1,721,095 research outputs found
On the logical form of imperfective aspect
Full text linkThis contribution proposes that imperfectively marked predicates are uniformly mapped into subject-predicate logical formats. The basic insight is that the imperfective does not map telic predicates into durative predicates; rather, it adds a modal dimension to the semantics of the past tense. The author argues (i) that a predicational analysis of imperfective aspect permits an elegant unification of the logical form assigned to progressives and habituals; (ii) that, at least in the Romance and Germanic languages, grammatical aspect is the locus where the distinction between categorical sentences, consisting in the ascription of a property to a subject, and thetic sentences, consisting in the presentation of an eventuality, is grammaticality encoded; and (iii) that the predicational analysis of imperfective tenses provides an elegant solution to what the author dubs the "present tense paradox
For a unitary approach to scrambling and cliticization
No full textThis contribution proposes that scrambling in Germanic and cliticization in Romance can be reduced to a single property of grammatical systems, i.e. the fact that the familiar reading of noun phrases is encoded in synta
Quantificatori non standard e universali semantici
No full textIl contributo presenta e discute criticamente l'analisi delle strutture quantificazionali nelle lingue naturali in termini di quantificatori generalizzati sulla base del fondamentale articolo di Barwise e Cooper (1981
On pronominal binding
No full textThis contribution is an analysis of syntactic and interpretive conditions on pronominal binding. Special attention is devoted to the so-called weak crossover effects and to their relation with the Leftness Conditio
Adverbs and the syntax/semantics interface
No full textThis contribution offers a survey of some of the canonical topics in adverbial syntax, examining the challenges posed by the ambiguous status of adverbs and adverbial phrases to syntactic theorizin
Linguistica chomskyana e significato: valutazioni e prospettive
No full textQuesto contributo discute la relazione tra teoria della sintassi e teoria del significato. Vengono presentate le idee di Chomsky sul ruolo del significato nella teoria linguistica, in particolare la relazione fra la nozione di sintassi ristretta e quella di sintassi allargata. Viene inoltre discussa la possibile convergenza tra il programma di Chomsky e la tradizione di studi in sintassi logica, con particolare riferimento al programma di Davidso
Genericity in language: issues of syntax, logical form and interpretation
No full textThis contribution deals with the semantic manifestations and the syntactic encoding of genericity in natural language – that is, with sentences that express some kind of regularity and normativity, abstracting away from reference to specific events or facts.
Assuming as a starting point the most valuable achievements of the current literature on genericity – in particular the distinction between sentence-level and NP-level genericity – this book aims at decomposing genericity into its modular components, by means of a detailed examination of the contribution of grammatical aspect – in particular imperfectivity – and of the internal syntax of noun phrases. The result is an updated Carlsonian analysis according to which generic sentences are categorical statements ascribing properties to a subject of predication.
Theoretically, this case-study intends to argue in favor of an approach to the semantics of natural language that assigns a central position to the issues of logical form – in full agreement with Davidson’s program in semantics – and in favor of the view that many issues of logical form can be successfully dealt with only by taking into account the contribution of formal synta
Per una teoria dello 'scope' relativo
No full textIl contributo presenta un'analisi dei meno consueti effetti di 'scope' relativo, inclusi gli effetti di quantificazione ramificata e le diverse varianti di 'somma dei plurali', proponendo un meccanismo unificato di assegnazione della portata dei quantificator
On the non-incremental processing of negation: A pragmatically licensed sentence-picture verification study with Italian (dyslexic) adults
Full text linkThis paper reports the results of two ERP studies that have been conducted with the following aims: (i) the aim of assessing the evidence for non-incremental models of negation processing (Kaup et al. (2006), (2007)), particularly in the version based on the Two Step Simulation Hypothesis (Lüdtke et al. (2008)), and (ii) the aim of assessing possible differences in the processing of negation between normally-developed and dyslexic adults
Views on genericity
No full textThis contribution evaluates different positions that have been taken with respect to the analysis of generic sentences. In particular, two views of genericity are here compared: the first is based on the hypothesis that generic sentences are essentially predicational, the second associates them with quantificational structures expressing 'modal' relations between two classes of events. Some arguments in favor of the predicational analysis are presente
- …
