Feature Distribution in Swedis (Publications of the Philological Society) - Softcover

This book examines in some detail two issues associated with Swedish noun phrases. Firstly, it considers the issue of the headedness of these phrases in the light of a general discussion of criteria for head status. Secondly, the status of the definite ending is discussed from a typological perspective. Based on the findings of this examination of the data, a theoretical account of Swedish noun phrases is provided in terms of Head--driven Phrase Structure Grammar.

This book provides a theoretical account of Swedish noun phrases and, in particular, of the distribution of features within them. The account is formulated in terms of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG) and is based on a detailed discussion of two aspects of Swedish noun phrase; the status of the definite ending and the headedness of the phrases. The Swedish definite ending is compared to similar elements in a number of other European languages.

The conclusion is that the element does not have any independent syntactic status, and should be represented in the syntax only in the form of a feature. The book contains a review of the arguments that have been used in the debate on the headedness of noun phrases and finds no compelling evidence in favour of a DP analysis. Instead the book claims that certain properties of Swedish noun phrases can be more accurately accounted for if the noun is assumed to be the head of the noun phrase. The analysis provided within the HPSG framework is then an NP analysis.