This paper puts forward a corpus-based analysis of two constructions in Italian: “V + ADJ + infinitive clause” and “V + ADJ + che (‘that’) clause”. Some verbs, such as essere (‘be’) and sembrare (‘seem’) occur in both constructions; in addition, many adjectives can appear in the predicative complement position of both constructions. The che- clause and the infinitive construction are apparently semantically similar, both express- ing a judgment or an attitude (codified by the adjective) toward the content of the sub- ject clause. However, upon examining corpus data with a distinctive-collexeme analysis (Gries / Stefanowitsch 2004), subtle differences clearly emerge: the che-clause construc- tion tends to be associated with epistemic / evidential adjectives while the infinitive construction shows a stronger association with evaluative adjectives. As a result of the analysis, it can be stated that constructions appear to be characterized by a meaning (see Goldberg 2006), which can be influenced by lexical choices (adjectives, verbs, clitics).

STRIK LIEVERS, F. (2011). Constructing Judgments: The Interaction between Adjectives and Clausal Complements in Italian. In M. Konopka, J. Kubczak, M. Mair, F. Štícha, U. Waßner (a cura di), Grammatik und Korpora 2009 (pp. 287-304). Tübingen : Narr Verlag.

Constructing Judgments: The Interaction between Adjectives and Clausal Complements in Italian

STRIK LIEVERS, FRANCESCA
2011

Abstract

This paper puts forward a corpus-based analysis of two constructions in Italian: “V + ADJ + infinitive clause” and “V + ADJ + che (‘that’) clause”. Some verbs, such as essere (‘be’) and sembrare (‘seem’) occur in both constructions; in addition, many adjectives can appear in the predicative complement position of both constructions. The che- clause and the infinitive construction are apparently semantically similar, both express- ing a judgment or an attitude (codified by the adjective) toward the content of the sub- ject clause. However, upon examining corpus data with a distinctive-collexeme analysis (Gries / Stefanowitsch 2004), subtle differences clearly emerge: the che-clause construc- tion tends to be associated with epistemic / evidential adjectives while the infinitive construction shows a stronger association with evaluative adjectives. As a result of the analysis, it can be stated that constructions appear to be characterized by a meaning (see Goldberg 2006), which can be influenced by lexical choices (adjectives, verbs, clitics).
Capitolo o saggio
clausal complements, adjectives, distinctive-collexeme analysis
English
Grammatik und Korpora 2009
Konopka, M; Kubczak, J; Mair, M; Štícha, F; Waßner, U
2011
978-3-8233-6648-5
Narr Verlag
287
304
STRIK LIEVERS, F. (2011). Constructing Judgments: The Interaction between Adjectives and Clausal Complements in Italian. In M. Konopka, J. Kubczak, M. Mair, F. Štícha, U. Waßner (a cura di), Grammatik und Korpora 2009 (pp. 287-304). Tübingen : Narr Verlag.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/48527
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