Semantik

Sentential force is a complex category which is realized at the left (or right) periphery of clauses. In the Germanic V/2-languages (especially in German), the interaction of various components of the grammatical system is responsible for the constitution of sentential force which can be understood as a preliminary stage of illocutionary force. This paper deals with assumptions about the grammatical means, their properties and combinatorial capabilities to derive intuitively adequate representations of what is usually designated as sentential force. In particular, the paper proposes a compositional theory of sentential forces which deals with the V/2-property, ±wh-movement and verbal mood as basic elements and operations. Together with the respective semantic representations, sentential force is derivable from a few semantic principles without the need of a syntactic projection ForceP.