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Re: THEORY: Adpositional Heads

From:Tommie L Powell <tommiepowell@...>
Date:Thursday, September 11, 2003, 15:31
In discussing "I saw a man in the house," Rob Haden wrote:
> A language that required PPs to modify the verb or noun directly > before/after it would be far less ambiguous, no?
Yes, but that wouldn't make this particular problem go away. Here's why: "I" is a pronoun, not a noun, and, unlike nouns, pronouns cannot be modified (in English or in any other language that I know of). So, though it's fine to say "The person in the house saw a man," listeners will cringe if they hear "I in the house saw a man."

Replies

Muke Tever <muke@...>
Nik Taylor <yonjuuni@...>