Noun Phrase Extraposition Construction in English
1
조회
0
다운로드
0
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
This study addresses the Noun Phrase Extraposition Construction (NPEC) in English, which is recognized for its distinctive linguistic features, rendering it an idiomatic clause. This construction possesses three fixed constituents: expletive pronoun subject it, verb be with a singular verb form and its subsequent definite article the. Thus, the superficial form consists of ‘it + be + adjective + the + noun modified by a relative clause’, asyntactic pattern that guarantees the existence of its corresponding constructional meaning. This prompts us to explore the syntactic and semantic features within the framework of Construction Grammar, particularly in terms of collostructional analysis. This study draws several conclusions based on this analysis. First, NPEC functions as an interrogative with scalar properties. The predicate adjective, which expresses these properties, denotes emotional intensity toward an extraposed noun phrase. Next, the extraposed noun phrase directly signifies either the amounts of entities or indirectly the quantity of entities pertaining to concrete objects. The latter leads to ambiguous interpretations. Furthermore, this study suggests that the constructional meaning of NPEC is that the unusual feature of a particular entity is causing someone to become distracted.
Abstract
This study addresses the Noun Phrase Extraposition Construction (NPEC) in English, which is recognized for its distinctive linguistic features, rendering it an idiomatic clause. This construction possesses three fixed constituents: expletive pronoun subject it, verb be with a singular verb form and its subsequent definite article the. Thus, the superficial form consists of ‘it + be + adjective + the + noun modified by a relative clause’, asyntactic pattern that guarantees the existence of its corresponding constructional meaning. This prompts us to explore the syntactic and semantic features within the framework of Construction Grammar, particularly in terms of collostructional analysis. This study draws several conclusions based on this analysis. First, NPEC functions as an interrogative with scalar properties. The predicate adjective, which expresses these properties, denotes emotional intensity toward an extraposed noun phrase. Next, the extraposed noun phrase directly signifies either the amounts of entities or indirectly the quantity of entities pertaining to concrete objects. The latter leads to ambiguous interpretations. Furthermore, this study suggests that the constructional meaning of NPEC is that the unusual feature of a particular entity is causing someone to become distracted.