CSLI Publications logo
new_books
backlist
site_index
contact
authors
order
search
Dan Flickinger and Francis Bond: A Two-Rule Analysis of Measure Noun Phrases

In this paper we present an analysis of English measure noun phrases. Measure noun phrases exhibit both distributional idiosyncrasy, in that they appear in positions normally filled by degree adverbs: "a ten inch long string"; and agreement discord: "ten inches is enough", "it is ten inch/*inches long". The analysis introduces one idiosyncratic construction, the Measure Phrase Rule, which links together syntax and inflectional morphology. Combined with existing rules, in particular the Noun-noun Compound Rule, the new rule accounts for the both the distributional and agreement idiosyncrasies. The rule has been implemented and tested in the ERG, a broad-coverage grammar of English. Our analysis supports the position that broad-coverage grammars will necessarily contain both highly schematic and highly idiosyncratic rules.


Maintained by Stefan Müller

Created: October 23, 2003
Last modified: November 24, 2003

pubs@roslin.stanford.edu