambio de estado equiparable a un cambio de ubicación, esto es, a un desplazamiento. El análisis que ofrecemos, basado en la causatividad, es aplicable tanto a verbos como a nombres: los predicados psicológicos que denotan estados SL contienen un operador causativo del que los predicados psicológicos que denotan estados IL carecen.

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Adjectives and Event Structure

The Oxford Handbook of Event Structure ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199685318.013.17 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 367-392

Author(s):

Rebekah Baglini ◽

Christopher Kennedy

Keyword(s):

Structural Properties ◽

Event Structure ◽

Scale Structure ◽

Verbal Aspect ◽

Verb Phrase ◽

Alternative Approaches ◽

Scalar Properties ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Way

This chapter investigates the relationship between adjectives and event structure by looking at properties of deverbal adjectives and deadjectival verbs. Although simple adjectives are not eventive, they nevertheless play an important role in matters of event structure, both in the way that they influence the eventive properties of verbs that they are derivationally related to, and in the way that an understanding of the scalar properties of adjectival meaning informs theorizing about eventive meanings. Although often considered in isolation, we show that adjectival gradability and verbal aspect are intimately related scalar phenomena. The structural properties of an adjectival scale determine the aspectual class of a derived event predicate. Similarly, the aspectual structure of a verb phrase constrains the scale structure of an adjectival participle. Our discussion focuses primarily on degree-based approaches to these phenomena, but we also consider alternative approaches based in a more articulated ontology for states.

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Stage-Level and Individual-Level distinction in morphological variation

Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics ◽

10.7557/1.1.2.2340 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 73 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Javier Rivas ◽

Esther L. Brown

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rican ◽

Temporal Stability ◽

The Other ◽

Font Size ◽

Puerto Rican Spanish ◽

Verbal Form ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Status ◽

Quantitative Analyses

This work examines the role of the stage-level (SL)/individual-level (IL) distinction applied to nouns in a case of morphosyntactic regularization in Spanish: variable reanalysis of the NP argument as subject in the presentational haber construction (había/habían perros). We conduct variationist, quantitative analyses on all instances of existential haber with a plural NP in corpora of spoken Puerto Rican Spanish (>500,000 words) to determine the linguistic factor groups that promote reanalysis and, hence, pluralized forms. Results of variable rule analyses reveal that the SL-IL distinction constrains the regularization. IL predicates significantly favor haber regularization (e.g., habían muchas personas de las Antillas ‘there were a lot of people from the Antillas’) whereas SL predicates significantly disfavor pluralized forms (este año hubo menos tiros que en años pasados ‘this year there were fewer shots fired than previous years’). These results are interpreted from within a usage-based framework in which the status of the noun introduced in the [haber + NP] construction, as either a likely or unlikely subject for haber, influences the analogical leveling. IL predicates are more prototypical nouns than SL predicates because the former are temporally persistent. IL predicates promote nouns’ candidacy as subjects over direct objects because prototypical subjects present two temporally-persistent characteristics: independence existence and referentiality. As a result, IL predicates increase the likelihood of reanalyzing the direct object as subject, thus triggering agreement of the verbal form with plural NPs. SL predicates, on the other hand, because they display low temporal stability, inhibit regularization.

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On the aspectuality of the Individual-Level / Stage-Level dichotomy

Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics ◽

10.7557/1.1.2.2385 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 109 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

María J. Arche

Keyword(s):

Empirical Data ◽

Critical Assessment ◽

Previous Literature ◽

Font Size ◽

Individual Level ◽

Situation Aspect ◽

The Individual

This paper addresses how the contrast known as Individual-‐Level/Stage-‐Level (IL/SL) is implemented in the grammar. More specifically, the paper is a critical assessment of the view that the IL/SL distinction is an aspectual distinction. The empirical data I will be using to probe into the IL/SL dichotomy is the contrast between the copular verbs in Spanish ser/estar. I will argue that the Spanish copular contrast reflexes the IL/SL dichotomy and that this dichotomy cannot be reduced to an aspectual difference in the ways it has been proposed in previous literature. Concurring with other authors I will argue that IL/SL-‐ness ensues from a different syntactic composition, very likely from different heads of prepositional nature, which can be argued to carry aspectual value. Crucially, however, this aspectual heads do not seem to translate into differences at the level of viewpoint or situation aspect in any relevant sense, as has been proposed in the literature.

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Stage and Individual-level predicates whithin "if" and "when" clauses: what works and what doesn't

Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics ◽

10.7557/1.2.1.2413 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 167

Author(s):

Asuncion Martínez-Arbelaiz

Keyword(s):

Main Clause ◽

Subordinate Clause ◽

Font Size ◽

Individual Level ◽

What Works ◽

The Asymmetry ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Indefinite Pronoun

Clauses headed by if and when are very often considered syntactically and semantically equivalent.  Nevertheless, in this paper we show that the type of predicate has an impact both on the grammaticality and the interpretation of the subordinate clause in Spanish. Theses clauses provide evidence for the proposal that stage-level predicates involve an extra-argument that individual-level predicates lack. Following Kratzer (1995), we assume that this is extra-argument is a spatio-temporal argument. While stage-level predicates in the subordinate clause are perfectly grammatical, individual-level predicates yield to ungrammatical sentences, unless an indefinite or a kind-referring NP is involved.  Kratzer´s Prohibition against vacuous quantification provides a sound account for the asymmetry between the two types of predicates.  In addition, a stative verb in the when clause is grammatical, but it forces an epistemic reading. When both predicates are individual-level predicates in the subordinate and the main clause, the if clause may can take a factual reading while the when clause is ungrammatical unless there is some kind of operator involved through a generic, a kind-referring NP or an indefinite pronoun.

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As Vacinas Salvam Vidas? Sim, Salvam!

Acta Médica Portuguesa ◽

10.20344/amp.5320 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 160 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Tinne Lernout ◽

Heidi Theeten ◽

Elke Leuridan ◽

Pierre Van Damme

Keyword(s):

Human Papillomavirus ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Invasive Pneumococcal Disease ◽

Pneumococcal Disease ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

Full Potential ◽

Papillomavirus Infections ◽

Font Size ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Impact

Since their introduction and widespread use, vaccines have been very successful in reducing morbidity and mortality of the diseases they target, at an individual level and through herd immunity. The impact on the mortality has been rapid and easy to measure for some diseases, such as diphtheria, pertussis and measles. For other diseases, including hepatitis B and human papillomavirus infections, deaths averted occur many years after vaccination, and it takes years until the full potential of the vaccine can be established. Finally, in middle and high income countries, the impact of vaccination against some diseases, like invasive pneumococcal disease and rotavirus gastro-enteritis, is measured by decrease in incidence of the disease and reduction in hospitalization rather than impact on mortality. But in the countries with the highest incidence of these diseases, mortality remains high due to low availability of these vaccines, and millions of deaths could be averted by optimal use of vaccines in these regions. Major challenges for vaccination programmes are to maintain and strengthen trust in the benefits of vaccination and adapt immunization schedules according to the changing epidemiological landscape.

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The syntax and semantics of Swedish copular sentences: a comparative perspective

The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics ◽

10.1007/s10828-020-09121-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kajsa Djärv

Keyword(s):

Comparative Studies ◽

Structural Difference ◽

Publishing Company ◽

Recent Case ◽

Nominative Case ◽

Individual Level ◽

Distributional Properties ◽

Copular Sentences ◽

Semantic Dimension ◽

Inversion Analysis

AbstractThis paper investigates the (recent) case alternation in Swedish equative and predicational copular sentences (‘Cicero is Tully’, ‘Cicero is a nice guy’). A central contribution of the paper is showing that this alternation is an LF-phenomenon, contra Sigurðsson (in: Hartmann, Molnárfi (eds) Comparative studies in Germanic syntax: from Afrikaans to Zurich German. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 2006) who conjectures that Swedish is changing in the direction of English and Danish, where all postcopular DPs receive Accusative case, regardless of interpretation. The Swedish alternation is shown to track the same semantic dimension that conditions the choice of predicate case in languages like Polish, Russian and Dutch, namely the distinction between stage and individual level predication. Interestingly, the Swedish alternation is also shown to share distributional properties with the predicate case alternations in these languages. To account for these observations, I propose that the morphological and semantic contrasts between the two alternants are mediated by a structural difference, such that Nominative case involves a biclausal structure, and Accusative a monoclausal structure. This paper further adds to the typological picture, showing that Swedish patterns like Polish, Russian and Dutch, but unlike English and Danish, not just in terms of equative and predicational sentences, but also in specificational copular sentences (‘The fastest runner here is Lisa’). I argue that a particular kind of predicate inversion analysis is required to account for the Swedish type of specification.

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A guide to IL and SL in Spanish: Properties, problems and proposals

Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics ◽

10.7557/1.1.2.2296 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Antonio Fábregas

Keyword(s):

State Of The Art ◽

Structural System ◽

Font Size ◽

Individual Level ◽

Specific Proposal ◽

The Individual

Abstract. This article provides with a state of the art of how the Individual Level / Stage Level distinction –and the related but distinct issue of the distribution of ser / estar– is instantiated in Spanish. We argue that the IL / SL distinction can be understood in two different ways: as a contrast between properties predicated of an individual or of a stage of that individual, and as a contrast between temporally persistent properties and temporary ones. The paper ends with a specific proposal about how to capture the distinction inside a structural system.

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Drug utilisation in a public health perspective: Establishing a national prescription register in Norway

Norsk Epidemiologi ◽

10.5324/nje.v11i1.534 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kari Furu

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Drug Market ◽

National Database ◽

Font Size ◽

Public Health Perspective ◽

Individual Level ◽

Economic Association ◽

National Drug ◽

Set Up ◽

The Impact

ABSTRACTNo information about drug use at an individual level is available from the present Norwegian wholesalestatistics on drugs, i.e. who are using the medicines, for how long and in which doses. A new kind ofstatistics is needed to focus on and analyse the use of medications from a public health perspective andto evaluate other aspects of public health in relation to drug expenditures. To meet this need, the Ministryof Health and Social Affairs has decided to establish a new national register based on computerisedprescriptions from all the pharmacies in Norway. The initiative to establish a more detailed drugstatistics came partly in response to changes in the infrastructure of the Norwegian Drug Market, whichstarted when Norway became a member of European Economic Association (EEA), in 1995. To regulateand evaluate the impact of a country’s national drug policy with respect to the promotion of therational use of drugs, it is vital that the system designed to collect data about the consumption ofmedicines is set up at the level of individual patients. This paper will focus on the planning and thenecessary steps to be taken for establishing a national database of drug prescriptions in Norway.

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On the negative polarity sensitive indefinite determiner nakar ‘any’ in Faroese

Nordlyd ◽

10.7557/12.233 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. pp

Author(s):

Arne Martinus Lindstad

Keyword(s):

Negative Polarity ◽

Questionnaire Study ◽

Faroe Islands ◽

Font Size ◽

Minor Variation ◽

Dialectal Variation ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual ◽

Polarity Sensitive

This paper reports on fieldwork undertaken during the NORMS dialect workshop in the Faroe Islands in August 2008. I present and discuss findings from a questionnaire study of the negative polarity sensitive indefinite determiner nakar ‘any.’ The questionnaire was constructed on the basis of the findings in Lindstad (1999) for the Norwegian polarity sensitive determiner noen ‘any’. The results indicate that Faroese nakar has a distribution that by and large mimics that of noen. This distribution is also very similar to that of Danish nogen ‘any’ and Icelandic nokkur ‘any,’ but differs considerably from Swedish någon ‘any.’ I did not find any dialectal variation in the distribution of nakar across licensing contexts, only minor variation at the individual level.

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