Re: Vocab lists

Quoting JS Bangs <jaspax@...>:

> John Cowan sikyal:
>
> > Roger Mills scripsit:
> >
> > > Then there's the famous McCawley couplet:
> > > "They named their child Fafnir"
> > > "They named their child something strange" (This distinction was also a
> > > problem in Kash)
> >
> > I don't understand this, though it reminds me of:
>
> I believe it's meant to illustrate the contrast between "They named the
> child <name>" and "They named the child <description of name>".
Isn't it supposed to be an example of secondary predication,
such as "They swept the floor clean" (= They swept the floor
such that the floor was clean)?  The two sentences clearly
behave differently:

  "What did they name their child? Fafnir."
  *"What did they name their child strange? Something."
  "What did they name their child? Something strange."

 =========================================================================
Thomas Wier            "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637

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