Pragmatic constraints on (adverbial) (temporal) quantification

Even if we can generate a logical form, principles of use may limit the ways in which we can use it. In this paper, I motivate one such principle of use, and explore its effects. Much of the discussion involves kinds of sentences that have received attention in the literature on "individual-level predicates"

A Somewhat More Definite Article

No abstract

Aspects of A

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-172).by Orin J. Percus.Ph.D

Simultaneous analyses for simultaneous present

"Simultaneous" uses of the present tense pose a challenge for the position that present tense is essentially indexical. Two kinds of accounts have been given that stay close to this position: on the Tense Deletion account, present tense can get converted into a simple bound variable over times; on the Shifting Indexical account, present tense interacts with a context variable that can get bound below a character-selecting operator. We argue that in fact both of these mechanisms are needed. We specifically argue that a Shifting Indexical approach is useful in accounting for cross-linguistic variation in the use of simultaneous present; our arguments are based on a comparison of English and Romanian data. We suggest moreover that the Romanian data have important consequences for what a Shifting Indexical analysis of present tense should look like

Linguistics

Contains table of contents for Section 4, an introduction and abstracts on seven doctoral dissertations

To Reconstruct or Not to Reconstruct: That is the Question *

Overview The Starting Point: to develop and compare two possible accounts of reconstructed/distributive readings within displacement structures (dislocation, interrogation, relativization) based on two formalizations of syntax-semantics interface Account #1: Generative Grammar and Logical Form (GG) ⇒ distributive readings of displaced constituents rely on syntactic reconstruction. Account #2: Categorial Grammar and Variable-Free Semantics (CG-VFS) ⇒ distributive readings of displaced constituents do not rely on syntactic reconstruction. Goal #1: to show that such comparison reinforces two fundamental claims about distributive readings with resumption (Theoretical) Claim #1: distributive/reconstructed readings with resumption just amount to an e-type interpretation of the resumptive pronoun. (Empirical) Claim #2: distributive/reconstructed readings with resumption should and do occur in presence of syntactic islands. Goal #2: to (re)introduce two generalizations about resumption which seem to favor the GG account based on actual reconstruction Generalization #1: resumption only allows for a functional interpretation, but not a pair-list interpretation (based on Sharvit (1997)). Generalization #2: weak resumption allows for distributive readings in any context, but strong resumption does not. * I would like to thank the following persons for their help and comments

The acquisition of asserted, presupposed, and pragmatically implied exhaustivity in Hungarian

The paper reports on three experiments in which the exhaustive interpretation of sentences containing the focus particle csak ‘only’, structural focus constructions, and sentences with neutral intonation and word order were investigated. The results obtained not only reveal the developmental trajectory of the adult-like comprehension of each sentence type, but also contribute to the discussion concerning the semantic or pragmatic nature of their exhaustive meaning component. As the three construction types were judged in different ways on a three-point scale, the findings appear to support the hypothesis according to which exhaustivity is part of the asserted content of sentences with csak ‘only’, it is context-independently presupposed in the case of structural focus, and in certain contexts it can arise as an implicature in the case of neutral utterances, as well

Silent anchors: the case for unpronounced indexicality

International audienceDiagnostics for indexicality reveal that some constituents exhibit an indexical behavior that goes beyond that of any inherently indexical words they contain. I suggest that this is because unpronounced indexicals can occupy world argument positions associated with redicates

Gargnano 2004 [1]

Angelika in Gargnano 2004https://scholarworks.umass.edu/ak_festsite_photos/1009/thumbnail.jp