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Adjectives in Modern Greek: an instance of predication, or an old issue revisited1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Melita Stavrou
Melita Stavrou
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54 006 Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Extract

In the present article the problem of the position of the adjectives in the noun phrase in Modern Greek is addressed. Rather than starting from their alleged ‘asymmetrical’ distribution, according to which postnominal adjectives are only allowed in indefinite DPs, I concentrate on the possible interpretations that the adjective can have relative to the noun. The differences between prenominal and apparently postnominal adjectives in indefinite DPs suggest a predicative reading of the latter. This semantic account motivates a corresponding syntactic one, according to which the noun moving upwards to a head DEF, formally distinct from D, enters a predicative relationship with the AP generated uniquely prenominally. Such a movement is precluded in definite DPs, because the DEF position is occupied by the definite article. In this way, a number of differences observed between definite and indefinite NPs, as far as ‘postnominal’ adjectives are concerned, are seen as consequences of their predicative nature and the way this interacts with the definiteness/indefiniteness of what serves as their subject.

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Articles
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Journal of Linguistics , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , March 1996 , pp. 79 - 112
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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