Abstract

This paper contrasts the semantics of two nominalization patterns in German that are both (in a broad sense) based on adjectival meanings: morphological formations as Müdigkeit ('tiredness') (= N-MOR) and nominalized infinitival copular expressions as (das) Müde-Sein (lit. '(the) tired-be.INF') (= N-KOP). I argue for the following distinction: whereas N-KOPs denote abstract states in the sense of Maienborn (2005) (and thus directly pick up the referent of the verbal copular expression), N-MORs introduce referential arguments for conceptually underspecified, but rather concrete manifestations of such abstract states. The proposal accounts for clear distributional and interpretative differences: N-MORs, but not N-KOPs are amenable to environments that select for non-abstract entities, as e.g. degree expressions, perception reports, and locative modifiers. Conversely, only N-KOPs are closed under negation and disjunction, on a par with abstract entities as facts. The paper concludes with a formal sketch of the meaning each nominalization pattern contributes. In particular, the proposal for N-MOR builds upon lexical supervenience as defined by Engelberg (2005b) in order to relate manifestations and underlying abstract states.