Martin Reitbauer
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A Crossover Puzzle in Hindi Scrambling
Universität Leipzig November òýÔÀ A crossover puzzle in Hindi scrambling Stefan Keine University of Southern California (presenting joint work with Rajesh Bhatt) Ô Introduction Condition C, i.e., if it does not amnesty a Condition C violation in the base position (see Lebeaux ÔÀ, òýýý, Chomsky ÔÀÀç, Sauerland ÔÀÀ, Fox ÔÀÀÀ, • Background and terminology Takahashi & Hulsey òýýÀ). Ô. Inverse linking ( ) a. *He thinks [John’s mother] is intelligent. A possessor may bind a pronoun c-commanded by its host DP (May ÔÀÞÞ, Ô Ô b. * mother thinks is intelligent. Higginbotham ÔÀý, Reinhart ÔÀç). We will refer to this phenomena as [John’sÔ ]ò heÔ ò inverse linking (see May & Bale òýýâ for an overview). • Movement-type asymmetries (Ô) a. [Everyone’sÔ mother] thinks heÔ is a genius. English A- and A-movement dier w.r.t. several of these properties: b. [No one’s mother-in-law] fully approves of her . Ô Ô (â) Weak crossover (WCO) ò. Crossover a. A-movement Crossover arises if a DP moves over a pronoun that it binds and the resulting Every boyÔ seems to hisÔ mother [ Ô to be intelligent ] structure is ungrammatical (Postal ÔÀÞÔ, Wasow ÔÀÞò). b. A-movement (ò) Strong crossover (SCO): pronoun c-commands trace *Which boyÔ did hisÔ mother say [ Ô is intelligent ]? a. *DPÔ ... pronÔ ... tÔ (Þ) Secondary strong crossover (SSCO) b. *WhoÔ does sheÔ like Ô? a. A-movement (ç) Weak crossover (WCO): pronoun does not c-command trace [ Every boy’sÔ mother ]ò seems to himÔ [ ò to be intelligent ] a. *DP ... [ ... pron ...] ... t Ô DP Ô Ô b. -
Pronouns, Logical Variables, and Logophoricity in Abe Author(S): Hilda Koopman and Dominique Sportiche Source: Linguistic Inquiry, Vol
MIT Press Pronouns, Logical Variables, and Logophoricity in Abe Author(s): Hilda Koopman and Dominique Sportiche Source: Linguistic Inquiry, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 555-588 Published by: MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4178645 Accessed: 22-10-2015 18:32 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. MIT Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Linguistic Inquiry. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.97.27.20 on Thu, 22 Oct 2015 18:32:27 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Hilda Koopman Pronouns, Logical Variables, Dominique Sportiche and Logophoricity in Abe 1. Introduction 1.1. Preliminaries In this article we describe and analyze the propertiesof the pronominalsystem of Abe, a Kwa language spoken in the Ivory Coast, which we view as part of the study of pronominalentities (that is, of possible pronominaltypes) and of pronominalsystems (that is, of the cooccurrence restrictionson pronominaltypes in a particulargrammar). Abe has two series of thirdperson pronouns. One type of pronoun(0-pronoun) has basically the same propertiesas pronouns in languageslike English. The other type of pronoun(n-pronoun) very roughly corresponds to what has been called the referential use of pronounsin English(see Evans (1980)).It is also used as what is called a logophoric pronoun-that is, a particularpronoun that occurs in special embedded contexts (the logophoric contexts) to indicate reference to "the person whose speech, thought or perceptions are reported" (Clements (1975)). -
Towards a Multidominant Theory of Movement Lecture One: Introduction Kyle Johnson University College London University of Massachusetts at Amherst 20 June 2016
Towards a Multidominant Theory of Movement Lecture One: Introduction Kyle Johnson University College London University of Massachusetts at Amherst 20 June 2016 Movement has been used to model a variety of syntactic relations that, frankly, A. Diference in Semantic Displacement ofentimes look quite diferent. Here are some examples. a. Total Reconstruction: (1) a. ...að Mary kaupir ekki skó? (Icelandic) Mary kaupir ekki skó. ≡ ¬ Mary kaupir skó ...that Mary buys not shoes Head Movement b. Variable Binding: ! Which book Mary had read ≡ b. I asked which book Mary had read AMovement Tesetofpropositionssuchthat∃x Mary had read x, x a book. ! A guard stands before every bank ≡ c. A child seems to have lef.AMovement∀ ! x if x is a bank then a guard stands before x d. every bank adiferent guard stood before every bank. An argument that the semantic relationship between a moved verb and its under- ! lying position is diferent than a moved phrase and its underlying position can Quantifer Raising be made from their diferent behavior in ellipsis contexts. VP Ellipsis can leave behind an object DP or a verb in contexts where that DP or verb has moved out Why are we tempted to see each of these cases as special instances of the same of the VP. In English this is possible with a DP, in what goes by the name “pseu- relation? Perhaps because they (sort of) share these three properties. dogapping.” emantic isplacement (2)S D (5)Iknowwhatkindofriceshewilleatbutnotwhatkindofstarch she should. Some part of the meaning of the moved expression is applied to aposition diferent from where it is spoken. -
Publ 106271 Issue CH06 Page
REMARKS AND REPLIES 151 Focus on Cataphora: Experiments in Context Keir Moulton Queenie Chan Tanie Cheng Chung-hye Han Kyeong-min Kim Sophie Nickel-Thompson Since Chomsky 1976, it has been claimed that focus on a referring expression blocks coreference in a cataphoric dependency (*Hisi mother loves JOHNi vs. Hisi mother LOVES Johni). In three auditory experiments and a written questionnaire, we show that this fact does not hold when a referent is unambiguously established in the discourse (cf. Williams 1997, Bianchi 2009) but does hold otherwise, validating suggestions in Rochemont 1978, Horvath 1981, and Rooth 1985. The perceived effect of prosody, we argue, building on Williams’s original insight and deliberate experimental manipulation of Rochemont’s and Horvath’s examples, is due to the fact that deaccenting the R-expres- sion allows hearers to accommodate a salient referent via a ‘‘question under discussion’’ (Roberts 1996/2012, Rooth 1996), to which the pro- noun can refer in ambiguous or impoverished contexts. This heuristic is not available in the focus cases, and we show that participants’ interpretation of the pronoun is ambivalent here. Keywords: cataphora, focus, deaccenting, question under discussion 1 Focus and Cataphora Since Chomsky 1976, it has often been repeated that backward anaphora is blocked if the ‘‘anteced- ent’’ receives focus. This is illustrated by the purported contrast in the answers to the questions in (1). These examples, and judgments, are from Bianchi 2009.1 (1) a. As for John, who does his wife really love? ?*Hisi wife loves JOHNi. b. As for John, I believe his wife hates him. -
Weak Crossover and the Syntax-Phonology Interface
BLS 40, 2014. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/bls.v40i0.3130 (published by the Berkeley Linguistics Society and the Linguistic Society of America) Weak Crossover and the Syntax-Phonology Interface CALIXTO AGÜERO BAUTISTA Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières1 1 Introduction Postal (1971) shows that when a wh-operator is fronted over a position containing a pronoun, the pronoun cannot be understood as a variable bound by the crossing operator. Consider the contrast in (1). (1) a. Who1 does his ?*1/2 mother love t1? b. Who1 t1 loves his1 mother? In languages like English, a subject wh-phrase cannot possibly cross over a pronoun inside an object DP, when fronted, as subjects are structurally higher than objects to begin with. Thus, in (1b) who has not crossed over the object DP containing the pronoun his. (1b) can be understood as a question about the identity of the person x, such that x loves x’s mother. In that reading of the sentence, the pronoun is undeniably interpreted as a bound variable, given that its value covaries with that of the wh-phrase. Postal’s observation is that whereas the bound variable interpretation (BVI) of the pronoun is available in examples like (1b), the pronoun cannot be so interpreted in (1a). That the BVI of the pronoun is the problem in (1a) is shown by the fact that the sentence is acceptable under a deictic interpretation of the pronoun. Postal (1971) refers to the data exemplified in (1) as crossover phenomena. Later, Wasow 1979 shows that the deviance found in crossover sentences is greater when the pronoun c- commands the gap than when it doesn’t. -
Anaphoric R-Expressions As Bound Variables1
Berkeley Linguistics Society . 2002. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/bls.v28i1.3833 28 Published by the Linguistic Society of America Anaphoric R-Expressions as Bound Variables1 FELICIA LEE University ofBritish Columbia 0. The Problem San Lucas Quiavini Zapotec (SLQZ), an Otomanguean language of southern Mexico, regularly allows apparent Principle B and C violations.2 R-expressions may bind identical R-expressions (1-2) and pronouns may locally bind identical pronouns (3): (I) R-yu'laaa'z Gye'eihlly Gye'eihlly hab-like Mike Mike "Mike likes himself." (2) R-caaa'z bxuuhahz ch-iia bxuuhahz hab-want priest irr-go priest "The priest wants to go." (3) R-yu'laaa'z-eng la'anng hab-like-3s.prox 3s.prox "He/she likes himself/herself." Thai also allows apparent Principle C violations: (4) John koonnuat John John shaved John "John shaved himself." [Thai] 1 I am grateful to Rodrigo Garcia and Sugunya Ruangjaroon for providing the SLQZ and Thai data and judgments in this paper. I am also grateful to Irene Heim, Jim Huang, Pamela Munro, Tim Stowell, and audiences at UBC, University of Canterbury, and NELS 32 for their suggestions and questions on earlier stages of this project. Any remaining errors are my own. 2 This pattern was described in detail in Munro 1994. Some of the grammaticality judgments reported in this earlier work differ from those found here. 177 Felicia Lee (5) Aajarn kit waa puak rau chyyp aajarn teacher think that all we like teacher "The teacheri thinks we like himi." [Thai] 1. Proposal This paper will show that Principles B and C do indeed hold in SLQZ and Thai. -
Prolegomena to a Future Science of Biolinguistics
Prolegomena to a Future Science of Biolinguistics W. Tecumseh Fitch This essay reviews some of the problems that face biolinguistics if it is to someday succeed in understanding human language from a biological and evolutionary viewpoint. Although numerous sociological problems impede progress at present, these are ultimately soluble. The greater challenges include delineating the computational mechanisms that underlie different aspects of language competence, as implemented in the brain, and under- standing the epigenetic processes by which they arise. The ultimate chal- lenge will be to develop a theory of meaning incorporating non-linguistic conceptual representations, as they exist in the mind of a dog or chimpan- zee, which requires extensions of information theory incorporating context- dependence and relevance. Each of these problems is daunting alone; to- gether they make understanding the biology of language one of the most challenging sets of problems in modern science. Keywords: biolinguistics; comparative method; computation; deep homo- logy; neurobiology of language 1. Introduction Prolegomena (from Greek, plural noun, singular prolegomenon) — a preliminary discourse, statement or essay prefixed to a book, etc. In the first years of the new millennium, the word ‘biolinguistics’ has rather suddenly come into use as an umbrella term for various biological approaches to the study of human language. At least three recent books have ‘biolinguistics’ in the title (Givón 2002, Jenkins 2000, 2004), the journal Biolinguistics was founded (www.biolinguistics.eu), and the first Laboratory of Biolinguistics (Riken Brain Science Institute, Japan) is producing its first generation of PhD students. Based simply on the divergent contents of the books mentioned above, this nascent field is broad in its interests and incorporates diverse viewpoints, both about what language is and how it should be studied. -
Distributed Morphological Mechanisms of Smith Island Weren't Leveling
University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics Volume 13 2007 Issue 1 Proceedings of the 30th Annual Penn Article 23 Linguistics Colloquium 2007 Distributed morphological mechanisms of Smith Island weren't leveling Jeffrey K. Parrott Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl Recommended Citation Parrott, Jeffrey K. (2007) "Distributed morphological mechanisms of Smith Island weren't leveling," University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 13 : Iss. 1 , Article 23. Available at: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol13/iss1/23 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol13/iss1/23 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Distributed morphological mechanisms of Smith Island weren't leveling This working paper is available in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol13/iss1/23 Distributed Morphological Mechanisms of Smith Island Weren't Leveling Jeffrey K. Parrott* 1 Introduction A growing body of research (e.g. Adger and Smith 2005, Adger to appear) attempts to bridge the gap between Minimalist theories of syntax (Chomsky 1995, 2000) and the empirical study of Labovian variation and change in progress (e.g. Labov 1994; for overviews see Chambers, Trudgill, and Schil ling-Estes 2002). In this paper, I discuss how variation might be addressed within the theoretical framework of Distributed Morphology (DM) (Halle and Marantz 1993, Embick and Noyer to appear, and related work). The pa per examines the case of weren't leveling, a pattern of morphosyntactic variation and change currently in progress on Smith Island, Maryland. This case provides an empirical argument that significant mechanisms of varia tion should be located in the inventory and feature structure of DM's Vo cabulary and the interaction between Vocabulary Items and operations in the morphological component. -
Donkey Anaphora Is In-Scope Binding∗
Semantics & Pragmatics Volume 1, Article 1: 1–46, 2008 doi: 10.3765/sp.1.1 Donkey anaphora is in-scope binding∗ Chris Barker Chung-chieh Shan New York University Rutgers University Received 2008-01-06 = First Decision 2008-02-29 = Revised 2008-03-23 = Second Decision 2008-03-25 = Revised 2008-03-27 = Accepted 2008-03-27 = Published 2008- 06-09 Abstract We propose that the antecedent of a donkey pronoun takes scope over and binds the donkey pronoun, just like any other quantificational antecedent would bind a pronoun. We flesh out this idea in a grammar that compositionally derives the truth conditions of donkey sentences containing conditionals and relative clauses, including those involving modals and proportional quantifiers. For example, an indefinite in the antecedent of a conditional can bind a donkey pronoun in the consequent by taking scope over the entire conditional. Our grammar manages continuations using three independently motivated type-shifters, Lift, Lower, and Bind. Empirical support comes from donkey weak crossover (*He beats it if a farmer owns a donkey): in our system, a quantificational binder need not c-command a pronoun that it binds, but must be evaluated before it, so that donkey weak crossover is just a special case of weak crossover. We compare our approach to situation-based E-type pronoun analyses, as well as to dynamic accounts such as Dynamic Predicate Logic. A new ‘tower’ notation makes derivations considerably easier to follow and manipulate than some previous grammars based on continuations. Keywords: donkey anaphora, continuations, E-type pronoun, type-shifting, scope, quantification, binding, dynamic semantics, weak crossover, donkey pronoun, variable-free, direct compositionality, D-type pronoun, conditionals, situation se- mantics, c-command, dynamic predicate logic, donkey weak crossover ∗ Thanks to substantial input from Anna Chernilovskaya, Brady Clark, Paul Elbourne, Makoto Kanazawa, Chris Kennedy, Thomas Leu, Floris Roelofsen, Daniel Rothschild, Anna Szabolcsi, Eytan Zweig, and three anonymous referees. -
Team Weak Crossover Calixto Agu¨Ero-Bautista
Team Weak Crossover Calixto Agu¨ero-Bautista It is generally assumed that the weak crossover (WCO) effect arises when an operator fails to bind a pronoun that stands in a particular syntactic configuration with the given operator. In this article, I intro- duce a new kind of crossover effect in which the binding dependencies of two different operators work in tandem to yield the given effect. The new effect is radically different from the traditional crossover cases, which involve the binding dependency of just one operator. I show that theories that define the WCO principle as a condition regulat- ing the binding of pronouns cannot account for the new effect. I also show that to account for all the varieties of crossover effects, the WCO principle must be defined as a condition regulating the semantic relation of dependence and must make use of the notion of Spell-Out domain discussed by Chomsky (2001, 2004). Keywords: weak crossover, binding, crossover, multiple cycles, pro- noun, dependence, phase 1 Introduction It seems to be a fact of natural language that an operator cannot felicitously bind a given variable if it has to ‘‘cross over’’ it on its way to its scope position. The examples in (1)–(2) illustrate this fact. (1) a. *Whoi does hei love ti? b. *Hei loves every studenti. (2) a. *?Whoi does hisi mother love ti? b. *?Hisi mother loves every studenti. The deviance of (1a–b), under the intended interpretation, is stronger than that of (2a–b). After Postal (1971) and Wasow (1979), researchers have used the terms strong crossover (SCO) and weak crossover (WCO) to refer to the phenomena in (1) and (2), respectively. -
Do Learners' Word Order Preferences Reflect Hierarchical Language Structure?
Do learners’ word order preferences reflect hierarchical language structure? Alexander Martin ([email protected]) Centre for Language Evolution, University of Edinburgh 3 Charles St, Edinburgh EH8 9AD, UK Klaus Abels ([email protected]) Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, London WC1N 1PF, UK David Adger ([email protected]) School of Language, Linguistics and Film, Queen Mary University of London Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK Jennifer Culbertson ([email protected]) Centre for Language Evolution, University of Edinburgh 3 Charles St, Edinburgh EH8 9AD, UK Abstract chical structure for the noun phrase: [Dem [Num [Adj [N]]1 (Adger, 2003; Cinque, 2005; Abels & Neeleman, 2012). In Previous research has argued that learners infer word order pat- this hierarchy, which can be interpreted as reflecting seman- terns when learning a new language based on knowledge about underlying structure, rather than linear order (Culbertson & tic or conceptual structure, the adjective forms a constituent Adger, 2014). Specifically, learners prefer typologically com- with the noun to the exclusion of the numeral and demon- mon noun phrase word order patterns that transparently reflect strative; that sub-constituent combines with a numeral, and how elements like nouns, adjectives, numerals, and demon- stratives combine hierarchically. We test whether this result the resulting unit combines with a demonstrative to make a still holds after removing a potentially confounding strategy larger constituent. The structure provides a straightforward present in the original study design. We find that when learn- explanation for why, in most languages, adjectives are placed ers are taught a naturalistic “foreign” language, a clear prefer- ence for noun phrase word order is replicated but for a subset linearly closest to the noun, while demonstratives are furthest of modifier types originally tested. -
Remarks on Weak Crossover Effects Author(S): Paul M
Remarks on Weak Crossover Effects Author(s): Paul M. Postal Reviewed work(s): Source: Linguistic Inquiry, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Summer, 1993), pp. 539-556 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4178826 . Accessed: 14/11/2012 14:20 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The MIT Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Linguistic Inquiry. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.232 on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:20:07 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions REMARKS AND REPLIES 539 (O'Neil) 20D-213 Department of Linguistics and Philosophy MIT Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 [email protected] (Vergnaud) Department of Linguistics University of Southern California Los Angeles, California 90089 Remarks on Weak Crossover Effects Paul M. Postal 1 Background Lasnik and Stowell (1991) (hereafter:LS) make importantsuggestions about the factors determiningthe weak crossover (hereafter: WCO) effect. According to LS, a widely accepted descriptive generalizationconcerning this effect is (1) (= LS's (14)). (1) In a configurationwhere a pronoun P and a trace T are both bound by a quan- tifier Q, T must c-commandP.