Most, if not all, syntactic theories utilize the concept of 'oblique' or 'adverbial' to capture the existence of a class of constituents which are, in some principled sense, less closely associated to the heads of constructions than are objects or subjects. Yet, there is little consensus on how the notion oblique is best to be defined. Partly as a consequence, there is also no agreement on what subtypes of obliques occur.
This study outlines a grammatical model, the Relational Linking Framework, in which obliques are defined in terms of three interacting dimensions: one semantic, one relational, and one syntactic. On the basis of this three dimensional model, three subtypes of obliques are identified: chomeurs, oblique complements, and adjuncts. The third sub-type, adjuncts, can be further subdivided into basic adjuncts, semi-adjuncts, and full adjuncts.
The presentation of the research takes on the following organization. In Chapter 1, there is a survey of linguistic theories which underscores the various perspectives on obliques which have existed through the ages. Beginning with Panini and concluding with a selected subset of contemporary theories, I determine which issues have arisen with respect to obliques and need to be addressed in any comprehensive account. In Chapter 2, the organization of the model which is to be applied in this study is introduced. Much of this chapter consists of outlining general assumptions about grammar that have important implications for our understanidng of obliques. Particular aspects of the model are given further justification in the two remaining chapters. Specifically, Chapter 3 deals with the types of obliques that occur in natural language. Based on the model developed in Chapter 2, definitions of the three major classes of oblqiues are given, and subtypes are described. The last section demonstrates how these different kinds of obliques display variant behavior in the grammar of English. Finally, Chapter 4 addresses the question of how preposition stranding, a phenomenon which is often explained in terms of configurational structure, can be accounted for in a framework which makes little use of hierarchical ordering.
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