Abstract
In this paper, I provide evidence against the idea that bare singulars in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) are morphologically singular but semantically number neuter. I argue instead that they are sometimes specified for number (singular) and sometimes under-specified and that this has semantic consequences. I develop an account according to which whether or not a bare noun can enter a syntactic derivation under-specified for number depends on the functional heads to which it is syntactically related. The conclusion is that, as far as number is concerned, morpho-syntactic specification should NOT be kept apart from semantic interpretation.
How to Cite
Ferreira, M., (2010) “The morpho-semantics of number in Brazilian Portuguese bare singulars”, Journal of Portuguese Linguistics 9(1), 95-116. doi: https://doi.org/10.5334/jpl.112
457
Views
159
Downloads
6
Citations