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Anti-Ikonizität an der Syntax-Semantik-Schnittstelle

Keywords: syntax-semantics interface, iconicity, underspecification formalism, modification

The syntax-semantics interface is iconic in that it maps syntactic asymmetries (in particular, unilateral c-command) onto semantic asymmetries (scope relations). But many modification structures seem to violate this iconicity: here the modifier has (optionally or obligatorily) semantic scope over only a part of the expression that it modifies syntactically.

First I will show that some well-known cases of syntax-semantics mismatch are instances of this phenomenon. Then I will specify an extremely flexible syntax-semantics interface to handle the apparent anti-iconicity. This interface crucially relies on the expressive power of a suitable underspecification formalism.

With the interface one can derive the semantic representations of the problematic examples from surface-oriented syntactic structures without giving up the iconicity between syntax and semantics. Apparent anti-iconicity eventually emerges as scope underspecification between a modifier and part of the expression that it modifies. The analysis is applied to German and Turkish data.

Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 0721-9067
Volume: 25, 06/2006
Pages: 1 - 38

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