A compositional morphosemantic analysis of exclusivity in Ch'ol

Carol-Rose Little,Mia Wiegand

doi:10.3765/plsa.v3i1.4376

Abstract

We argue that novel empirical generalizations on exclusive operators in Ch’ol (Mayan) provide strong evidence for a morphological decompositionality of exclusivity into a core semantic entry and focus sensitivity. There is a robust literature on exclusivity and the distributions of scalar particles in various languages (Beaver & Clark 2003, 2008; Orenstein & Greenberg 2010; Coppock & Beaver 2011a,b). Coppock & Beaver (2011a) argue that mere operates in a different domain (properties) than only (propositions). Recent work on focus constructions in Mayan languages include Yasavul (2013) for K’iche’ and AnderBois (2012) for Yucatec Maya. However, little work has been done on the variation among exclusives in morphologically rich languages like Ch’ol. Original data from fieldwork indicate that exclusivity can occur independently of focus marking, and when divorced from focus, the exclusive morpheme has a wider distribution and range of meanings.

Highlights

We provide novel empirical generalizations on exclusive operators in Ch’ol (Mayan)
We argue that these empirical generalizations provide strong evidence for a separation of exclusivity into a core semantic entry and focus sensitivity
It is clear that in both of the examples above, =jach does not quantify over alternatives derived from one of the elements in the sentence. This follows from our analysis of the morphosemantics of Ch’ol exclusives, as the restriction to association with a focused element comes from jin, which is not present in these examples

Summary

Introduction

We provide novel empirical generalizations on exclusive operators in Ch’ol (Mayan). We present the pattern of =jach, a second position clitic glossed as EXCL and the bimorphemic jin=jach Exclusives, such as only, just, merely, and are generally assumed to be quantifiers over propositions taken from an alternative set, usually derived. FOC=EXCL PREP Palenque PRF arrive-IV-B3 Intended: ‘He arrived only to Palenque.’ This pattern indicates that for jin=jach, the semantic content of exclusivity is provided by the morpheme =jach, but selectional requirements come from jin. We argue that this parallels the distribution of English only and just: only is more restricted, always requiring focus, while just exhibits a wider range of uses.

Numerals PPs jin

Conclusions and future directions