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Where does predication come from?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

David Gil
David Gil*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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Abstract

Predication is widely considered to be a fundamental feature of human language and conceptual structure. This article offers a reassessment of the central role that predication plays within current theories of grammar, by calling into question the universality of predication and its nature as a primitive, irreducible notion. It proposes a new definition of predicate, as a complex emergent entity derived from the alignment of two independent elements of conceptual structure: thematic role assignment and headedness.

Résumé

Résumé

Selon une longue tradition, la prédication est un trait fondamental des langues naturelles et de la structure conceptuelle. Cet article réexamine le rôle central que la prédication occupe dans les théories linguistiques actuelles, et remet en question le caractère universel de la prédication et son statut de primitif irréductible. Il propose une nouvelle définition de «prédicat», soit une entité complexe émergente qui découle de l’alignement de deux éléments de la structure conceptuelle indépendants l’un de l’autre : l’attribution des rôles thématiques et le statut de tête.

Keywords

predicationthematic role assignmentheadednessTAMRiau Indonesianprédicationrôles thématiquestêteTAM„ riau indonésien
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 57 , Issue 2: Properties of predication/Proprietes de la predication , July 2012 , pp. 303 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association/Association canadienne de linguistique 2012 

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