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Re: Disambiguation of arg ument reference

From:Andreas Johansson <and_yo@...>
Date:Thursday, October 10, 2002, 11:14
Jakle X wrote:
> >> >sitting on?" (The parenthetical phrases are optional.) However, you >> >can't >> >say, *"I put the book (on the table)", or *"What are you putting >>on?"--if >> >you >> >said the latter, it could only refer to clothing (or music). So they >> >are >> >core arguments, even though it can vary (e.g., "on x", "over there", >>"right >> >here", etc.). >> >>Something doesn't seem right here. You can't say *"What are you putting >>on?" >>because you're leaving out an entire argument - the object placed. It is >>perfectly all right to say "What are you putting the book on?" The place >>argument, being core, cannot be dropped, but it can be questioned, >>dangling >>preposition and all, just like any other argument. >The reason you can't say *"What are you putting on?" is because a question >asks for one specific datum, while you seem to be asking for two. You would >either ask, "On what are you putting the book?" asking for the table, or >"What are you putting on the table?" asking for the book. You cannot ask >for >both. That would sound something like *"What are you putting on the what?" >invalid for obvious reasons.
Please tell me what those obvious reasons are. I'm afraid I've used such constructions more than once, and nobody's ever complained 'bout it. Andreas _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com

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Nik Taylor <yonjuuni@...>