From simple predicators to clausal functors : The english modals through time and the primitives of modality

The ultimate goal of this paper is to find a representation of modality compatible with some basic conditions on the syntax-semantic interface. Such conditions are anchored, for instance, in Chomsky's (1995) principle of full interpretation (FI). Abstract interpretation of modality is, however - be it "only" in semantic terms - already a hard nut to crack, way too vast to be dealt with in any comprehensive way here. What is pursued instead is a case-study-centered analysis. The case in point are the English modals (EM) viewed in their development through time - a locus classicus for a number of linguistic theories and frameworks. The idea will be to start out from two lines of research - continuous grammaticalization vs. cataclysmic change - and to explain some of their incongruities. The first non-trivial point here consists in deriving more fundamental questions from this research. The second, possibly even less trivial one consists in answering them. Specifically, I will argue that regardless of the actual numerical rate of change, there is an underlying and more structured way to account for the notions of change and continuity within the modal system, respectively

Structure-Sensitivity in Actuality: Notes from a Class of Preference Expressions

The paper deals with the development of certain preference expressions (in particular \u27rather\u27) against the background of language change. Following results from narrow syntax, a diachronic reanalysis at the level of Logical Form is proposed. Synchronically, certain actuality entailments (Bhatt 1999/2006) are observed and a structural analysis capitalizing on Hacquard (2009) is proposed

Sich ausgehen: Actuality entailments and further notes from the perspective of an Austrian German motion verb construction

The paper contains notes for the processes of interpretation and language change starting out from the phenomenon that emerged from the motion verb gehen, ‘go’ joined by the reflexive and the particle aus, ‘out’ in Austrian German. An empirical case is primarily made that the constructions if fully implicative. Furthermore, it is suggested that concepts such as Maximize Presupposition and co-development in contact can be useful tools in the equipment of researchers working on semantic change. Finally, a methodological point is suggested towards bridging synchronic and historical data collection processes

Comparatives and inversion in English: A (necessarily) diachronic account

The paper argues that, based on insight gained from the syntax of earlier English, comparative inversion (CI) reveals itself as a far simpler process than what is standardly assumed. Starting from the insight of a suggestion made by Haeberli (2002) and adapting it to comparatives, the major syntactic diachronic developments of CI are explored

Another Heavy Road of Decompositionality: Notes from a Dying Adverb

This contribution reports on a pilot case study conducted on historical corpus data from Old and Middle English (primarily Taylor et al. 2003, Kroch and Taylor 2000) and concerned with the ramifications of an ambiguous adverb (eft, ‘again’) at the syntax-semantics interface. The disappearance of the adverb is linked to the development of again’s partially similar functions during the Middle English period. Akin to studies on the adverb again (e.g. Fabricius-Hansen 2001, Gergel and Beck 2015, Beck and Gergel 2015), at least some instances of eft are claimed to require a particular type of analysis of so-called decompositional adverbs, namely one based on lexical rather than only on structural factors. Furthermore, the development shows characteristics of a cyclical development (cf. Jespersen 1917, van Gelderen 2011)

Simulating semantic change: A methodological note

The current work discusses the Human Diachronic Simulation Paradigm (HUDSPA), a method to experimentally probe into historical meaning change set up to (i) scan for configurations similar to attested alterations of meaning but in (typically, but not necessarily, related) languages or varieties which did not actualize the change(s) under investigations; (ii) measure the reactions of native speakers in order to ascertain the verisimilitude as well as the particular semantic and pragmatic properties of the items scrutinized. Specifically, the present paper discusses the relative propensity of a particularizer (German eben) to be interpreted with comparatively high confidence as a scalar additive particle such as even and of a concessive item like English though to be interpreted similar to a modal particle along the lines of German doch

'Almost' in Early and Late Modern English: Turning on the Parametric Screw (But Not Tightly Enough to Change a Parameter)

This contribution investigates the decompositional behavior of ‘almost’ in Early and Late Modern English (EModE/LModE), i.e.: whether the adverb is able to modify result states of predicates to which it attaches, in addition to the default possibility of modifying the meaning of the entire events. ‘Almost’ is found to be decompositional in EModE at a time when ‘again’ was not truly so (Beck & Gergel, 2015; Gergel & Beck, 2015). This supports the view that decompositionality is primarily a lexical property. The trajectory of the decompositional behavior in EModE and LModE is, however, complicated by a series of factors, and some possible tendencies towards its decline are observed

The rise and particularly fall of presuppositions: Evidence from duality in universals

At the center of this paper is the question whether presuppositions are more likely to be gained or lost in the process of language change. We offer a new experimental method that aims at ascertaining the re-learning speed of potentially presuppositional items based on nonce words and which integrates certain factors of change such as social prestige in an artificial but clearly contextualized set-up. The meaning targeted is of a quantifier meaning ‘both’ with speakers of German and the initial results point to higher ease of losing rather than incorporating the presupposition, but with an interesting resilience after a critical questioning of presuppositional status

Quantification and scales in change

This volume contains thematic papers on semantic change which emerged from the second edition of Formal Diachronic Semantics held at Saarland University. Its authorship ranges from established scholars in the field of language change to advanced PhD students whose contributions have equally qualified and have been selected after a two-step peer-review process.   The key foci are variablity and diachronic trajectories in scale structures and quantification, but readers will also find a variety of further (and clearly non-disjoint) issues covered  including reference, modality, givenness, presuppositions, alternatives in language change, temporality, epistemic indefiniteness, as well as - in more general terms -  the interfaces of semantics with syntax, pragmatics and morphology.    Given the nature of the field, the contributions are primarily based on original corpus studies (in one case also on synchronic experimental data) and present a series of new findings and theoretical analyses of several languages, first and foremost from  the Germanic and Romance subbranches of Indo-European (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish) and from Semitic (with an analysis of universal quantification in Biblical Hebrew)

Quantification and scales in change

This volume contains thematic papers on semantic change which emerged from the second edition of Formal Diachronic Semantics held at Saarland University. Its authorship ranges from established scholars in the field of language change to advanced PhD students whose contributions have equally qualified and have been selected after a two-step peer-review process.   The key foci are variablity and diachronic trajectories in scale structures and quantification, but readers will also find a variety of further (and clearly non-disjoint) issues covered  including reference, modality, givenness, presuppositions, alternatives in language change, temporality, epistemic indefiniteness, as well as - in more general terms -  the interfaces of semantics with syntax, pragmatics and morphology.    Given the nature of the field, the contributions are primarily based on original corpus studies (in one case also on synchronic experimental data) and present a series of new findings and theoretical analyses of several languages, first and foremost from  the Germanic and Romance subbranches of Indo-European (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish) and from Semitic (with an analysis of universal quantification in Biblical Hebrew)