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English binominal NPs: A construction-based perspective1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2014

JONG-BOK KIM  and
PETER SELLS
JONG-BOK KIM*
Affiliation:
Kyung Hee University
PETER SELLS*
Affiliation:
University of York
*
Authors' address: (Kim) School of English, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 130-701, Korea[email protected]
Authors' address: (Sells) Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK[email protected]
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Abstract

English binominal NPs (BNPs) (e.g., a giant of a man, a skullcracker of a headache) are of empirical and theoretical interest due to their complex syntactic and semantic properties. In this paper, we review some basic properties of the BNP construction, focusing on its headedness, semantic relations, and the role of the preposition of. We argue that these properties suggest an account in the spirit of construction grammar. In particular, we argue that the English BNP is a nominal juxtaposition construction with particular special syntactic constraints, linked to a semantic interpretation reminiscent of the subject–predicate relation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 41 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

[1]

Parts of the material in this paper were presented on several occasions at meetings and invited talks: NP2 Workshop in September 2011 at Newcastle University, 18th International Conference on HPSG in August 2011 at the University of Washington at Seattle, Department of English Colloquium in Janunary 2012 at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and 7th International Conference on Construction Grammar in August 2012 at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. We thank the participants in these events for questions and feedback. In particular, we thank Bas Aarts, Douglas Arnold, Toshihiko Asaka, Emily Bender, Benjamin Bergen, Rui Chaves, Sae-Youn Cho, Winnie Cheng, Adele Goldberg, Paul Kay, Doo-Shik Kim, Jean-Pierre Koenig, Christian Mattissen, Laura Michaelis, Ivan Sag, Frank Van Eynde, and Eun-Jung Yoo. Three anonymous Journal of Linguistics referees also helped us to focus the paper and crystallize the issues.

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