Project Details
Projekt
A frame-based analysis of countability (C09)
Subject Area
General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
Term
from 2015 to 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 192776181
The focus is on a frame-based analysis of the count/non-count distinction in natural language which might cover not only nouns denoting concrete objects/stuff (apple, water), but also abstract entities (love, thought) and verbal predicates of eventualities (walk, explode, burn two letters). The overarching question is which (if any) concepts and generalizations we developed for the analysis of concrete nouns are applicable to abstract nouns and ver-bal predicates, given that their lexical makeup lacks a space-time frame of reference for what is one individuat-ed entity in their denotation of the kind that concrete nouns specify. Our guiding idea is that what is ‘one’ event/abstract entity is indirectly determined via its temporal trace or objects it is related to (e.g., event partici-pants, paths) and may require a contextually-determined choice.
DFG Programme
Collaborative Research Centres
Applicant Institution
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Project Head
Professorin Dr. Hana Filip
