Project B1 (von Heusinger, Brandtner) The interpretation of derived nominals

Main question Which phenomena that appear with deverbal nominalizations (concerning readings, indicators, interpretation in context etc.) does a semantic (or syntactic) theory have to account for… …and which are due to more general processes such as discourse structuring, conceptual shift etc.?

Two main topics Differentiation of different types of readings: Which are the core readings for der. nominals Which ones emerge by more general principles (cf. simple nouns etc.) A pragmatic solution to copredication: Two different reading indicators modify the same nominalization

Copredication and predicate transfer (1) Die [wiederholten]EV Messungen [belegen]RE, dass es keine Verbesserung gab. The repeated measurements show … (2)Die [wiederholten]EV Messungen {haben Resultate, die [belegen]RE }EV,dass... …{have results that [show]...} enrichment of the second indicator: only one reading for the nominalization

Constraints on predicate transfer Salient relation, in this case between the event and the result the enriched version is noteworthy in the utterance situation: very general principle that has to be tested

Questionnaire Speaker intuitions on examples with and without noteworthiness: (3) Die [langwierige]EV Übersetzung [brachte mir viel Geld ein]RE. The tedious translation earned me a lot of money. (4) ?Die Absperrung [aus Holz]RE [hat drei Tage gedauert]EV. The wooden blocking has taken three days.

Questionnaire Sentences with the following indications: EV – EV / RE – RE EV – RE / RE – EV + noteworthiness EV – RE / RE – EV – noteworthiness First outcome: Noteworthiness is significant for the acceptability of such sentences ( pragmatic principle is testable)