Rhetorically-based scalar-additivity: The view from Italian addirittura

Even-like particles have widely been analyzed as inducing scalar andadditive presuppositions (cf. Horn 1969; Karttunen & Peters 1979; Rooth 1992; Gast& van der Auwera 2011). However, the additivity of even has been controversialsince at least Rullmann 1997 and increasingly called into question (see Greenberg& Umbach 2021 for references); Greenberg specifically argues that scalar even-likeparticles can vary in additivity. This claim is surprising in light of the typologicalstudy in Gast & van der Auwera 2011, which subsumes even and similar expressionsunder a larger class of additive particles. Against this background, we present ananalysis of Italian addirittura, which with perfino has been described as scalaradditive(Visconti 2005) – but only optionally so – and is chosen preferentially overperfino precisely in those contexts that Greenberg takes to challenge the additivity ofeven. We argue, drawing on observations in Atayan 2017, that addirittura contrastswith perfino in deriving its scalar alternatives from rhetorical structure rather thanfocus structure. Once this is recognized we can view addirittura as additive, afterall, in a rhetorical sense we describe below

Semantica e pragmatica linguistica. Tracce di normalità nelle implicature scalari

In this book an introduction to the grammatical view of the scalar implicature phenomenon is presented. A detailed overview is offered concerning the embeddability of the exhaustivity operator, and the contextual dependance of the alternatives generation process. The theoretical implications of the grammatical view with respect to the abductive character of the scalar implicature are also discussed. A pragmatic account of the assertive content is proposed in correlation with a blindness-based account of the semantic content carried by scalar sentences, in order to ensure that the information globally conveyed by the latter is sometimes different from the semantic content automatically generated. -/-

Una nota sulla pragmatica musicale

In questa nota si fornisce un esempio preliminare di analisi pragmatica delle strutture musicali. Nell’analisi, la stipulazione di una pragmatica musicale segue strettamente recenti proposte presentate in ambito semantico, in cui si illustrano le potenziali virtù rappresentazionali delle strutture musicali. In particolare, in questa nota si suggerisce la presenza di strategie di ricostruzione dei significati musicali le quali intervengono a prevenire la realizzazione di contenuti semantici contraddittori. L’evidenza utilizzata è ricavata da alcune misure del madrigale primo del II libro dei madrigali di Monteverdi (1590), e dal testo (di T. Tasso) che le accompagna; sviluppi dell’analisi qui proposta dovranno fondarsi su evidenze indipendenti e auspicabilmente naturali

Divertissement quasigramsciano su logica e linguaggio

This note focuses on the interaction between logic and grammar and discusses whether logical rules are irrelevant for syntactic formation. Classical evidence for the independence of syntax from logic comes from the acceptability of analytic propositions. Based on this piece of evidence, various authors in traditional discussions pronounced that language is illogical. This note focuses instead on two ways to oppose such pronouncements. In Gramscian linguistics, one can maintain that language is not illogical by broadening the notion of language one adopts. In an alternative account we submit, one can oppose those pronouncements by restricting the notion of analyticity which is assumed to be relevant for syntactic formation

Le implicature scalari

Negli ultimi quindici anni la letteratura filosofico-linguistica ha registrato un rinnovato interesse per i meccanismi di implicatura, specialmente del tipo scalare. In buona parte, l’interesse stato suscitato dall’emergere di una prospettiva grammaticale, secondo la quale i fenomeni di implicatura scalare sarebbero conseguenza di un meccanismo interpretativo incassato nella logica delle lingue naturali, e quindi riferibile al componente semantico dell’architettura cognitiva umana. L’obiettivo di questo testo fornire una presentazione di alcuni tra gli argomenti che hanno motivato l’emergere della prospettiva grammaticale. Inizieremo, con una descrizione del fenomeno di implicatura scalare, sostanzialmente condivisa dai fautori delle diverse prospettive. Quindi, approfondiremo la nostra comprensione del fenomeno, pre- sentando alcuni punti fermi della prospettiva pragmaticista, e mostrandone i punti di debolezza individuati dai fautori della prospettiva grammaticale. Infine, presenteremo la prospettiva grammaticale, presentando da una parte i vantaggi che questo approccio presenta rispetto alla prospettiva pragmaticista, e dall’altra discutendo le sfide che attendono questa nuova prospettiva

Rhetorically-based scalar-additivity: The view from Italian 'addirittura'

Even-like particles have widely been analyzed as inducing scalar and additive presuppositions (cf. Horn 1969; Karttunen & Peters 1979; Rooth 1992; Gast & van der Auwera 2011). However, the additivity of even has been controversial since at least Horn 1992 and increasingly called into question (see Greenberg & Umbach 2021 for references); Greenberg specifically argues that scalar even-like particles can vary in additivity. This claim is surprising in light of the typological study in Gast & van der Auwera 2011, which subsumes even and similar expressions under a larger class of additive particles. Against this background, we present an analysis of Italian addirittura, which with perfino has been described as scalar-additive (Visconti 2005) – but only optionally so – and is chosen preferentially over perfino precisely in those contexts that Greenberg takes to challenge the additivity of even. We argue, drawing on observations in Atayan 2017, that addirittura contrasts with perfino in deriving its scalar alternatives from rhetorical structure rather than focus structure. Once this is recognized we can view addirittura as additive, after all, in a rhetorical sense we describe below