%0 Journal Article
%T Unclear Predication in the Construction
%A Christopher DESURMONT
%J E-rea : Revue ¨¦lectronique d¡¯¨¦tudes sur le Monde Anglophone
%D 2012
%I 
%R 10.4000/erea.2368
%X Cet article examine l¡¯emploi d¡¯adjectifs ¨¦valuatifs (Evaluative adjectives: EAs) comme brave, clever, crazy, foolish, silly, wise. La construction < NP + be + EA + toV> illustr¨¦e ci-dessus a ¨¦t¨¦ consid¨¦r¨¦e comme un cas de   pr¨¦dication ¨¦pisodique   (Stage-level predication). Stowell (1991) par exemple propose une   coercion analysis   selon laquelle la proposition infinitive transformerait la nature du jugement adjectival: d¡¯absolu et non born¨¦, il deviendrait relatif. Cependant, Kertz (2006), prenant appui sur une batterie de   S-level tests  , a d¨¦montr¨¦ que cette construction est un cas de pr¨¦dication d¡¯individu (Individual level predication) et non de pr¨¦dication ¨¦pisodique (S-level); ce qui implique que la pr¨¦sence d¡¯une infinitive ne modifierait pas fondamentalement la nature de la pr¨¦dication. Cependant, consid¨¦rer la nature de la pr¨¦dication dans cette construction comme ¨¦tant clairement I-level est manifestement contre-intuitif . Il semblerait que nous ayons affaire ¨¤ ce que l¡¯on pourrait appeler une   pr¨¦dication incertaine   (unclear predication). Ce point de vue est ici d¨¦fendu en impliquant les param¨¨tres suivants: 1) le statut syntaxique de l¡¯enchass¨¦e, 2) son statut s¨¦mantique, 3) le pr¨¦construit ¨¤ l¡¯origine du jugement adjectival. This paper examines Evaluative Adjectives (in short: EAs) like brave, clever, crazy, foolish, silly, wise when followed by to + infinive as in (1) or (2):(1) C8T 2147 I suppose I'm silly to worry about that. (Examples from the BNC)(2) EU 1623 You¡¯d be crazy to sell today. Intuitively, this construction appears to be a case of Stage-level predication (Stowell, 1991). However, the Derived EA construction passes none of the classic S-level tests, as demonstrated in Kertz¡¯ (2006) ¡°Adjunct Control analysis¡±. Yet to consider this construction as a clear case of Individual-level predication remains counter-intuitive. This paper aims at showing that it should be regarded as a case of ¡°unclear predication¡±, and as such, having the pragmatic advantage of enabling the speaker to pronounce a judgment without clearly committing themselves. The following parameters are taken into account: the syntactic status of the EA¡¯s infinitival modifier, the semantic status of its propositional content, and the preconstruction behind the adjectival predication.
%K adjective
%K infinitive
%K adjunct
%K complement
%K predication
%K presupposition
%K preconstruction
%K adjectif
%K infinitif
%K adjoint
%K compl¨¦ment
%K pr¨¦dication
%K pr¨¦supposition
%K pr¨¦construction
%U http://erea.revues.org/2368