Phrasal Proper Names in German and Norwegian
(2023) In Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 26(6).- Abstract
- This paper discusses the morpho-syntax of phrasal proper names like Deutsche Bahn ‘German Railway’ and Norske Skog ‘Norwegian Forest’ in German and Norwegian. As regards determiner elements, there are three types of phrasal proper names in German: some proper names do not have a definite article, some do, and yet others exhibit a possessive. Depending on the syntactic context, the first two types pattern the same as regards the presence or absence of the article but contrast with the third, where the possessive is always present. It is proposed that proper names in German vary in their structure as regards the presence of the DP-level: unlike articles, possessives have a referential marker, and a DP is obligatorily projected with the... (More)
- This paper discusses the morpho-syntax of phrasal proper names like Deutsche Bahn ‘German Railway’ and Norske Skog ‘Norwegian Forest’ in German and Norwegian. As regards determiner elements, there are three types of phrasal proper names in German: some proper names do not have a definite article, some do, and yet others exhibit a possessive. Depending on the syntactic context, the first two types pattern the same as regards the presence or absence of the article but contrast with the third, where the possessive is always present. It is proposed that proper names in German vary in their structure as regards the presence of the DP-level: unlike articles, possessives have a referential marker, and a DP is obligatorily projected with the latter element. Norwegian is different. While proper names in Norwegian also vary in the presence or absence of determiners, there is no flexibility—determiners are always present or always absent, independent of the syntactic context. It is proposed that unlike in German, the DP-level in Norwegian is always present. As argued by Roehrs (Glossa J Gen Linguist, 5(1):1–38, 2020, https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1267), phrasal proper names involve a regular syntactic derivation. Given that elements of regular DPs are sensitive to definiteness in Norwegian, it is proposed that Norwegian proper names involve an obligatory definiteness feature. As this feature surfaces in the DP-level, the latter must be present in that language in all instances. Besides this cross-linguistic difference, we document that phrasal PN may show features of recursivity evidenced most clearly in Norwegian. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- This paper discusses the morpho-syntax of phrasal proper names like
Deutsche Bahn ‘German Railway’ and Norske Skog ‘Norwegian Forest’ in German
and Norwegian. As regards determiner elements, there are three types of phrasal
proper names in German: some proper names do not have a definite article, some do,
and yet others exhibit a possessive. Depending on the syntactic context, the first two
types pattern the same as regards the presence or absence of the article but contrast
with the third, where the possessive is always present. It is proposed that proper names in German vary in their structure as regards the presence of the DP-level: unlike articles, possessives have a referential marker, and a DP is obligatorily... (More) - This paper discusses the morpho-syntax of phrasal proper names like
Deutsche Bahn ‘German Railway’ and Norske Skog ‘Norwegian Forest’ in German
and Norwegian. As regards determiner elements, there are three types of phrasal
proper names in German: some proper names do not have a definite article, some do,
and yet others exhibit a possessive. Depending on the syntactic context, the first two
types pattern the same as regards the presence or absence of the article but contrast
with the third, where the possessive is always present. It is proposed that proper names in German vary in their structure as regards the presence of the DP-level: unlike articles, possessives have a referential marker, and a DP is obligatorily projected with the latter element. Norwegian is different. While proper names in Norwegian also vary in the presence or absence of determiners, there is no flexibility—determiners are always present or always absent, independent of the syntactic context. It is proposed that unlike in German, the DP-level in Norwegian is always present. As argued by Roehrs (Glossa J Gen Linguist, 5(1):1–38, 2020, https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1267), phrasal proper names involve a regular syntactic derivation. Given that elements of regular DPs are sensitive to definiteness in Norwegian, it is proposed that Norwegian proper names involve an obligatory definiteness feature. As this feature surfaces in the DP-level, the latter must be present in that language in all instances. Besides this crosslinguistic difference, we document that phrasal PN may show features of recursivity evidenced most clearly in Norwegian. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/dbf42760-d23b-4f8d-94ae-1ae1b9f3719a
- author
- Julien, Marit LU and Roehrs, Dorian
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Morpho-syntax, DP, Proper names, German, Norwegian
- in
- Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics
- volume
- 26
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 54 pages
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85170374626
- ISSN
- 1572-8552
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10828-023-09144-4
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- dbf42760-d23b-4f8d-94ae-1ae1b9f3719a
- date added to LUP
- 2023-09-11 17:33:52
- date last changed
- 2023-10-21 04:03:29
@article{dbf42760-d23b-4f8d-94ae-1ae1b9f3719a,
abstract = {{This paper discusses the morpho-syntax of phrasal proper names like Deutsche Bahn ‘German Railway’ and Norske Skog ‘Norwegian Forest’ in German and Norwegian. As regards determiner elements, there are three types of phrasal proper names in German: some proper names do not have a definite article, some do, and yet others exhibit a possessive. Depending on the syntactic context, the first two types pattern the same as regards the presence or absence of the article but contrast with the third, where the possessive is always present. It is proposed that proper names in German vary in their structure as regards the presence of the DP-level: unlike articles, possessives have a referential marker, and a DP is obligatorily projected with the latter element. Norwegian is different. While proper names in Norwegian also vary in the presence or absence of determiners, there is no flexibility—determiners are always present or always absent, independent of the syntactic context. It is proposed that unlike in German, the DP-level in Norwegian is always present. As argued by Roehrs (Glossa J Gen Linguist, 5(1):1–38, 2020, https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1267), phrasal proper names involve a regular syntactic derivation. Given that elements of regular DPs are sensitive to definiteness in Norwegian, it is proposed that Norwegian proper names involve an obligatory definiteness feature. As this feature surfaces in the DP-level, the latter must be present in that language in all instances. Besides this cross-linguistic difference, we document that phrasal PN may show features of recursivity evidenced most clearly in Norwegian.}},
author = {{Julien, Marit and Roehrs, Dorian}},
issn = {{1572-8552}},
keywords = {{Morpho-syntax, DP, Proper names, German, Norwegian}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics}},
title = {{Phrasal Proper Names in German and Norwegian}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10828-023-09144-4}},
doi = {{10.1007/s10828-023-09144-4}},
volume = {{26}},
year = {{2023}},
}