This paper deals with a special class of nouns: quasi-predicates, such as "[X is an] idiot", "[X is Y's] spouse", "[X is Y's] doctor", "[X's] leg", "hammer [used by X to hit Y]", "border [between X and Y]", ... This class groups together nouns with very different denotations but that share a fundamental semantic characteristic resulting 1) from their predicativity and 2) from their denotation of type 'entity' (rather than 'fact'). Our lexicological approach--Explanatory Combinatorial Lexicology--is both theoretical and descriptive in nature. It is thus geared to the construction of lexical models, and for this reason we will pay special attention to problems posed by the lexicographic description of semantic and combinatorial properties of quasi-predicates.
