The Specifying existential sentence type in Lithuanian: a problem statement

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Anglų kalba; Egzistenciniai sakiniai; Santykinis sakinys; Sintaksiniai modeliai; Sintaksė; English; English, Lithuanian; Existential sentences; Existential sentences, Syntax; Lithuanian; Relative clause extensions; Syntactic types.

ENThe article offers an analysis of a distinct existential sentence type in Lithuanian referred to as a “specifying existential construction” (Faarlund’s (1992) term). This construction employs the verb būti ‘be’ in the exclusively existential sense. The lexical value of strict existence inherent in the verb is brought out by the idiomatic syntactic form, which resembles closely the formula of existential statement in logic, that of (3x)(Fx), which reads: there are some x having the property F (cf. Dar yra nemažai dėstytojų, kurie nepakenčia kritikos/'There are still quite a few university teachers who hate criticism’). The lexical nuances of the verb būti ‘be’ in such assertions (which imply existence proper) can be rendered into English by there is/are, there is found, there exist(s). What makes this structure distinct from other assertions of existence is that it introduces a new quality of the subject referent which has to be specified, due to the fact that the existence of such a (sub)set of entities is not distinctly visible. In addition, it “expresses the existence of individuals (persons, things) as relatively stable items” (Kahn 1973: 307). [From the publication]