My proposed research focuses on the nature and degree of nominality. While it is widely accepted that nouns and verbs constitute two separate word classes, this distinction has been shown to be unsatisfactory due to variably applied criteria which inconsistently mix morphology, syntax and semantics. For example, one problem is that semantic distinctions such as event vs object are not reliable, e.g. the noun ‘fire’ behaves verbally, like a deverbal noun, but this meaning is not inherited from a verb. It can be said that the concept Grammatical Metaphor (GM) has provided some insight into the broad area of nominalization, however, it has been shown that GM does not account for all complex nominals. Therefore, this research proposes to determine empirically how the nature and degree of nominality can be evaluated, as well as evaluate the extent to which GM can account for the meanings of nominal expressions.
Carr, Alexander
Start date:
October 2018Research Topic:
An Empirical Investigation into The Nature and Degree of NominalityResearch pathway:
LinguisticsResearch Supervisor:
Lise FontaineSupervising school:
School of English, Communication & Philosophy, Cardiff UniversityPrimary funding source:
ESRC StudentshipEmail:
carra1@cardiff.ac.uk