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Fusion of functions: The syntax of once, twice and thrice1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2007

JOHN PAYNE ,
RODNEY HUDDLESTON  and
GEOFFREY K. PULLUM
JOHN PAYNE*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
RODNEY HUDDLESTON*
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
GEOFFREY K. PULLUM*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
*
Authors' addresses: Linguistics and English Language, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, University of Manchester, ManchesterM13 9PL, U.K. E-mail: [email protected]
School of English, Media Studies and Art History, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Qld 4072Australia. E-mail: [email protected]
Linguistics and English Language, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 14 Buccleuch Place, EdinburghEH8 9LN, Scotland, U.K. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper we present a detailed new analysis of the English expressions once, twice and thrice. These, we claim, are primarily compound determinatives, analogous in many respects to expressions like someone and somewhere. The new analysis exploits the framework of the Cambridge grammar of the English language (2002) in which the morphological nature of the compound determinative category reflects a fusion of functions, typically determiner (or modifier) and head of NP. We refine the notion of fusion of functions, and show that constructions which employ fusion of functions have properties which clearly distinguish them from superficially similar constructions which employ incorporation or hybridization. The paper therefore provides further evidence for the existence of fusion of functions as a distinct syntactic configuration, and indirectly supports theoretical frameworks which treat functions and categories as distinct primitives.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , November 2007 , pp. 565 - 603
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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