Oblique predicative constructions in English with for and as: qua vs qualitate qua

IF 0.9 2区文学 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS

English Language & Linguistics Pub Date : 2023-09-12 DOI:10.1017/s1360674323000199

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Abstract

English has an oblique predicative construction in which the prepositions for and as license an oblique predicative complement that is predicated of a noun phrase, as in We took her for a friend and I regarded her as a genius . The construction with for is the oldest, and is found in many other languages. This article traces the history of oblique predicative constructions involving for and as , and a number of other prepositions, from Old English to Present-Day English (PDE). Visser (1963–73) has suggested that predicative for and as were rivals, and that in PDE as is now dominant at the expense of for . I will argue instead that since around 1900 predicative for and as can clearly be distinguished semantically as expressing the meanings qua (‘as being’) and qualitate qua (‘in the capacity of’), respectively, and that the existence of these distinct meanings explains why constructions with both prepositions still survive in PDE.

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英语中带有for和as的斜向谓语结构:qua和qualitate qua

英语有一个倾斜的谓语结构，其中介词for和as用作名词短语的倾斜谓语补语，如我们把她当作一个朋友，我认为她是一个天才。带for的结构是最古老的，在许多其他语言中都有。本文追溯了从古英语到现代英语(PDE)中涉及for和as以及许多其他介词的斜向谓语结构的历史。Visser(1963-73)认为谓语for和as是竞争对手，并且在PDE中as现在以for为代价占主导地位。相反，我认为，自1900年左右以来，谓语for和as可以在语义上被清楚地区分开来，分别表达了qua(“作为存在”)和qualitate qua(“能力”)的意义，这些不同意义的存在解释了为什么带有这两个介词的结构在PDE中仍然存在。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

English Language & Linguistics Multiple-

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

10.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： English Language and Linguistics, published twice a year, is an international journal which focuses on the description of the English language within the framework of contemporary linguistics. The journal is concerned equally with the synchronic and the diachronic aspects of English language studies and publishes articles of the highest quality which make a substantial contribution to our understanding of the structure and development of the English language and which are informed by a knowledge and appreciation of linguistic theory. English Language and Linguistics carries articles and short discussion papers or squibs on all core aspects of English, from its beginnings to the present day, including syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, pragmatics, corpus linguistics and lexis.