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Structure, Aspect, and the Predicate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2026

T. R. Rapoport
T. R. Rapoport*
Affiliation:
Ben Gurion University
*
Dept. of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105 Israel [tovarap@bgumail.bgu.ac.il]
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Abstract

This article examines the constraints on depictive predicates and their interpretation within the Aspectual Structure (AS) theory of the structural representation of aspect (Erteschik-Shir & Rapoport 1997). This model allows a simple expression of the relation between the depictive adjunct predicate and its host by means of a parallel-structures analysis. The depictive is contrasted with the resultative predicate and the similar but distinct modified result adjunct. AS structure type and aspectual focus account for the interpretations of the three types of secondary predicates. Their acceptability is shown to depend on interpretation rather than on grammaticality.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 75 , Issue 4 , December 1999 , pp. 653 - 677
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 Linguistic Society of America

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