2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
The modification relations of an adjective-noun combination in English and its semantic extension
| Project/Area Number |
25370559
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
English linguistics
|
|---|
| Research Institution | University of Kochi |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
|
| Keywords | 形容詞 / 限定用法 / 名詞句 / 同族目的語構文 / 様態 / 詳述性 |
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In English, the noun phrase, consisting of [A-N], can have various modification relations. For example, an adjective expressing the manner of an action can modify a common noun, a noun describing an entity. The purpose of this study is to clarify the mechanism of the modification relations within the noun phrase in terms of its semantic continuity. We will explore the semantic characteristics of various constructions where the noun phrase occurs. We will show that the semantic extension of the noun phrase is motivated by specificity, which is one of the ways of human construals, and that as the semantic extension of the noun phrase proceeds, the noun phrase as a whole tends to have a strong tendency toward expressing the manner of an action described by a main verb. Finally, this study concludes that these various modification relations in all instances should meet the grammatical rule of an attributive use of adjectives in English.
|
| Free Research Field |
英語学
|
