The Semantics and Pragmatics of Logical Roles in Free Adjuncts and Absolutes

Abstract

The resolution of logical roles between a given free adjunct/absolute and its matrix clause is a topic of great theoretical interest. In this dissertation, I explore pre-existing theoretical accounts of this phenomenon and offer some further evidence for the causal semantics language-users tend to infer in the case of 'being' free adjuncts/absolutes.