关键词: 情态副词; DP; 类型迁移; 句法基础; 语义匹配

Abstract: Epistemic modal adverbs normally function as propositional operators. However, it has been observed that such adverbs can apparently modify the subpropositional material DPs. This study inquires into the well-formedness conditions of English “epistemic modal adverb + DP”(EPI-MB+DP for short) construction. The article first demonstrates that modal adverbs modifying DPs only take scope over those DPs, then explains how a type entry for modal adverbs allows them to compose with type DP intensions. It finds that DP in the construction undergoes type shifting, i.e. changing from a phrase to a property-type expression before being modified by epistemic modal adverbs, with DP taking the same meaning as a proposition does. It also finds that the proposition can be realized as a relative clause, which underlies “EPI-MB +DP”, where DP becomes a surface form through the mechanism of metonymy. In terms of semantic compatibility, since EPI-MB expresses uncertainty, it requires the DP (with its associated proposition) to match the uncertainty, which is another well-formedness condition for “EPI-MB+DP” construction. The paper also investigates the Chinese encoding of “EPI-MB+DP” construction, and finds that Chinese does not have the syntactic device of relatives to encode the semantic relation specified by English EPI-MB+DP, hence no syntactic mechanism for the Proposition-to-DP metonymy. As a result, such English DPs can only be realized as propositional clauses in Chinese.

Keywords: epistemic modal adverbs; DP; type shifting; syntactic form; semantic compatibility