Predicates and Temporal Arguments (review)

The focus of this study is the distinction between individual-level and stage-level predicates. Its main thesis is that this distinction arises because the latter have a spatiotemporal argument which the former lack. Theodore Fernald also argues that stage-level predicates are potentially anaphoric whereas individual-level predicates are not. He then seeks to identify what pragmatic factors are required for precise diagnostics of predicates.

In Ch. 1 F introduces the distinction between individual-level and stage-level predicates and shows the grammatical effects of this distinction. In Ch. 2 he examines traditional diagnostic tests for the classification of predicates into the individual-level and stage-level classes. Ch. 3 deals with traditional analyses for each of these groups of effects, including those given in the works of Gregory Carlson, Angelika Kratzer, Molly Diesing, etc. Ch. 4 examines again the nature of the distinction between the individual-level and stage-level predicates. Further on in the chapter, F investigates the phenomenon of coercion and demonstrates that it is a precise means to change the classification of a predicate. He establishes that the change of meaning which accompanies coercion might serve as a new diagnostic for determining when individual-level predicates are being used as stage-level predicates and for showing what change in interpretation is predicted. In Ch. 5 he argues that the individual-level and stage-level predicate distinction is visible after the predicate has been composed with its subject argument. Ch. 6 investigates the individual-/stage-level predicate effects on complex predicates. F provides evidence that stage-level predicates can be compositionally determined and that stage-level predicates have a logical location argument that individual-level predicates lack. In Ch. 7 F analyzes how time is used in propositions described by stage-level predicates and concludes that they describe spatial and temporal characteristics while individual-level predicates are neither space nor time related.

This very detailed and thorough study is built upon a large number of significant works in the field. The main line of the argument is easy to follow. However, the reader should consider that an initial acquaintance with formal semantics is preferable for a better understanding of the applied methods and of the course of the analysis.

F gives a comprehensive account of pragmatic factors responsible for changes in the interpretation of utterances that obscure certain language phenomena. The innate ability of hearers to interpret whatever is communicated to them and the adjustments they make in their interpretation in order to make sense of the uttered sentence are often responsible for the overlaps between otherwise distinct grammatical constructions. F gives a good example of how considering a problem in the context of semantics and pragmatics can be beneficial for its solution.

Given that the distinction between individual- and stage-level predicates interacts in complex ways with syntax and pragmatics and that the nature and the characteristics of this distinction are highly significant for theories in both fields, the study is of particular interest to those involved with syntax and pragmatics or with the interactions between these fields.