Language of Propositions and Events

"The Language of Propositions and Events" offers a comprehensive theory of the relation between noun meaning and verb meaning. Two main theses are defended in this book. The first thesis is that an adequate account of the interpretation and distribution of nominals calls for a distinction between three types of entities in the domain of discourse: events, propositions and states of affairs. It is argued that different types of nominals differ in their ability to denote entities of these types and that predicates differ in their ability to select for them. The second main thesis is that an adequate characterization of the relation between noun meaning and verb meaning can be given by taking account of the fact that situations may stand in the "part of" relation. Kratzer's semantics of situations is the basis for this analysis of nominalization. Moreover, the book addresses the issue of the argument structure of nominals and offers an analysis of the puzzling distribution of "infinito sostantivato" in Italian. This book is intended for graduate students in semantics and syntax, theoretical linguists, philosophers of language and students of Romance linguistics.