Research Explorer

Project

From mass noun to count noun in French and Dutch. A contrastive corpus-based study on the nature and productivity of coercion
Code
01N02710
Duration
01 February 2010 → 30 September 2015
Funding
Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Humanities
    • Language studies
    • Linguistics
    • Literary studies
Keywords
coercive measure dutch corpus contrastive experimental countable french uncontountable usage-based
 
Project description

This project proposes a detailed corpusbased contrastive analysis (French vs.Dutch) of a case of coercion, viz. the occasional use of mass nouns in constructions typical of count nouns, including also a limited experimental psycholinguistic verification. Besides the descriptive question (frequency, semantic effetcs, conditions/restrictions), the project addresses the question of the nature and relevance of coercion as a theoretical concept.