Glossary: Predicate

Predicate

Definition

There are two competing meanings of the term "predicate" in grammar. The traditional meaning sees the predicate as part of a sentence. In this case the predicate modifies the subject of a sentence. The other meaning of the word "predicate" is applianced in the context of modern theories of syntax and grammar (such as First Order Predicate Logic). In this approach, the predicate of a sentence serves either to assign an information (property) to a single argument (meaning a part of the sentence, such as subjects and objects) or to relate two or more arguments to each other.

References

• Predicate Logic
• Logical Connectives

Literature

• Chapter 2 of Manfred Sailer's textbook