The literal/non-literal divide synchronically and diachronically: The lexical semantics of an English posture verb

This thesis' main research goal is to provide an account of the English posture verb sit, from a synchronic a diachronic perspective. My proposed account of sit comprises various components, including a characterisation of the different possible meanings of sit and a comparison with stand and lie. The two relevant meanings are a literal one and non-literal one (The girl is sitting on the chair vs. The wine bottle is sitting on the chair; in the former the subject is described to be in a sitting position, while in the latter the subject is not in a sitting position). I analyse each meaning/use separately, noting which semantic patterns occur with one type only and those which occur with both. I argue that the non-literal use is diachronically connected to the literal one, and I motivate this claim based on the shared components identified in the thesis and on data from corpus studies reported in the thesis. A consequence of acknowledging a divide between the literal and non-literal uses---a perspective not usually taken in theoretical linguistics---is that I am able to account for important semantic details which might be otherwise overlooked. The cognitive and typological literature includes account of posture verbs cross-linguistically, but in the theoretical literature these verbs have not received much attention. In this thesis, I review existing proposals and highlight the uncertainties surrounding the posture verbs. In order to fillthese gaps in the literature and to better understand the phenomena, I analyse data from synchronic and diachronic corpus studies, and incorporate these insights into my account of sitEl principal objetivo de investigación de esta tesis es dar cuenta del verbo de postura inglés sit (`sentarse¿), desde una perspectiva sincrónica y diacrónica. La descripción que propongo de sit comprende varios componentes, incluida una caracterización de los diferentes significados posibles de sit y una comparación con stand (`estar de pie¿) y lie (`estar echado¿). La literatura cognitiva y tipológica incluye una descripción de los verbos de postura de forma interlingüística, pero en la literatura teórica estos verbos no han recibido mucha atención. En esta tesis, reviso las propuestas existentes y destaco las preguntas sin responder que rodean a los verbos de postura. Para llenar estos vacíos en la literatura científica y comprender mejor los fenómenos, analizo datos de estudios de corpus sincrónicos y diacrónicos, e incorporo estos conocimientos en mi explicación de sit. Los dos significados relevantes son uno literal y uno no literal (The girl is sitting on the chair `La niña está sentada en la silla' vs. The wine bottle is sitting on the chair `(lit.) La botella de vino está sentada en la silla¿; en la primera frase, se describe el sujeto en posición de estar sentado, mientras que en la segunda frase el sujeto no está sentado). Analizo cada significado/uso por separado, notando qué patrones semánticos ocurren con un solo tipo y cuáles ocurren con ambos. Argumento que el uso no literal está conectado diacrónicamente con el literal, y motivo esta afirmación a partir de los componentes compartidos identificados en la tesis y en los datos de los estudios de corpus tratados en la tesis. Una consecuencia de reconocer una división entre los usos literales y no literales (una perspectiva que no suele adoptarse en la lingüística teórica) es que se consigue dar cuenta de importantes detalles semánticos que de otro modo podrían pasarse por alto

Latent homomorphism and content satisfaction: The double life of Turkic auxiliary -(I)p bol-

This paper argues that the Turkic auxiliary construction –(İ)p bol–, at least in Uyghur and Uzbek, is actually a pair of auxiliaries with distinct meanings. The first auxiliary is described as expressing “full completion” of the event, but its use is highly restricted, to events with incremental or universally quantified themes. Using targeted context-based elicitation, we find that the expression of completion is indirect. Instead, the auxiliary asserts that the event description is homomorphic, in that all of its events are both event-mapped and theme-mapped. Homomorphism requires every part of the theme to undergo a part of the event, and this derives the reported sense of completion. The second auxiliary is not attested in the literature. It applies to all kinds of events, and expresses what we call “content satisfaction,” the conventional implicature that the event as described satisfies some salient propositional content by rendering it true. For instance, it makes part of a plan come to fruition. This plan is presupposed, and the content is accessible through a content-generating function. We apply the methodologies of formal semantic fieldwork to tease these auxiliaries apart, including scope tests that apply differently to the two auxiliaries. Having distinguished them, we suggest new ways to typologically distinguish Turkic auxiliaries and auxiliaries cross-linguistically

Evaluative Adjectives as a Window onto Inner-Aspect

162 p.This thesis proposes that Evaluative Adjectives (EAs) (brave, intelligent, rude) are stative causative predicates that undergo the causative alternation just as many verbs do (break). It is argued that EAs syntactic and aspectual properties follow from a single stative causative lexical entry. Analysing EAs¿ aspectual properties leads to the general conclusions that the only primitive aspectual argument denotes a state, and that Davidsonian eventivity is epiphenomenal.EAs are compared with adjectives of psychological experience (eager, willing) and relational adjectives and adjectives denoting physical states (Canadian, tall), as well as verbs of all aspectual sorts. An important result is that adjectival argument structures are shown to be as complex as verbal ones. Argument structure is argued to be neutral with respect to lexical category.EAs are often analysed as Individual-Level predicates. It is shown that EAs only partially overlap with Individual-Level predicates. Rather, they have a distinct aspectual signature matching verbs classified as Davidsonian-States and stative causatives. In arguing against an IL classification of EAs an extensive argument against the Individual/Stage distinction is given.It is argued that cross-linguistically the only aspectual distinction made in the syntax through predicate decomposition is between states and causatives built out of states. Eventivity effects are derivative of causation, and ultimately pragmatic. The conclusion is that EAs and causative alternating verbs such as break have the same formal aspectual representations

Focus structure and the referential status of indefinite quantificational expressions

Many authors who subscribe to some version of generative syntax account for the two readings of [...] sentences [...] in terms of LF-ambiguity. There is assumed to be covert quantifier raising (QR), which results in two distinct possibilities for the indefinite quantificational expressions involved to take scope over each other [...] In this paper, an alternative account is proposed which dispenses with the idea that there are different scope relations involved in the readings of […] sentences [...] and, consequently, with QR as the syntactic operation to be assumed for generating the respective LFs. I argue that it is rather focus structure in connection with type semantic issues pertaining to the indefinite quantificational expressions involved which result in the different readings associated with [...] sentences

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe Nahuatl language of Mexico, like many other indigenous and minority languages, faces language shift in the face of globalization. The particular historical role of Nahuatl as the language of the Aztec Triple Alliance and as a Mesoamerican lingua franca in the late pre-Columbian and early colonial periods has left an unusually rich documentary history and attracted academic interest. Based on data drawn from the historical record along with observation and fieldwork performed while learning and later teaching Nahuatl, I demonstrate that the relatively common Nahuatl verbal morpheme -ti-, frequently labeled as a 'ligature' or 'connector' in the existing literature, acts as a meaningful functional morpheme in contemporary Eastern Huastecan Nahuatl that serves to index spatial information associated with the predicate. I then consider the ways in which spatial indexing in general is approached by native speaker instructors of Nahuatl as they teach speakers of Indo-European languages, which generally lack comparable structures. From this discussion, I draw suggestions for linguists and languages communities engaged in documentation and language revitalization

Az adverbiumok mondattani és jelentéstani kérdései = The syntax and syntax-semantics interface of adverbial modification

A határozószók és a határozók alaktani, mondattani és funkcionális kérdéseit vizsgáltuk a generatív nyelvelmélet keretében, főként magyar anyag alapján. Olyan leírásra törekedtünk, melyből a különféle határozófajták mondattani viselkedése, hatóköre, valamint hangsúlyozása egyaránt következik. A különféle határozótípusok PP-ként való elemzésének lehetőségét bizonyítottuk. A határozók mondatbeli elhelyezése tekintetében a specifikálói pozíció (Cinque 1999) ellen és az adjunkciós elemzés (Ernst 2002) mellett érveltünk. Megmutattuk, hogy a határozók szórendjének levezetéséhez bal- és jobboldali adjunkció feltételezése egyaránt szükséges. A különféle határozófajták szórendi helyét mondattani, jelentéstani és prozódiai tényezők összjátékával magyaráztuk. A jelentéstani tényezők között pl. a határozók inkorporálhatóságát korlátozó típusmegszorítást, a negatív határozók kötelező fókuszálását előidéző skaláris megszorítást, egyes határozófajták és igefajták komplex eseményszerkezetének inkompatibilitását vizsgáltuk. Az ige mögötti határozók szórendjét befolyásoló prozódiai tényező például a növekvő összetevők törvénye. Megfigyeltük az intonációskifejezés- újraelemzés kiváltódásának feltételeit és jelentéstani következményeit is. A helyhatározói igekötők egy típusát a mozgatási láncok sajátos fonológiai megvalósulásaként (a fonológiailag redukált kópia inkorporációjaként) elemeztük. A tárgykörben mintegy 60 tanulmányt publikáltunk. Adverbs and Adverbial Adjuncts at the Interfaces (489 old.) c. könyvünket kiadja a Mouton de Gruyter (Berlin). | This project has aimed to clarify (on the basis of mainly Hungarian data) basic issues concerning the category "adverb", the function "adverbial", and the grammar of adverbial modification. We have argued for the PP analysis of adverbials, and have claimed that they enter the derivation via left- and right-adjunction. Their merge-in position is determined by the interplay of syntactic, semantic, and prosodic factors. The semantically motivated constraints discussed also include a type restriction affecting adverbials semantically incorporated into the verbal predicate, an obligatory focus position for scalar adverbs representing negative values of bidirectional scales, cooccurrence restrictions between verbs and adverbials involving incompatible subevents, etc. The order and interpretation of adverbials in the postverbal domain is shown to be affected by such phonologically motivated constraints as the Law of Growing Constituents, and by intonation-phrase restructuring. The shape of the light-headed chain arising in the course of locative PP incorporation is determined by morpho-phonological requirements. The types of adverbs and adverbials analyzed include locatives, temporals, comitatives, epistemic adverbs, adverbs of degree, manner, counting, and frequency, quantificational adverbs, and adverbial participles. We have published about 60 studies; our book Adverbs and Adverbial Adjuncts at the Interfaces (pp. 489) is published in the series Interface Explorations of Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin

L2 Acquisition at the interfaces: Subject-verb inversion in L2 English and its pedagogical implications

The present PhD thesis deals with two kinds of interfaces that have recently become key areas of interest in generative second language acquisition research (GenSLA): (i) linguistic interfaces – the syntax-discourse interface (our main focus of research) and the lexicon-syntax interface in adult second language (L2) acquisition –, and (ii) an interdisciplinary interface – the interface between the domains of GenSLA and L2 pedagogy. The thesis seeks to shed new light on four general questions which are still a matter of debate in GenSLA: (i) Are narrow syntactic and lexical-syntactic properties unproblematic at the end state of L2 acquisition, as the Interface Hypothesis (IH) (Sorace & Filiaci, 2006; Sorace, 2011b) predicts? (ii) Are properties at the syntax-discourse interface necessarily problematic at the end state of L2 acquisition, as the IH proposes? (iii) What are the roles of cross-linguistic influence, input and processing factors in L2 acquisition at the syntax-discourse interface? (iv) Can explicit instruction help L2 learners/speakers (L2ers) overcome persistent problems in the acquisition of syntactic and syntax-discourse properties? With a view to investigating these questions, the thesis focuses on a linguistic phenomenon that has been little researched in GenSLA: subject-verb inversion (SVI) in L2 English. Three types of SVI are considered here: (i) “free” inversion (and their correlation with null subjects), (ii) locative inversion and (iii) presentational there-constructions (i.e., there-constructions with verbs other than be). The first is ungrammatical in English due to a purely syntactic factor: this language fixes the null subject parameter at a negative value. The last two types of SVI, on the other hand, are possible in English under certain lexical, syntactic and discourse conditions. The thesis comprises two experimental studies: (i) a study on the acquisition of the lexical, syntactic and discourse properties of SVI by advanced and near-native L2ers of English who are native speakers of French (a language similar to English in the relevant respects) and European Portuguese (a language different from English in the relevant respects), and (ii) a study on the impact of explicit grammar instruction on the acquisition of “narrow” syntactic and syntax-discourse properties of SVI by intermediate and low advanced Portuguese L2ers of English. The former study tests participants by means of three types of tasks: untimed drag-and-drop tasks, syntactic priming tasks, and speeded acceptability judgement tasks. Their results confirm that, as predicted by the IH, the properties of SVI that are purely (lexical-)syntactic are unproblematic at the end state of L2 acquisition, but those which involve the interface between syntax and discourse are a locus of permanent optionality, even when the first language (L1) is similar to the L2. Results are, moreover, consistent with the prediction of the IH that the optionality found at the syntax-discourse interface is primarily caused by processing inefficiencies associated with bilingualism. In addition to presenting new experimental evidence in favour of the IH, this study reveals that the degree of optionality L2ers exhibit at the syntax-discourse interface is moderated by the following variables, which have not been (sufficiently) considered in previous work on the IH: (i) construction frequency (very rare construction → more optionality), (ii) the quantity and/or distance of the pieces of contextual information the speaker needs to process (many pieces of contextual information in an inter-sentential context → more optionality), (iii) the level of proficiency in the L2 (lower level of proficiency → more optionality), and (iv) the (dis)similarity between the L1 and the L2 (L1≠L2 → more optionality). The study which concentrates on the impact of explicit grammar instruction on L2 acquisition follows a pre-test, treatment, post-test and delayed post-test design and tests participants by means of speeded acceptability judgement tasks. This study shows that explicit grammar instruction results in durable gains for L2ers, but its effectiveness is moderated by two factors: (i) the type of linguistic domain(s) involved in the target structure and (ii) whether or not L2ers are developmentally ready to acquire the target structure. Regarding factor (i), research findings indicate that the area that has been found to be a locus of permanent optionality in L2 acquisition – the syntax-discourse interface – is much less permeable to instructional effects than “narrow” syntax. Regarding factor (ii), results suggest that explicit instruction only benefits acquisition when L2ers are developmentally ready to acquire the target property. As these findings are relevant not only to GenSLA theory, but also to L2 teaching, the thesis includes an analysis of the relevance and potential implications of its findings for L2 grammar teaching.A presente tese aborda dois tipos de interfaces que se tornaram recentemente áreas de interesse centrais na investigação desenvolvida em aquisição de língua segunda (L2) numa perspetiva generativista: (i) interfaces linguísticas – a interface sintaxe-discurso (o nosso foco principal de investigação) e a interface léxico-sintaxe na aquisição de L2 por adultos –, e (ii) uma interface interdisciplinar – a interface entre os domínios de aquisição e didática de L2. A tese pretende lançar nova luz sobre quatro questões que continuam a gerar muito debate no domínio de aquisição de L2: (i) Serão as propriedades “puramente” (léxico-)sintáticas completamente adquiríveis no estádio final de aquisição de L2, como a Hipótese de Interface (HI) (Sorace & Filiaci, 2006, Sorace, 2011b) propõe? (ii) Serão as propriedades na interface entre sintaxe e discurso necessariamente um locus de opcionalidade no estádio final de aquisição de L2, como a HI prediz? (iii) Quais são os papéis da influência da língua materna (L1), do input e de fatores de processamento na aquisição de L2 na interface sintaxe-discurso? (iv) Será que o ensino explícito ajuda os falantes de L2 a ultrapassarem problemas persistentes na aquisição de propriedades sintáticas e de sintático-discursivas? A fim de investigar estas questões, a tese debruça-se sobre um fenómeno linguístico ainda pouco investigado no domínio de aquisição de L2: a inversão sujeito-verbo (ISV) em inglês L2. Três tipos de ISV são considerados aqui: (i) a inversão “livre” (e sua correlação com sujeitos nulos), (ii) a inversão locativa e (iii) construções com there com verbos que não be (‘ser/estar’). A primeira é agramatical em inglês por um fator estritamente sintático: esta língua fixa o valor negativo para o parâmetro do sujeito nulo. Os dois últimos tipos de ISV, por seu lado, são possíveis em inglês em certas condições (léxico-)sintáticas e discursivas. A tese compreende dois estudos experimentais: (i) um estudo sobre a aquisição das propriedades lexicais, sintáticas e discursivas da ISV por falantes avançados e quase nativos de inglês que têm como L1 o francês (uma língua semelhante ao inglês nos aspetos relevantes) e o português europeu (uma língua diferente do inglês nos aspetos relevantes) e (ii) um estudo sobre o impacto do ensino explícito de gramática na aquisição de propriedades “estritamente” sintáticas e sintático-discursivas da ISV por falantes de português europeu com um nível intermédio e avançado em inglês L2. No primeiro estudo, os participantes são testados através de três tipos de tarefas: tarefas drag and drop não temporizadas, tarefas de priming sintático e tarefas de juízos de aceitabilidade rápidos. Em conjunto, os resultados destas tarefas confirmam que, como predito pela HI, as propriedades da ISV que são puramente (léxico-)sintáticas não são problemáticas no estádio final da aquisição de L2, mas aquelas que envolvem a interface entre sintaxe e discurso são um locus de opcionalidade permanente, mesmo quando a L1 é semelhante à L2. Os resultados são, além disso, consistentes com a proposta da HI de que a opcionalidade encontrada na interface sintaxe-discurso é causada (principalmente) por ineficiências de processamento associadas ao bilinguismo. Além de apresentar nova evidência experimental a favor da HI, este estudo mostra que o grau de opcionalidade que os falantes de L2 exibem na interface sintaxe-discurso é moderado pelas seguintes variáveis, que não têm sido (suficientemente) consideradas na literatura sobre a HI: (i) a frequência da construção na língua alvo (construção muito rara → mais opcionalidade), (ii) a quantidade e/ou distância das informações contextuais que o falante precisa processar (muitas informações contextuais no contexto inter-frásico → mais opcionalidade), (iii) o nível de proficiência na L2 (menor nível de proficiência → mais opcionalidade), e (iv) a (dis)semelhança entre a L1 e a L2 (L1 ≠ L2 → mais opcionalidade). O estudo de intervenção didática compreende um pré-teste e dois pós-testes após a intervenção e testa os participantes através de tarefas de juízos de aceitabilidade rápidos. Este estudo mostra que o ensino explícito da gramática pode resultar em ganhos duradouros para os aprendentes de L2, mas a sua eficácia é moderada por dois fatores: (i) o tipo de domínio(s) linguístico(s) em que propriedade alvo se situa e (ii) o grau de developmental readiness dos aprendentes para adquirirem a propriedade alvo. Em relação ao fator (i), os resultados deste estudo indicam que a área que constitui um locus de opcionalidade permanente na aquisição de L2 – a interface sintaxe-discurso – é muito menos permeável a efeitos de ensino do que a sintaxe “pura”. Em relação ao fator (ii), os resultados sugerem que o ensino explícito facilita a aquisição de L2 apenas quando os aprendentes atingiram um estádio de desenvolvimento em que já lhes é possível adquirir a propriedade alvo. Como estes resultados são relevantes não só para a teoria de aquisição de L2, mas também para o ensino de L2, a tese inclui uma análise da relevância e potenciais implicações dos seus resultados para o ensino da gramática em L2

The Geometry Of Preposition Meanings

This article presents a unified approach to the semantics of prepositions based on the theory of conceptual spaces. Following the themes of my recent book The Geometry of Meaning, I focus on the convexity of their meanings and on which semantic domains are expressed by prepositions. As regards convexity, using polar coordinates turns out to provide the most natural representation. In addition to the spatial domain, I argue that for many prepositions, the force domain is central. In contrast to many other analyses, I also defend the position that prepositions have a central meaning and that other meanings can be derived via a limited class of semantic transformations

Bare Singulars and So-Called Bare Singulars

PhDThis thesis investigates bare singular nouns from a cross-linguistic perspective, with an emphasis on Spanish. While there has been considerable work on bare plural and bare mass nominals, there is, in comparison, little work on bare singulars and this dissertation aims to ll that gap. I examine the behaviour of bare singulars in argumental position in Rioplatense Spanish (RS), Catalan, Greek, Norwegian, Brazilian Portuguese (BP), Persian and Afro-Bolivian Spanish (ABS) { all of which make use of bare singulars even if they have an inde nite determiner as part of their functional array. I argue that these languages can be split into two groups depending on the position and interpretation that bare singulars occupy. For the rst group (RS, Catalan, Greek and Norwegian) I argue against a number neutral (pseudo)incorporation analysis. Based on their referential properties, binding possibilities and singular number speci cation, I propose that they are DPs, albeit of a defective type. Group 2 bare singulars (BP, Persian and ABS) are truly number neutral DPs. I propose that this is the case as bare plurals, standardly assumed to be number neutral, cannot ful l that role in these languages. The second part of my dissertation focuses on predicate nominals, both bare and with the inde nite article, in Spanish. Following Roy (2013), I defend the idea that the relation of predication is only one and that the di erent interpretations available depend on the size of the predicate nominal. Bare predicate nominals in Spanish behave by and large like their French counterparts { any noun can appear bare as long as it is interpreted as the ascription of a property to the subject. Predicate nominals with the inde nite article, on the other hand, will be analysed as containing a degree phrase. The third part of my dissertation deals with the two copulas in Spanish