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Bare Nouns in Predicate Position in French

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Logic and Grammar

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 6700))

Abstract

In this paper we examine the differences between bare singular nouns and indefinite singular NPs in predicate position in French. Our claim is that the semantic value of the singular indefinite determiner is not empty in French and that various interpretative contrasts between bare singular nouns and indefinite nouns in predicate position can be accounted for if a distinction between two rules of predication supported by copular sentences is introduced. We assume that bare nouns denote properties, which can be attributed to individuals, while indefinite noun phrases denote entities, which can be identified with an individual in context. This distinction between two types of statements, attributive ones and identificational ones, takes its source in Higgin’s typology, and will be compared with Roy’s and Heller and Wolter’s works on predicative and specificational sentences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Jean Nicod, CNRS-ENS-EHESS, 29, rue d’Ulm, 75005, Paris, France

    Claire Beyssade

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  1. Claire Beyssade
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. INRIA Nancy – Grand Est, 615, rue du Jardin Botanique, 54602, Villers-lès-Nancy Cedex, France

    Sylvain Pogodalla

  2. UMR “Institut de Mathématiques de Luminy”, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, France

    Myriam Quatrini

  3. université Bordeaux 1, LaBRI, 351, cours de la libération, 33405, Talence cedex, France

    Christian Retoré

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Beyssade, C. (2011). Bare Nouns in Predicate Position in French. In: Pogodalla, S., Quatrini, M., Retoré, C. (eds) Logic and Grammar. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6700. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21490-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21490-5_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21489-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21490-5

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