Towards a Construction Grammar Account of the Distributive PO in Polish Cover Image

Towards a Construction Grammar Account of the Distributive PO in Polish
Towards a Construction Grammar Account of the Distributive PO in Polish

Author(s): Adam Przepiórkowski
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Distributive \textsc{po}; adnumeral operator; Sign-Based Construction Grammar; Polish

Summary/Abstract: Polish distributive constructions involving the form po are well known for their syntactic and semantic idiosyncrasy. The aim of this paper is to show that, contrary to the received wisdom, two different lexemes \textsc{po} take part in such constructions: a preposition and an adnumeral operator. This explains some of the idiosyncratic behaviour, namely, the apparent ability of po to combine with different grammatical cases. A preliminary Construction Grammar analysis is proposed which eschews the potential problem of missed generalisations that such a dual account of po might engender.

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 10
  • Page Range: 163-176
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English