The Syntax and Semantics of Implicit Conditionals: Filling in the Antecedent David Schueler University of California, Los Angeles
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CiteSeerX The Syntax and Semantics of Implicit Conditionals: Filling In the Antecedent David Schueler University of California, Los Angeles CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2. Implicit Conditionals with Noun Phrases....................................................... 6 2.1. Introduction............................................................................................................ 6 2.2. Sentence-External Implicit Conditionals............................................................... 7 2.3. Sentence-Internal Implicit Conditionals............................................................... 12 2.4. Conclusion............................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 3. Raising Indefinite DPs in Implicit Conditionals............................................ 19 3.1. Introduction........................................................................................................... 19 3.2 Semantic Ontology and Assumptions.................................................................... 20 3.2.1. General Background and Assumptions.......................................................... 21 3.2.2. Semantics of Conditionals.............................................................................. 28 3.2.2.1. Background: Semantics of Conditionals, Full and IC............................. 29 3.2.2.2. Semantic Elements Specific to ICs.......................................................... 35 3.3. Syntactic Analysis of Sentence-Internal Implicit Conditionals............................ 38 3.3.1. Sideward Movement...................................................................................... 40 3.3.2. Trace Conversion............................................................................................ 47 3.3.3. Aside: Sentence-Internal ICs Without Sideward Movement......................... 53 3.4. Compositional Semantics of Sentence-External ICs............................................ 57 3.5. Conclusion............................................................................................................ 61 Chapter 4. Other Quantifiers............................................................................................ 63 4.1. Introduction........................................................................................................... 63 4.2. The Definite Determiner....................................................................................... 64 4.3. Plural Determiners................................................................................................ 72 4.4 Every, Each............................................................................................................ 77 4.5. Singular any, some................................................................................................ 78 4.5.1. Any.................................................................................................................. 78 4.5.2. Some............................................................................................................... 84 4.6. Conclusion............................................................................................................ 87 Chapter 5. Propositionally Interpreted Noun Phrases in ICs........................................... 89 5.1. Introduction........................................................................................................... 89 5.2. Propositional Readings of Indefinites in ICs........................................................ 89 5.3. Propositional Readings and Process Nominals................................................... 107 5.3.1. The Problem with Process Nominals........................................................... 107 5.3.2. Process Nominals As Propositions: External Semantics............................... 110 iii 5.3.3. Internal Semantics of Process Nominals as Propositions............................. 123 5.3.4. Appendix: The take x-much time to Construction........................................ 129 5.4. Gerunds............................................................................................................... 130 5.4.1. Syntax of Acc-ing and Poss-ing................................................................... 132 5.4.2. Acc-ing in ICs.............................................................................................. 134 5.4.3. Poss-ing in ICs............................................................................................. 138 5.4.4. Propositional Coercion of Gerunds.............................................................. 140 5.5. Finite Clauses...................................................................................................... 150 5.5.1. Presuppositions of ICs with Finite Clauses.................................................. 151 Chapter 6. The Case For Movement In Sentence-Internal Implicit Conditionals......... 153 6.1. Introduction......................................................................................................... 153 6.2. A Sentence-External Analysis of Sentence-Internal ICs.................................... 155 6.2.1. Contextual Salience...................................................................................... 156 6.2.2. The Requantification Problem..................................................................... 158 6.3. Non-Movement Sentence-Internal Analyses...................................................... 163 6.3.1. Introduction.................................................................................................. 163 6.3.2. Sentence-Internal ICs By Coindexed Pronouns........................................... 164 6.3.2.1. Coindexation with DP........................................................................... 164 6.3.2.2. Coindexation with Focus Semantic Value............................................. 167 6.4. Against Non-Movement Analyses...................................................................... 173 6.4.1. Propositional Readings................................................................................. 173 6.4.2. Constraints on Multiple Sources of Antecedents in Sentence-Internal ICs. 175 6.4.2.1. Coordination.......................................................................................... 175 6.4.2.2. Predictions of the Coindexation-With-DP Analysis.............................. 177 6.4.2.3. Predictions of the Coindexation-With-Focus Analysis......................... 179 6.4.3. Multiple Indefinite Arguments..................................................................... 182 6.4.3.1. Subject and Object Indefinites in ICs.................................................... 183 6.4.3.2. Double Object Indefinites in ICs........................................................... 192 6.5. Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 197 Chapter 7. Conclusion................................................................................................... 199 References..................................................................................................................... 203 iv Chapter 1 Introduction This is a thesis about conditional sentences. More specifically, it is about a particular class of conditional sentences, which presents a unique challenge to any semantic theory. I am speaking of sentences of the type exemplified in (1), which I refer to as “implicit conditionals” or ICs.1 ICs are characterized by a resemblance in morphology to the con- sequent clause of a subjunctive conditional sentence, in particular the occurrence of the modal would or another conditional modal. Semantically, ICs are conditional in meaning, despite the fact that they lack the clausal complexity of full conditionals; the latter are ex- emplified in (2). (1) a. John would hate Paris. b. John would feed a unicorn. (2) If John lived in France, he would hate Paris. So an implicit conditional resembles the consequent of a full conditional, but as such is missing its antecedent. However, since many ICs are quite grammatical and felicitous to native speakers, we must be finding some way to interpret them. The focus of this disser- tation, then, is to determine by what process ICs are interpreted. We will see that this 1Kasper (1992) refers to the same construction as a “simple subjunctive”. 1 problem can be more specifically stated as the problem of how to “fill in” the antecedent when we are interpreting an IC, to come up with what I call the “understood antecedent”. ICs themselves have received relatively little attention in the literature. Kasper (1992) does develop an account of some of their properties, under the name “simple subjunc- tives”, under a DRT framework. I do not present a detailed review of that paper here, but this thesis attempts a more complete survey of different IC constructions, and an analysis that is sufficiently general to capture the many complex clusters of interpretive judgments of them. It is unclear how Kasper’s analysis could be extended to the data in, for exam- ple, chapters 4-6. ICs bear a relationship to a class of sentences which has received considerably more at- tention, the class of generic sentences, exemplified