Series | LiVVaL
Edited book | Partitive Constructions and Partitive Elements Within and Across Language Borders in Europe
Chapter | Pseudo-Partitives and Individuation
Pseudo-Partitives and Individuation
A Study on Adnominal Genitives in German
Abstract
Pseudo-partitives in German do not normally allow genitive marking of the inner nominal, but in the presence of an adjective this is possible. But even then, it is usually a marked option. It has been suggested that genitive marking is the preferred option if the inner nominal is plural. This is partly true, but we adduce additional observations suggesting that there are also semantic conditions making reference to the degree of individuation of the referent of the inner nominal: genitive marking is preferred if the inner nominal denotes a plurality of referents that are high on the individuation scale.
Submitted: May 24, 2023 | Accepted: Oct. 23, 2023 | Published May 16, 2024 | Language: en
Keywords German • Individuation • Adjectival inflection • Genitive • Pseudo-partitive
Copyright © 2024 Alexander Pfaff. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-795-1/003
