Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung
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What does \u27vajon\u27 contribute?
No full textThe Hungarian particle \u27vajon\u27 can be added to interrogatives to render the question acts they are used for "reflective" in the sense of geared to raising a question without answer request (Lyons 1977: 755), i.e., with weakened "call-on-addressee" (cf. Beyssade and Marandin 2006; Truckenbrodt 2006). This effect puts \u27vajon\u27 in close proximity with triggers of "non-intrusive" questions (NIQs), as noted by Farkas (2022: 313; 2023: 114), and "conjectural" questions (CQs) (Eckardt 2020). Studying \u27vajon\u27 against this theoretical background (i) uncovers difficulties for content-based approaches to particle/clause type (in)compatibilities, (ii) demonstrates the usefulness of distinguishing different types of rhetorical questions, (iii) identifies obstacles to analyzing \u27vajon\u27 as either an NIQ- or a CQ-trigger, and (iv) adds another example to the inventory of cross-linguistic indirect speech act discrepancies
Presupposition projection from the scope of \u27say\u27
No full textIn this work, we investigate the projection behavior of presuppositions embedded under the predicate \u27say\u27. Drawing from new data elicited in French, German, Italian and English, we show that with \u27say\u27 presuppositions from embedded declaratives and those from embedded interrogatives pattern in opposite ways. Specifically, presuppositions from declaratives must be satisfied at the attitude holder’s level, in their ‘presented beliefs’, but not at the matrix level; from interrogatives, presuppositions project to the matrix level, but not the attitude holder’s level. This result differs from the general pattern observed with responsive predicates. To capture this projection behavior, we propose a mechanism for declarative embedding that ensures for presuppositions to be satisfied in the same worlds at which the prejacent will be evaluated, here the attitude holder’s presented beliefs. In addition, we assume that \u27say\u27 cannot directly embed interrogatives, and instead, when it appears to embed a question Q, it is selecting for a silent DP ‘the answer to Q’. Matrix projection follows on standard assumptions
On the semantics of \u27wh\u27-
No full textIt is argued that a theory of the semantics of \u27wh\u27-expressions, and \u27wh\u27-pro-forms in particular, should not only fit the semantics of \u27wh\u27-interrogatives. It should also provide a simple and unified cross categorial semantics for \u27wh\u27- which takes into account the semantics of morphologically and cross-linguistically plausible paradigm-mates, while deriving rather than stipulating the correct types for traces/variables, and allowing \u27in-situ\u27 interpretation. Accordingly, it is proposed that \u27wh\u27-pro-forms are variants of demonstratives, with \u27wh\u27- a proximity value next to PROXIMAL or DISTAL (or rather: their unvalued counterpart). The familiar phenomenon of deferred reference with demonstratives is taken to underlie the crosscategorial semantics of demonstratives, hence that of \u27wh\u27-expressions as well. \u27Wh\u27-expressions end up functioning as unselectively bound, presuppositionally restricted variables
Positive gradable adjective ascriptions without positive morphemes
Get PDFA long-standing tension in semantic theory concerns the reconciliation of positive gradable adjective (GA) ascriptions and comparative GA ascriptions. Vagueness-based approaches derive the comparative from the positive, and face non-trivial challenges with incommensurability and non-GA comparatives. Classic degree-based approaches effectively derive the positive from the comparative, out of sync with the direction of evidence from morphology, and create some difficulties in accounting for GA scale-mates with differing thresholds (e.g., \u27cold\u27 ∼ \u27warm\u27 ∼ \u27hot\u27). We propose a new reconciliation that capitalizes on recent proposals analyzing GAs as predicates of states. On our account, GAs lexically involve both a threshold property and a background state structure. Positive occurrences of GAs make use of the threshold property, while comparative occurrences make use of degrees representing elements of the background structure. Our approach preserves the virtues of classic degree-based approaches while offering a natural account of scale-mates, and without appeal to covert morphemes like POS or related devices. As we show, it is possible to inject our solution back into the classic degree-based approach, but we find reasons to prefer our states-based account
NPI \u27any\u27 in the scope of \u27exactly n\u27
No full textBoth the \u27even\u27 theory of NPI \u27any\u27 (Crnič 2011, 2014a, b, 2019a, b) and the exhaustification theory (Chierchia 2013) argue that \u27any\u27 in non-monotonic contexts lexically requires an \u27even\u27 operator to be felicitous. A counterexample to this argument is observed. In order to account for the counterexample, this paper proposes that \u27any\u27 in the scope of a non-monotonic operator in the surface structure is actually located in the restriction of a definite plural description in the logical form. Assuming the generalized definition of Strawson-entailment (Guerzoni and Sharvit 2007; Gajewski and Hsieh 2014; Gajewski 2016), the proposed theory maintains Strawson-downward-entailingness as a necessary condition for the felicity of \u27any\u27 even in the cases where \u27any\u27 occurs in the scope of a non-monotonic quantificational determiner like \u27exactly n\u27
A pitch accent beyond contrastive Focus marking: experimental evidence from auditory rating
Get PDFThis paper presents two auditory rating experiments investigating the meaning contribution of the L*H pitch accent. Adapting previous work, we hypothesize the L*H to contribute an evaluative scale. The first experiment tests this hypothesis by drawing a connection to the ambiguity of epistemic and concessive \u27at least\u27, based on the intuition that the concessive interpretation correlates with a L*H accent. The data corroborate this intuition by showing that an L*H accent receives lower ratings than an H* accent in contexts that are more compatible with an epistemic interpretation of \u27at least\u27. The second experiment extends this pattern to the contribution of the L*H accent in the same contexts but without \u27at least\u27, with the L*H accent receiving higher ratings than the H* accent in concessive contexts. The results thus provide evidence for an independent contribution of the L*H accent, which resembles that of concessive \u27at least\u27. We consider two analyses. One situates the effect at the level of focus, and distinguishes two squiggle operators: one without a scale presupposition with H* accents on the Foci it associates with, and one with a scale presupposition with L*H accents on the Foci it associates with. The second analysis situates the scale presupposition at the level of the utterance contour, in an operator that always takes utterance-wide scope. The two analyses make different locality predictions, which remain to be tested
A unified semantics for exceptive-additive \u27besides\u27
No full textExceptive expressions like \u27except\u27 and \u27but\u27 are known to contribute an inference of exception when they occur with universal quantifiers and not to be compatible with non-universal quantifiers. Similarly to exceptives, exceptive-additive expressions like \u27besides\u27 contribute an exceptive inference in universal statements. They, however, differ from exceptives in being able to co-occur with non-universal quantifiers. In such contexts they contribute an inference of addition. We propose a unified semantic treatment of exceptive-additives that derives their interaction with universal and non-universal quantifiers from independently motivated mechanisms. We extend the treatment of exceptives in terms of \u27Exh\u27 (Gajewski 2013; Hirsch 2016; Crnič 2021) to exceptive-additives and propose that the difference between the two types of constructions lies in the way the alternatives are constructed. By reducing the set of alternatives, we can capture the additive inference of \u27besides\u27 with \u27exactly n\u27-numerals. We extend this account to all other instances of modified numerals and existentials by adopting a decompositional approach to their semantics
Parallel and Differential Contributions from Language and Image in the Discourse Representation of Picturebooks
No full textThis paper proposes an account in Discourse Representation Theory of children’s picture books, combining language and image. The focus is on works where the language and image have a different pragmatic status, with the linguistic part of the book being prosaic and understated by comparison with the pictorial part. The effect of wryness and incongruity is analyzed in pragmatic terms
\u27A man who is married to Ann.\u27 – Blocking of indefinites with internal and external modifiers
No full textThe definite article often blocks the indefinite article in case the uniquenesscondition for definite articles is satisfied, as in \u27#a husband of Mary\u27. However, this is not alwaysthe case; there is no blocking in in \u27a man who is married to Mary\u27. We review Alonso-Ovalle, Menéndez-Benito & Schwarz 2011, who noted the phenomenon and proposed an account interms of the weak/strong definite distinction. We point out problems in their approach, partly based on experimental results of a rating experiment. We then propose, based on German data, that blocking occurs with functional nouns like \u27husband\u27 and superlatives like \u27highest mountain\u27but not when uniqueness arises through modification by prepositional phrases and relativeclauses. We give a novel explanation that relies on a syntactic attachment ambiguity between internal and external modification, which results in a semantic ambiguity in case of definites,but no such ambiguity in the case of indefinites. Under low attachment, uniqueness does not hold, and hence the definite article does not compete with the indefinite article. We also consider the case of preposed participial modifiers in German and argue that they tend towards an external modification because they are backgrounded
The search for universal primate gestural meanings
Get PDFThis paper pursues the idea that human and non-human great apes share a common set of directive (imperative) gestures and their meanings. We investigate gestures that are multifunctional, in that they have different effects in different contexts, focusing on non-human ape gestures that communicate “Stop that” in some contexts, and “Move away” in others. What may superficially appear to be lexical ambiguity can be derived from a single abstract lexical entry, “Not X!”, concluded to be a candidate for a universal building block of meaning, shared by human and non-human great apes, reflections of which may also be found in the pragmatic gestures in humans