Zur Komposition von insofern als im Deutschen
This paper is about the compositional interpretation of adverbial clauses as introduced by insofern als (lit. ‘insofar as’) in German (= IAs); for example, Die Lösung ist insofern attraktiv, als sie günstig ist. (lit. ‘The solution is insofar attractive as it is cheap.’). I argue that IAs always c...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | deu |
Published: |
De Gruyter
2018-06-01
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Series: | Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/zfs-2018-0001 |
Summary: | This paper is about the compositional interpretation of adverbial clauses as introduced by insofern
als (lit. ‘insofar as’) in German (= IAs); for example, Die Lösung ist insofern attraktiv, als sie günstig ist.
(lit. ‘The solution is insofar attractive as it is cheap.’). I argue that IAs always contribute dimensional restrictions, but
do so in two distinct structure-sensitive ways: IAs can be structurally integrated into their host clauses and, thus,
dimensionally specify a lexical component of the matrix VP (= LIAs) (‘The solution is attractive in price.’); alternatively,
they can be structurally non-integrated and, thus, provide a dimension against which the matrix sentence is evaluated
holistically (= SIAs) (‘In light of the fact that the solution is cheap, one may say that it is attractive.’). The proposal
is supported by both syntactic and semantic-pragmatic evidence: (i) LIAs and SIAs are distinguished by independently
motivated tests for structural (non)integration such as scope of negation and particles, focus-background structure, and
variable binding. (ii) LIAs are sensitive to a lexically given multidimensional matrix predication. SIAs, by contrast, require
that the embedded clause specify an objective justification for the truth of the matrix proposition as a whole. In particular,
IAs are shown to not pass tests for subjectivity as discussed for finden (‘find’); for example, judge-
dependency, resistance against denial, or, accessibility of a subjective attitude. The paper concludes by sketching a
formal derivation of both readings. Accordingly, LIAs constrain the dimensional parameter of multidimensional lexical
predications, while SIAs provide facts that de re justify the assertibility of predications for topic situations. |
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ISSN: | 0721-9067 1613-3706 |