On the Form and Interpretation of German Wh-Infinitives

Reis, Marga

doi:10.1017/s147054270300028x

Cited by 45 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Next we have to figure out how the specific purposive interpretation of the VP‐adjunct is established. As pointed out by Reis () and Rapp & Wöllstein () VPs that are not part of an extended functional projection CP are constrained to a modal interpretation . Their predicates rule out factual readings.…”

Section: Towards An Explanationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the so‐calledAbsentive– inGerman

Fortmann

Wöllstein

2019

Studia Linguistica

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This investigation targets a syntactic phenomenon of German which is commonly referred to as the absentive construction. The absentive is considered a universal grammatical category denoting absence. Its syntax is characterised by the occurrence of an auxiliary or copula verb accompanied by a non‐finite VP containing a main verb. The expression of absence, predicated over the clausal subject, is assumed to be based on a constructional meaning. Reviewing a wide range of syntactic and interpretive properties of this structure in German, we will demonstrate that certain empirical claims about the construction are not well founded and that its seemingly idiosyncratic properties are indeed available for compositional analyses. We will propose a structural analysis of its core syntactic and interpretive properties: The predication expresses the localisation of the subject at the location of the event, denoted by the infinitival verb. The interpretation of absence, then, can be explained by an implicature.

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Section: Towards An Explanationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…on structural conditions (root vs. embedded occurrences), lexical choice. Modal force may vary from (weak) readings (bare root infinitives) to strong readings in the case of warum ‐infinitives (Reis , Fortmann forthcoming).…”

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confidence: 99%

On the so‐calledAbsentive– inGerman

Fortmann

Wöllstein

2019

Studia Linguistica

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“…For example, German, also a V2 language, has a certain type of wh-question where the verb appears in the infinitive, as shown in (17). Reis (2003) suggests that in these cases, the wh-phrase moves to the Spec of Force and matches the wh-feature in Force. If this is correct, then this movement is an alternative to moving the finite verb to the Force head.…”

Section: The Position Of the Finite Verb In Mainland Scandinavian V2 mentioning

confidence: 99%

The force of V2 revisited

Julien

2015

J Comp German Linguistics

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The main claim of this paper is that embedded V2 clauses in Mainland Scandinavian have the same syntactic structure as main clauses. This means that embedded V2 clauses contain a Force head, and as a consequence, embedded declarative V2 clauses will normally be asserted. Embedded V2 clauses are also similar to main clauses in that they contain linkers which encode the local speaker and addressee. Hence, indexical shift is possible in embedded V2 clauses, but not in non-V2 clauses, which do not contain linkers. In shifted contexts, the assertion that the embedded clause represents will be attributed to the local, implicit speaker, while in other cases, the actual speaker will be responsible for the assertion. The Force head is also the source of the V2 order, since it attracts the finite verb in addition to attracting a phrase from its complement to its Spec. In this way, the connection between V2 order and illocutionary force gets a straightforward explanation.

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“…Rapp & Wöllstein (2009), Reis (2003 Curme (1922), Disterheft (1981) und Paul (1920 geben -wenn auch oft eher in Andeutungen ausgeführte -Hinweise auf eine solche Interpretation. Haspelmath (1989) zufolge ist der reine Infinitiv (mit der Markierung -en) aus einer Nominalform mit einer Interpretation als Akkusativ des Zwecks (mit gleicher Markierung -en) hervorgegangen.…”

Section: Grammatische Funktion Des Infinitivsunclassified

Zum sogenannten Absentiv

Fortmann¹,

Wöllstein²

2013

Jahrbuch Für Germanistische Sprachgeschichte

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On the Form and Interpretation of German Wh-Infinitives

Cited by 45 publications

References 9 publications

On the so‐calledAbsentive– inGerman

On the so‐calledAbsentive– inGerman

The force of V2 revisited

Zum sogenannten Absentiv

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