Inalienable Possession, Primarily in French

Bibliographic Data

ID23670545
AuthorsJacqueline Guéron (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, corresponding author)
Year2017
Pages1-30
Publication date2017-11-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeOTHER
VenueThe Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Second Edition (JOURNAL)
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/9781118358733.wbsyncom045
OpenAlexW4254469862
ISBN9781118358733
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited16

Inalienable Possession (IA) refers not to a syntactic structure but to a construal associated with a variety of structures. Each one contains a nominal denoting a body part (BP) plus another nominal denoting the possessor of the body part ( poss ). IA structures vary within and over languages. Structures I–III are grammatical in French, for example, while only III is grammatical in English. (1) a. Jean lève la main. b. * John raises the hand (2) a. Je lui prends la main. b. * I him take the hand (3) a. Marie a frappé Jean sur la main. b. Mary hit John on the hand This chapter reviews some studies devoted to Structures I–III. We will first examine syntactic approaches that identify IA with A‐(argument)‐binding, A′‐(operator)‐binding, or syntactic predication. We then consider conceptual analyses that evoke the notion of affect, and semantic analyses that suggest or propose identifying the BP DP in IA as a Weak Definite. In Section 4, we test how far the grammar of IA can be reduced, within the minimalist framework, to the interaction of the content of lexical content with the formal features of lexical and functional items.

Argument (complex analysis) · Grammar · Linguistics · Possession (linguistics) · Semantic role labeling · Sentence · Syntax · Variety (cybernetics) · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation