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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Adjectives in Modern Greek: an instance of predication, or an old issue revisited
Contributor:
Stavrou, Melita
Published:
Cambridge University Press (CUP), 1996
Published in:
Journal of Linguistics, 32 (1996) 1, Seite 79-112
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1017/s0022226700000773
ISSN:
0022-2267;
1469-7742
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
<jats:p>In the present article the problem of the position of the adjectives in the noun phrase in Modern Greek is addressed. Rather than starting from their alleged ‘asymmetrical’ distribution, according to which postnominal adjectives are only allowed in indefinite DPs, I concentrate on the possible interpretations that the adjective can have relative to the noun. The differences between prenominal and apparently postnominal adjectives in indefinite DPs suggest a predicative reading of the latter. This semantic account motivates a corresponding syntactic one, according to which the noun moving upwards to a head DEF, formally distinct from D, enters a predicative relationship with the AP generated uniquely prenominally. Such a movement is precluded in definite DPs, because the DEF position is occupied by the definite article. In this way, a number of differences observed between definite and indefinite NPs, as far as ‘postnominal’ adjectives are concerned, are seen as consequences of their predicative nature and the way this interacts with the definiteness/indefiniteness of what serves as their subject.</jats:p>