A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Incremental existence: the world according to the Finnish existential sentence
Authors: Huumo T
Publisher: MOUTON DE GRUYTER
Publication year: 2003
Journal: Linguistics
Journal name in source: LINGUISTICS
Journal acronym: LINGUISTICS
Volume: 41
Issue: 3
First page : 461
Last page: 493
Number of pages: 33
ISSN: 0024-3949
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.2003.016
Abstract
This work is a cognitive semantic study on existential constructions in Finnish, the main argument being that existentials code an idiosyncratic, external perspective on the semantic relationships they designate. Unlike nonexistential (transitive and intransitive) sentences, existentials do not assign the status of the semantic starting point to a single participant (typically the referent of the subject), that then steers our perspective toward the other relations designated in the sentence. In existentials, the perspective on the situation remains external to activities and events that take place in the location or other dimension within which the existential relationship is established. Existentials also suppress individual activities and foreground a holistic viewpoint over the event. It is theoretically important that the central differences between existential and nonexistential sentences are not found in the "objective" semantic content of the sentence construction but rather in the conceptualizer's subjective way of approaching the situation.
This work is a cognitive semantic study on existential constructions in Finnish, the main argument being that existentials code an idiosyncratic, external perspective on the semantic relationships they designate. Unlike nonexistential (transitive and intransitive) sentences, existentials do not assign the status of the semantic starting point to a single participant (typically the referent of the subject), that then steers our perspective toward the other relations designated in the sentence. In existentials, the perspective on the situation remains external to activities and events that take place in the location or other dimension within which the existential relationship is established. Existentials also suppress individual activities and foreground a holistic viewpoint over the event. It is theoretically important that the central differences between existential and nonexistential sentences are not found in the "objective" semantic content of the sentence construction but rather in the conceptualizer's subjective way of approaching the situation.
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