Conjunctive strengthening more broadly

Grice (1975) pointed out that the ignorance inferences normally drawn when disjunctive sentences are uttered are cancelled when it is presupposed that speakers are not going to provide all of the relevant information that they have available (e.g., in the context of a treasure hunt). This argues that ignorance inferences depend on the maxim of quantity for their derivation. Here it is argued that the situation with Scalar Implicatures is different. This is expected by the grammatical theory of Scalar Implicatures, but not by standard Gricean or neo-Gricean alternatives. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/sp.7.5 <a href="http://semantics-online.org/sp-bib/fox-2014.bib">BibTeX info</a>

This article analyzes four interpretations of the adverb siempre ‘always’ that do not belong to general Spanish. The continuative and the progressive-comparative interpretations are argued to be calques of Italian, often attested in Rioplatense Spanish. In the first one, siempre is equivalent to Eng. still or ‘continue to + infinitive’, while in the second one it admits paraphrases with more and more, less and less, and the adverbs gradually and progressively. The third interpretation, in which siempre is roughly equivalent to after all, finally, and ‘end up + gerund’, will be argued to be concessive-adversative. This reading is more frequent in Mexico and Central America, but it is also attested in other American countries. The fourth reading is the attenuated interpretation, registered in part of the Andean area. In this meaning, siempre is equivalent to roughly or so so. It is argued that, with the possible exception of the last reading (whose origin is insecure), these different meanings of siempre coincide in the interpretation of this adverb as a universal quantifier, while they differ in the semantic nature of the quantified variable.

In this paper, we explore the behavior of one complex disjunction in Russian that has some special properties that set it apart from other simple and complex disjunctions: it never gives rise to free choice inferences in environments in which other disjunctions do and under universal quantifiers it behaves different from other disjunctions. We show that the data resist an analysis in terms of wide scope disjunction and propose that those special properties are due to obligatory ignorance inferences associated with this disjunction. The paper provides one more argument for a grammatical theory of ignorance along the lines of ( 7).

In the linguistics literature, the derivation of scalar implicatures has often been handled in a relatively modular way, using computations that are sensitive to logical relations among alternatives such as entailment but are blind to other notions such as the probabilities that participants in a conversation might associate with these alternatives (or with related propositions). In recent years, a family of models that we refer to as iterated rationality models (IRMs) have offered an interestingly different perspective on such alternative-sensitive processes in terms of multiple iterations of (typically probabilistic) reasoning. Our paper investigates what at first sight seems like a very interesting argument for the adequacy of IRMs as models of scalar implicatures, coming from the conjunctive interpretation of disjunctive sentences. We then outline challenges for the argument based on a theoretical comparison with the grammatical theory of scalar implicatures. The comparison focuses on the full distribution of conjunctive interpretation, on the question of sensitivity to priors, and on other results achieved within the grammatical theory that the IRM literature has yet to engage with.

Plain disjunctive sentences, such as The mystery box contains a blue ball or a yellow ball, typically imply that the speaker does not know which of the two disjuncts is true. This is known as an ignorance inference. We can distinguish between two aspects of this inference: the negated universal upper bound part (i.e., the speaker is uncertain about each disjunct), which we call uncertainty, and the existential lower bound part (i.e., the speaker considers each disjunct possible), which we call possibility. In the traditional approach, uncertainty is derived as a primary implicature, from which possibility follows. In this paper, we report on two experiments using a sentence-picture verification task based on the mystery box paradigm that challenge the traditional implicature approach. Our findings show that possibility can arise without uncertainty, and we thus call for a reevaluation of the traditional view of disjunction and ignorance inferences. Our experimental findings are related to similar results involving disjunction in embedded contexts and pave the way for alternative theories that can account for the observed patterns of inference derivation in a unified fashion. We discuss how recent implicature and non-implicature theories can account for the derivation of existential lower bound inferences without the presence of negated universal upper bound inferences.

This chapter discusses the grammaticalization of indefinite pronouns, focusing on the ways in which such pronouns arise and change over time in different languages and the regularities in these changes. It first considers diachronic typology before describing four main source constructions for indefiniteness markers: the ‘dunno’ type, the ‘want/pleases’ type, the ‘it may be’ type, and the ‘no matter’ type. It then examines the six parameters of grammaticalization, three of which are paradigmatic (integrity, paradigmaticity, paradigmatic variability) and three are syntagmatic (scope, bondedness, syntagmatic variability). It also looks at desemanticization, with particular emphasis on three competing theories of semantic grammaticalization, before concluding with an overview of the indefinites that express the free-choice functions and their use as true universal quantifiers.

IRÈNE ROSIER: Grammar, Logic, Semantic. Two Conflicting Doctrines in the Thirteenth Century: Roger Bacon and the Modistae The complex interplay between grammar and logic in the 12th and 13th centuries is an important element in understanding the development of these two disciplines. Two 13th century doctrines (the Modistae's and Roger Bacon's) show a strong coherence in their logico-semantic and grammatical theories, but rely on diametrically opposed assumptions about language: the Modistae seek to base themselves on the universal and stable (logical and grammatical) properties of a timeless language, Bacon on the variability of language and the freedom of the speaker to change the meaning of words as of constructions, thus enabling mm to take into account the evolution of language. The differences between the two conceptions explain the contradictory answers of the Modistae and Roger Bacon to the important linguistic questions of the latter half of the 13th century.

Generative grammar addressed for the first time acquisition as a central issue in the study of grammar. This perspective has given rise over the years to a considerable body of work, mainly on first language acquisition, but also on second language acquistion, bilingual acquisition, and the acquisition by children affected by SLI. If we assume continuity, i.e. that all stages in acquisition reflect possible natural languages, we must posit a mutual dependency between grammatical theory and the facts of acquisition. On the one hand, theories about particular languages should pass the proof against data from acquisition. On the other hand, acquisition data may provide a source of evidence for deciding among alternative theories of language.

Serial verb constructions are sequences of verbs that act together as a single predicate, without any overt marker of coordination, subordination, or syntactic dependency of any other sort. One key question that these constructions pose for grammatical theory is how their lexical and syntactic properties interact. On the one hand, they appear to be lexically determined. On the other hand, the individual verbs are clearly separate verbs assigning cases and thematic roles to intervening arguments. Here, we focus on the canonical cases of serial verbs, taking the Suriname creole language Saramaccan as our prime example, and their grammatical properties. Other languages discussed include Mauritian Creole, Haitian Creole, Sranantongo, and Ijo.. We give a first inventory of these constructions and of the analytical problems that they raise, as well as discuss some of the analyses proposed so far, such as subordination, adjunction, and coordination. Further themes of discussion are the problem of argument sharing – two verbs in a serial chain having the same argument, expressed only once – and the typological correlates of serial verb constructions. Possibilities we discuss are word order, non‐distinctiveness of verbs and prepositions, and the absence of verbal morphology and separation of verbs from INFL (inflectional). The latter option is the most plausible, we argue.

Discourse markers exhibit a range of grammatical properties that set them apart from many other lexical and grammatical forms. A number of hypotheses have been proposed to account for these properties. Most commonly, such accounts have drawn on grammaticalization theory, less commonly also on the notion of pragmaticalization. As argued in this paper, however, the rise of discourse markers cannot be described exhaustively in terms of parameters of grammaticalization or pragmaticalization. Looking at the rise of two English and one French discourse marker, the paper argues that this development is also shaped by a general strategy of discourse processing called cooptation, which accounts for properties of discourse markers that are beyond the scope of grammaticalization theory. Thus, discourse markers are described best as grammaticalized (paren)theticals.

This book addresses a question fundamental to any discussion of grammatical theory and grammatical variation: to what extent can principles of grammar be explained through language use? The book argues that there is a profound correspondence between performance data and the fixed conventions of grammars. Preferences and patterns found in the one, the book shows, are reflected in constraints and variation patterns in the other. The theoretical consequences of the proposed ‘performance-grammar correspondence hypothesis’ are far-reaching — for current grammatical formalisms, for the innateness hypothesis, and for psycholinguistic models of performance and learning. Drawing on empirical generalizations and insights from language typology, generative grammar, psycholinguistics, and historical linguistics, this book demonstrates that the assumption that grammars are immune to performance is false. It presents detailed empirical case studies and arguments for an alternative theory in which performance has shaped the conventions of grammars and thus the variation patterns found in the world’s languages. The innateness of language, the book argues, resides primarily in the mechanisms human beings have for processing and learning it.

Examining four constructions in three languages (English quantificational nouns, Japanese subordinating conjunctions, Cantonese coverbs, Japanese deverbal postpositions), this paper shows that semantic properties can change faster than syntactic properties in gradual processes of grammaticalization. In each of these cases, the syntactic properties of one category become associated with the semantic properties of a different category when an item undergoes semantic change, leading to the appearance of mixed categorial properties. We propose that this sort of change is best captured using a multi-modular framework (Sadock 1991, Yuasa 2005), which allows changes to affect semantics independently of syntax, and which shows clearly that the relevant items and constructions still conform to the separate structural constraints of syntax and semantics, despite the unusual combination of properties. These findings are important for theories of grammaticalization because they suggest that the cover term ‘decategorialization’ (the loss of grammatical properties associated with the source category) must be understood in terms of at least two separate processes: (1) the effects of semantic change on an item's distribution; and (2) the effects of frequency (Bybee &amp; Hopper 2001) and Pressure for Structure–Concept Iconicity (Newmeyer 1998) on an item's syntactic categorization. Our case studies show that the first kind of decategorialization effects can occur even in the absence of the second kind. Implications of these findings, including possible reasons for both the instability and the long-term retention of mismatch constructions, are also considered.

摘要: 为了精准定位情态副词的分布规律并据此提取其语义、情态，本文在综述并吸收前人基于不同语法理论而采取的不同研究方法的基础上，以语义语法为理论基础，根据情态副词的性质和特点，提出了四条方法论原则。第一，前人的研究方法大致可分为四类：传统语法基于语感的意义分类法、结构主义语法基于句法的分布辨义法、认知功能基于情态的认知解释法和生成语法基于层次的制图排序法。第二，根据语义语法理论，情态副词具有“指称情态而关联话语”的虚实兼备性和四个特点：话语关联的制约性、句法分布的复杂性、语义提取的难证性、情态内涵的难解性。第三，根据情态副词的性质和特点，语义语法研究情态副词需要坚持四条原则：基于话语关联论由表及里多层锚定话语功能的原则、基于句法制约论由大到小精确定位句法分布的原则、基于语义决定论形意兼顾多元证明语法意义的原则、基于情态因果论瞻前顾后系统解释情态内涵的原则。 ABSTRACT: To explore the distribution of modal adverbs and their modal meanings, after reviewing research methods in previous studies of modal adverbs from different perspectives, this paper proposes four principles of methodology in the study of modal adverbs based on the theory of semantic grammar to discuss their nature and characteristics. First, the previous research methods on modal adverbs are divided into four categories in terms of grammatical theories and their research purpose: Traditional grammar based on sense of meaning classification, structural grammar based on syntactic structure, cognitive grammar based on cognitive modal interpretation and generative grammar based on hierarchically cartographic sorting. Secondly, the grammatical properties of modal adverbs are discussed applying the semantic grammar, i.e., sharing both the reference meaning of modality and the functional meaning relating to discourse, with four characteristics of the restriction of discourse relevance, the complexity of syntactic distribution, the difficulty of semantic extraction, and the difficulty of interpreting modal connotation. Thirdly, according to the nature and characteristics of modal adverbs, four principles of semantic grammar in the study of modal adverbs are put forward from the perspective of methodology: The principle of anchoring the discourse function referring to discourse relevance multi-layered from surface to deep, the principle of locating syntactic distribution relating to the syntactic structure from large to small, the principle of verifying the grammatical meaning semantically, and the principle of interpreting modal connotation according to modal causality. It suggests that the nature and characteristics of modal adverbs determines the scientific research methods, which in turn deepen the understanding of the nature and characteristics of modal adverbs.