#3754. The meaning of the tough-construction

October 2026publication date
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Linguistics and Language;
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Abstract:
A formal semantic analysis of the tough-construction is provided building on the well-known observation that events play a central role. A close look at the semantic characteristics of the class of tough-predicates and the syntactic and semantic properties of nonfinite clauses reveals the link between these pieces, expanding on recent advances in the semantics of clauses. In total, this paper offers a description and explanation of (i) the class of tough-predicates; (ii) the properties of the nonfinite clause that appears in the tough-construction; (iii) why no other predicates or clauses are permitted in the construction; (iv) the many properties of the antecedent gap chain in the tough-construction, primarily the fact that the chain is “weakly” unbounded; and (v) the semantic contribution of prolepsis as it applies in the tough-construction.
Keywords:
Complementation; Events; Judge dependence; Nonfinite clauses; Prolepsis; Thematic roles; Tough-construction

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