Fredrik Heinat

Institution/Department: Department of Swedish
Previous studies: Lund University
Thesis: Probes, pronouns and binding in the minimalist program
Research areas: Syntax, morphology, semantics
Current research: In my project as a postdoc at GU I am investigating the relation between syntax, morphology and semantics. This is done by looking at what is usually called light verbs, or support verbs, such as ’ta’/’take’ in ’ta ett bad’/’take a bath’. The special thing about these verbs is that they modify both the way we interpret noun phrases, and the aspect of the event, i.e. the way we look at the internal structure of some action or state. Compared to regular verbs, such as ’bada’ the light verb construction makes it possible to interpret the noun phrase ’ett bad’ as a predicate; in a way its possible to say that we interpret the noun as a quality rather than an object, which is normally the case with noun phrases. Also the way we interpret the relation between time and the verbal action differs between the simple verb and the construction with a light verb. The aim of the project is to account for these peculiarities of light verbs within linguistic theory.

E-mail address: fredrik.heinat@svenska.gu.se
http://hum.gu.se/institutioner/svenska-spraket/personal/svefh