Syntax–semantics interface
In linguistics, the syntax‐semantics interface is the way in which syntax and semantics interact,[1] and encompasses those linguistic phenomena that pertain to both syntax and semantics. Among the linguistic phenomena that lie at the interface between syntax and semantics, and that have a semantic content that affects syntax, are: the semantic macroroles of actor and undergoer, noun traits like animacy and abstract and concrete, and verb traits like telicity and split intransitivity.
Syntactic centered formalist approaches, like Chomsky's generativism, argue for an autonomy of syntax and tend to argue for a simple one to one mapping between syntax and semantics.
See also
- Thematic relation
- Morphosyntactic alignment
- Unaccusative verb
- Semantic property
- Semantic feature
- Semantic class
- Principle of compositionality
- Shifting (syntax)
- Coercion (linguistics)
References
- ^ Chierchia (1999) Syntax-semantics interface], in: MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. Edited by Keil & Wilson. MIT Press ; 1999.
Further reading
- Jackendoff, R. (1997). The architecture of the language faculty (No. 28). MIT Press.
- Levin, B., & Rappaport Hovav, M. (1995). Unaccusativity: At the syntax–lexical semantics interface. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
- Van Valin Jr, R. D. (2005). Exploring the syntax-semantics interface. Cambridge University Press.