Proceedings Published by the LSA (Linguistic Society of America)
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A Phase-Based Approach to Uyghur Morphosyntax
Get PDFResearch on the syntax-PF interface has highlighted strategies for forming words across languages, explored in Uyghur in Major et al. (2023), and how words are mapped in different components of the grammar, discussed in Fenger (2020) in relation to syntactic phases. This work applies the mechanisms of Fenger\u27s theoretical proposal to Uyghur data from Major et al. (2023), and in doing so puts forth the argument that the locations of prosodic word boundaries conditioning morphophonological changes can be predicted by the presence of featurally marked phase heads in the narrow syntax. Specifically, it is argued that synthetic forms involving the past tense marker in Uyghur arise when there is no feature marking at the phase head Asp(ect), and periphrastic forms arise when there is marking at the Asp phase head, such as for the perfective participle. This work expands upon cross-linguistic work in word-formation strategies and provides evidence in favor of a strong correspondence between locality domains in syntax and phonology, specifically with respect to the prosodic word
Weakening is external to only
Get PDFBy default, only (p) presupposes the ‘prejacent’ p, as predicted by the classical analysis in Horn 1969. Yet, in some cases, only (p) instead presupposes a weaker existential claim that some alternative is true (e.g. Klinedinst 2005). What is the mechanism by which the presupposition of only is weakened? Crniˇc (2022) takes the presupposition of only to involve quantification, and derives weakening from domain restriction. We present a challenge to this approach, and offer an alternative. In Alonso-Ovalle & Hirsch 2022, we proposed that the grammar makes available a covert operator, which can occur in the complement of only, weakening its argument. We show that this approach offers a straightforward analysis of cases where the presupposition of only is weakened to existential
Structural ambiguity in DPs with quantity nouns
Get PDFDPs with quantity nouns (QDPs), like that amount of nuts, can combine with predicates of quantities, as in That amount of nuts is low, or with predicates of entities, as in Bo ate that amount of nuts. One account of such selectional flexibility, inspired by Selkirk (1977) and Rothstein (2009), assumes that the two types of predication are transparently encoded through two types of syntactic structures. In this paper, we draw attention to a syntactic challenge for this account of QDPs, viz.that in certain cases it requires two interpreted occurrences of an entity noun like nuts even though only one is pronounced. We argue, however, that this challenge mustbe met and cannot be avoided by abandoning the structural approach. We make this case by arguing against an alternative analysis of the selectional flexibility of QDPs developed in Scontras 2017. On this alternative, quantity predication and entity predication with QDPs are derived from a uniform syntax, and entity predication with QDPs parallels entity predication with DPs with kind, like that kind of nuts, under the classic Carlsonian account (Carlson 1977) as developed in Chierchia 1998. We argue that Scontras’ analysis is mistaken, both in positing a unified syntax for the two types of predication with QDPs, and in unifying the analysis of QDPs withthe Carlsonian analysis of kind-DPs
An approach to Hurford Conditionals
Get PDFWe propose a redundancy-based solution to the puzzle of Hurford con- ditionals. We argue that the puzzle goes away once we recognise that negated and unnegated Hurford disjunctions are not on par. We develop a theory, dubbed super-redundancy, that captures this contrast, and investigate how it can be paired with different approaches to conditionals. It turns out that under super-redundancy, the Hurford conditional paradigm follows under the material implication and strict semantics approaches to conditionals, but not under the variably strict semantics. Finally, we extend our theory to capture some puzzling cases of Hurford phenom- ena that have recently received attention in Marty & Romoli (2022)
Ordinal numbers: Not superlatives, but modifiers of superlatives
Get PDFThe few existing accounts of the semantics of ordinal numbers attribute to them all or almost all of the semantic properties of superlatives. This work discusses a construction problematic for existing theories of ordinals: the ordinal superlative construction (e.g. Joel climbed the third highest mountain). Existing theories give ordinals and superlatives such similar semantics that they struggle to explain how an ordinal and a superlative could join together and form a complex modifier. As an alternative, I propose a semantics according to which ordinals are exceptive modifiers of superlatives. For example, the n-th highest mountain is the mountain that, with n - 1 exceptions, is the highest. When an ordinal does not co-occur with an overt superlative (e.g. the second train), I posit a covert superlative adjective that represents the contextual ordering. Not only does this approach account for the ordinal superlative construction, but it lends itself to a principled explanation of differences between ordinals and superlatives with respect to plurality
Trivalent Exh and summative predicates
Get PDFMany expressions display \u27homogeneity\u27: they quantify as universals in positive sentences, but as negated existentials in negative sentences. This paper aims to partly rethink work claiming that homogeneity is the result of exhaustification. I focus on \u27summative\u27 predicates like colour adjectives, and the claim that they are universal in positive sentences because they exclude one another. Three puzzles arise on this approach: the existence of truth-value gaps in non-homogeneous situations, the existence of non-maximality, and contrasts between sentential negation and other downward-entailing environments. I show that all of these difficulties can be resolved if exhaustification is trivalent rather than bivalent
Donkey disjunctions and overlapping updates
Get PDFThis paper is devoted to an analysis of anaphoric dependencies in disjunctive sentences, and consequences for the understanding of the ∃/∀ ambiguity observed with donkey anaphora. The primary focus is on donkey disjunctions, which are sentences where a (negated) existential in an initial disjunct appears to bind a pronoun in a later disjunct, such as "Either there\u27s no bathroom, or its upstairs". The main empirical focus is that donkey disjunctions, like donkey anaphora, exhibit the ∃/∀ ambiguity, and more generally oscillate between homogeneous and heterogeneous readings in a context-sensitive fashion. The paper then proceeds in two steps: first, a principled analysis of donkey disjunctions is developed in the context of a Bilateral Update Semantics (BUS). BUS, by default, generates heterogeneous readings for donkey anaphora/donkey disjunctions (i.e., ∃ readings, in a positive context). In order to account of homogeneous readings, the conjecture is that sentences may be interpreted exhaustively relative to their negations. This has non-trivial consequences due to the non-classicality of BUS — specifically, a failure of the Law of Non-Contradiction
Two question-embedding strategies and answer-orientedness
Get PDFJapanese and Turkish attitude predicates combine with two main kinds of embedded clauses: Nominalizations, and clauses introduced by the morphemes to and diye. We describe their interrogative variants, showing that nominalizations give rise to answer-oriented inferences with responsive predicates (e.g., factivity, belief), but that diye/to interrogatives are question-oriented and entail that the attitude holder linguistically produces the interrogative. We propose a compositional fragment where attitude predicates take nominalizations as arguments, which they may impose semantic restrictions on, and where diye/to-clauses modify and enrich attitude meanings with a linguistic production inference
Referring and quantifying without nominals: headless relative clauses across languages
Get PDFNominals can be used to refer to or quantify over individuals, while clauses convey propositional content, with the exception of set-denoting restrictive headed relative clauses. This well-attested crosslinguistic syntax/semantics mapping needs to be broadened. Recent crosslinguistic findings show that headless relative clauses—embedded argument or adjunct clauses with a missing constituent—are widely attested and are used to refer to or quantify over individuals, similar to nominals. The present work contributes to the investigation of the syntax/semantics interface of different varieties of headless relative clauses and begins to develop a much-needed close comparison with the syntax/semantics interface of nominals in order to establish which principles are at play in both families of constructions
Scalar implicature rates vary within and across adjectival scales
Get PDFRecent experimental literature has investigated across-scale variation in scalar implicature calculation: lexical scales significantly differ from each other in how likely they are to be strengthened (e.g., old → not ancient vs. smart → not brilliant). But in existing studies of this scalar diversity, not enough attention has been paid to potential variation introduced by the carrier sentences that scales occur in. In this paper, we carry out the first systematic investigation of the role of sentential context on scalar diversity. Focusing on scales formed by two grad- able adjectives, we manipulate the comparison class, specifically whether a noun is likely to have the property described by the scalar adjective (e.g., brilliant employee vs. brilliant scientist). Our results show within-scale variation: a significant effect of comparison class on the likelihood of scalar implicature calculation. We explain this result in terms of the adjectival threshold distance between the weaker (smart) and stronger (brilliant) adjective, conditioned on the comparison class (employee vs. scientist). Our findings also highlight the methodological importance of controlling carrier sentences