On predicate nominals in Romanian

Abstract

This paper investigates the interpretative differences between bare singular nominal predicates (BNPs) and singular indefinite nominals in predicate position (SIPs) in Romanian, for those nouns that can appear in both types of structures. We will focus on two dimensions of their semantics: stage vs. individual levelhood, and gradability. Moreover, we will make a distinction within the class of SIPs between ‘true’ SIPs and ‘apparent’ SIPs and reveal the existence of a certain strategy for expressing (high) degree in the nominal domain: a property-denoting noun combines with a (possibly implicit) modifier that restricts the interpretation of the noun to a high degree (cf. Espinal 2004) and that triggers the insertion of the indefinite article.

Keywords

• bare nominal predicate
• indefinite nominal
• gradability
• stage-level
• individual-level