「人」「物」とwho/whichの選択 : 意味的統語論の観点から(言語)

概要

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This study is based on the assumption that part of the meaning of a word is closely related to the syntactic characteristics of the word. <±COUNT> <±STATIVE> <±HUMAN> are representative semantic features (i.e. part of the meaning of a word) which play crucial roles in the selections of the articles (including no-article), the progressive aspect, and who I which alternation, respectively. The main concern in this paper is the who I which alternation in relation to the semantic feature <± HUMAN>. It has long been a common understanding that the interrogative/ relative pronoun who is used to represent nouns carrying the feature <+ HUMAN>, while the interrogative/ relative pronoun which is used to represent nouns carrying the feature <-HUMAN>. It is true that the simple rule "who for <+HUMAN>, and which for <-HUMAN>" is often violated by "exceptional cases" like "Which is your favorite poet, Shelley or Dan?" This paper will show that these exceptional cases are not true "exceptions," and that by reconsidering and redefining the semantic feature <± HUMAN>, we can grasp the who I which alternation from a much more wider perspective than before. We will propose several basic principles which determine the choice between who and which for nouns which are supposedly carrying the semantic feature <+HUMAN>.
2005-03-01