Article
French
ID: <
9wPpgcVF4SKoThZ2EGbS8>
Abstract
We propose here to take an unusual way to analyze the countable nouns/mass nouns opposition. The path that we follow is the one where the mass/countable opposition does not meet what the semantics of prototype calls basic nouns and subordinate nouns, but where it meets the hypernyms that subsume them: ie. the superordinate nouns. Without challenging the main achievements in mass/countable studies, we see that this junction has a twofold outcome: it will enable to clarify some aspects of the issue that have been equivocal until now, and secondly, it will bring new elements to the semantics of the nouns designed to have a top position in the nominal hierarchy, but also to the mass/countable opposition itself, while supporting the importance of the notion of occurrence.