Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-09T14:19:18.282Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Semantics of the Bengali Verb fεla

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Jila Ghomeshi
Jila Ghomeshi*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Any theory of semantics must account for the role of inference in the interpretation of a sentence, however, it is not clear at which level of the grammar this inferencing capability must be represented. In Sperber and Wilson (1986) for example, inference plays an important role in the interpretation of an utterance in discourse, yet their theory does not integrate lexical representations with discourse and inferencing. Jackendoff (1987, 1990) on the other hand, while giving explicit representations for sentences and lexical items, does not address the question of discourse and inference. In this paper I will argue that it is essential to take account of discourse-level factors when analyzing sentence meaning, and indeed word meaning. In particular I will show that the meaning of the auxiliary verb fεla. in Bengali can be properly represented only if such discourse-level factors are included.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 36 , Issue 4 , December 1991 , pp. 337 - 361
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, Mark, Johnson, Kyle, and Roberts, Ian 1986 Passive Arguments Raised. Linguistic Inquiry 20:219–251.Google Scholar
Belletti, Adriana, and Rizzi, Luigi 1988 Psych-Verbs and Q-theory. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 6:291–352.Google Scholar
Burzio, Luigi 1986 Italian Syntax: A Government-Binding Approach. Dordrecht: Reidel.Google Scholar
Bykova, Evgeniia M. 1981 The Bengali Language. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Chatterjee, Ranjit 1975 Aspect and Aktionsart in Czech and Bengali. General Linguistics 15:187–196.Google Scholar
Chatterji, Suniti K. 1926 Origin and Development of Bengali Language. Calcutta: Calcutta University.Google Scholar
Comrie, Bernard 1985 Tense. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cowper, Elizabeth 1991 A Compositional Analysis of English Tense. Canadian Linguistic Association Proceedings 1. Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Ghomeshi, Jila 1991 Persian Noun-Verb Compounds as Noun Incorporation. Ms.Google Scholar
Grimshaw, Jane 1990 Argument Structure. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Jackendoff, Ray 1987 The Status of Thematics Relations in Linguistic Theory. Linguistic Inquiry 18:369–411.Google Scholar
Jackendoff, Ray 1990 Semantic Structures. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Pal, Aminesh K. 1966 The Problems of Bengali Verb and Syntax. Journal of the Asiatic Society 8:219–238.Google Scholar
Perlmutter, David M. 1978 Impersonal Passives and the Unaccusative Hypothesis. Pp. 157–180 in Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistics Society IV. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Pustejovsky, James 1988 Event Semantic Structure. Ms.Google Scholar
Ramchand, Gillian 1990 Complex Predicate Formation in Bangla. West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 9:443–458.Google Scholar
Rapoport, Tova 1991 Definitely Arguments. Paper presented at the CLA conference. Kingston, Ontario, May.Google Scholar
Sperber, Dan, and Wilson, Deirdre 1986 Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Vendler, Zeno 1967 Linguistics and Philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Zbavitel, Dusan 1970 Non-Finite Verbal Forms in Bengali. Prague: Publishing House of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Oriental Institute.Google Scholar