The Grammatical Properties of Mass Nouns] an Aphasia Case Study
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Neuropsycholo`ia\ Vol[ 24\ No[ 4\ pp[ 558Ð564\ 0886 Þ 0886 Elsevier Science Ltd[ All rights reserved Pergamon PII] S9917Ð2821"85#99013Ð7 Printed in Great Britain \ 9917Ð2821:86 ,06[99¦9[99 The grammatical properties of mass nouns] An aphasia case study CARLO SEMENZA\$ SARA MONDINI$ and MARINELLA CAPPELLETTI$ Dipartimento di Psicologia\ Universita di Trieste\ Triest\ Italy^ $Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale\ Universita di Padova\ Padova\ Italy "Received 29 April 0885^ accepted 15 October 0885# Abstract*A patient "F[A[# is described who\ as a consequence of brain damage\ shows an isolated de_cit concerning the use\ across a series of tasks\ of the grammatical properties of mass:non!countable nouns[ Her use of grammar is otherwise perfect[ This behaviour dissociates from that of other patients who have severe grammatical di.culties\ but do not show any impairment in the mass nouns tasks that F[A[ fails[ This case is thought to demonstrate how speci_c grammatical rules\ that are said to be stored at the lemma level of lexical retrieval\ are indeed independently represented and accessible[ Þ 0886 Elsevier Science Ltd[ Key Words] non!countable nouns^ lemma[ Introduction two major classes of nouns\ i[e[ common nouns "the other being proper nouns#[ More precisely\ there are features In a speaker|s mental lexicon each item is viewed\ accord! that separate common nouns into count nouns and mass ing to recent psycholinguistic models ð1\ 05Ł\ as a listing of nouns along syntactic lines "just as other features dis! features specifying "a# the item|s meaning\ "b# its syntactic tinguish common nouns from proper nouns#[ properties\ "c# its morphology and "d# its phonology[ The Contemporary studies of aphasia have described sev! _rst two sets of features constitute what is called\ in a eral subtle de_cits consisting of dissociations of functions widely followed tradition started by Kempen and that seem to support theoretically grounded distinctions[ Huijbers ð04Ł\ the {lemma| component of each lexical The emerging picture is one characterized by a system in entry[ This component is thus distinguished from the so! which di}erent components of language processing are called {lexeme| component which speci_es the mor! individually dissociated[ For example\ Caramazza and phophonological features[ In particular a lemma|s syn! Miceli ð6Ł described a patient for whom the dissociability tactic information ð05Ł speci_es the item|s syntactic of de_cit of thematic role assignment "a lemma level category\ its assignment of grammatical function and a function# from de_cits of morphological and function set of diacritic features or parameters[ Thus\ for a given word processing mechanisms could be documented word\ a lemma component may contain\ for example\ the unambigously[ The authors maintained that these data information that the word belongs to the category of postulate a thematic role assignment mechanism that verbs and not to the category of nouns or to any other operates independently of other lexical and grammatical grammatical category[ The information that a given word processing mechanisms[ Studies of this kind appear to may require a subject\ a direct object or a verbal comp! support the idea that the syntactic speci_cation of a word lement is also contained in the lemma component and so may be stored more independently than the lemma level are the tense\ the person\ the number\ etc[\ and even theory seems to admit[ the pitch accent[ The particular lemma level features of In the present study a patient is described\ who shows interest in the present investigation concern one of the how it is possible to be able to retrieve a certain category of words "in this case mass nouns# and yet to be unable to take into account\ in both production and reception\ Address for correspondence and requests for reprints] Carlo Semenza\ Dipartimento di Psicologia\ Universita di Trieste\ via the syntactic information that distinguishes that category dell|Universita 6\ 23012 Trieste\ Italy^ fax] 28"39#201161^ e! from other categories[ It will be argued that this dis! mail] SemenzaÝuniv[trieste[it[ sociation may be attributed to a selective loss of speci_c 558 569 C[ Semenza et al[:An aphasia case study grammatical rules that are thus demonstrated to be inde! enumerated in each single component but may or may pendently stored and processed at the lemma level of not share the feature of countability[ Those that are coun! lexical retrieval[ table "like ~ock# obey the same rules for count nouns\ while for the others "like furniture# the rules for mass nouns apply[ Count and mass nouns^ the notion of countability The distinction between count and mass nouns is thus complex and\ it must be added\ by no means clear!cut[ A very basic distinction\ learned from early childhood\ In many cases\ a given word belonging to one or other is that between compact\ enduring things and the stu}s category is determined by the context] thus Bunt ð2Ł of which they are constituted[ The former are counted\ writes] {{the countÐmass distinction is not really a dis! the latter are measured[ Philosophers "see Pelletier ð10Ł tinction between words\ but a distinction between ways and Burge ð3Ł for a review# have traditionally treated this of using the words||[ For example Pelletier ð10Ł considers distinction with categories like form and matter\ sub! the "supposed# mass noun oatmeal] given an appropriate stance and substrate\ mode and extension\ non!sortal and setting "such as a customer in a diner to the waitress#\ it sortal[ The distinction between count nouns and mass is clear a question such as] {{How many oatmeals are in nouns is the linguistic analogue of these category pairs[ your kitchen<|| has as a clear answer\ {{Three oatmeals||\ The following de_nitions are taken from Macnamara and thus violating the two related criteria of mass nouns Reyes ð06Ł[ A word is assigned to the syntactic category accepting neither pluralization nor numeral quanti_ers[ mass nouns "like water\ calcium\ oatmeal# if the samples A way around these di.culties is to observe that in such to which it is applied are taken as constituting in com! cases there is transfer of meaning\ e[g[ in a _gurative sense bination a larger sample^ they denote monadic entities as in smooth waters[ Or that\ as in the example a co}ee whose boundaries are perceptually inaccessible[ Count "perfectly acceptable in Italian when ordering a cup of nouns are\ instead\ words "like do`\ window\ hammer# co}ee#\ such phrase as {{a cup of || has been deleted from applied to perceptual entities that in combination do not the surface structure[ Thus\ the ultimate answer as to yield another entity of the same kind[ Thus the jux! whether a given name is a count or a mass noun depends taposition of two dogs does not yield a single dog\ upon being able to decide\ for any speci_c use "or alter! whereas singles bodies of water can be combined to yield natively any speci_c {sense| in Frege|s ð09Ł terms#\ whether another single body of water\ dissolving the boundaries it is a count or a mass use "or sense#[ Other di.culties of the two original components[ stem from the fact that the use made of the mass:count These semantic distinctions are mirrored by gram! contrast for grammar is somehow di}erent from the use matical properties that di}erentiate the use of the two that has been made of the same "or analogous# distinction categories ð05Ł[ Indeed it has been claimed\ with exper! in philosophy[ For example\ the grammatical distinction imental support ð01Ł\ that in both children and adults the applies only to nouns\ whereas the philosophical dis! representation of the count:mass distinction is not based tinction is usually held to apply to all monadic entities[ on the semantic notion of objects and substance\ but Furthermore the grammatical distinction seems to apply rather on syntactic properties relating to the role that easily to certain abstract terms] thus knowled`e or count nouns and mass nouns play in syntactic construc! jealousy are considered mass nouns\ whereas plot or tion[ Thus\ in languages like Italian or English "there are quality are count[ Many philosophers\ however\ would minor di}erences between Italian and English that are be reluctant to apply a mass:count distinction to such not relevant here*see Renzi ð11Ł or Chierchia ð8Ł^ mind instances[ also that other languages may di}er completely] in Chi! For the purpose of the present study\ where only nese or Japanese for example it can be argued that all concrete\ central samples of the two classes of nouns will nouns are mass#\ mass nouns\ unlike count nouns] be used in an unambiguous context\ all these di.culties can be safely set aside[ cannot take the plural\ cannot take inde_nite articles\ Case report cannot take quanti_ers that necessarily denumerate like one\ two\[[[[[[another\ many\ each\ several\ etc[ F[A[ was a 62!year!old housewife who had received a They can take\ however\ quanti_ers "like little or much# formal education of 7 years and spoke a rather standard that do not necessarily denumerate[ Instead count nouns\ type of Italian\ which is not common among women of unlike mass nouns] her age in the part of Italy "the province of Vicenza# she came from[ In the past she had helped her husband in a can take the plural\ business that entailed public relations and travelling all can take de_nite and inde_nite articles\ over northern Italy[ She had no record of developmental cannot take quanti_ers that do not denumerate like linguistic abnormalities[ much and little[ In August