A Fine-Grained Approach to Lexical and Functional Syntactic Categories

Most syntactic theories have come to rely on the§distinction between lexical and functional §categories: nouns and verbs are lexical , while§determiners and inflection are functional . A§growing body of research challenges this binary§division, suggesting there are semi-lexical §elements with both lexical and functional §properties. This book develops a fine-grained§approach where lexical and functional are not§taken as ends of the same continuum, but are seen as§two separate and distinct features, creating a§two-dimensional binary distinction ([±Lexical,§±Functional]). This analysis is applied to the§domain of prepositions, and resolves most of the§contradictions manifest in that domain. Support is§drawn from parallels in syntactic and semantic§behavior, as well as evidence from a longitudinal§study of five children s early spontaneous§production. This monograph should be useful to§researchers in a variety of domains, including§syntax, aphasia, first- and second-language§acquisition. Anyone interested in the§nature of syntactic categories in general, and the§nature of prepositions and prepositional-elements in§particular, will find this book useful.