End of ADS-L Digest - 7 Dec 1995 to 8 Dec 1995

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There are 3 messages totalling 82 lines in this issue.



Topics of the day:



 1. Perspective on/of

 2. root beer preferences (2)



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Date:  Sat, 9 Dec 1995 00:28:56 -0700

From:  Rudy Troike <RTROIKE[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU>

Subject: Re: Perspective on/of



Dennis--

    Et al.--

    I agree completely with your analysis of Steve's Martians. As I

suggested previously, "of" expresses the genitive relationship in this

nominal construction, in which "Martian scientists" serves as a "subject"

or agent (what traditional grammarians called the "subjective genitive").

The PP <of Martian scientists> forms an IC with <perspective>, as shown

by the commutation test of being switchable to prenominal position with

a following GEN suffix: <Martian scientists' perspective>. This then forms

an IC with <on issues of linguistic difference>, which serves as a kind of

"object" of <perspective>. Perhaps the difference in preposition usage

reflects Fillmore's observation that an inherent P would tend to override

a structural <of> when the latter was serving as a subjective or objective

genitive marker.

    --Rudy Troike (rtroike[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ccit.arizona.edu)