The issue of the syntax-semantics interfaceThe Issue of the Syntax-Semantics Interface • October 23rd, 2013
In the most straightforward cases syntactic agreement (sometimes called ‘agreement ad formam’, ‘formal agreement’ or ‘grammatical agreement’) is agreement consistent with the form of the controller (the committee has decided). Semantic agreement (or ‘agreement ad sensum’, ‘notional agreement’, ‘logical agreement’ or ‘synesis’) is agreement consistent with its meaning (the committee have decided). The distinction between syntactic and semantic agreement links to Steele’s definition… in that the covariance involves a ‘semantic or formal property’ of the controller.
