Predicate Modifiers Research Articles

On the Romanian Clausal Substitute așa ‘so’

This paper focuses on the syntax and interpretation of the adverb aşa ‘so’ used as a CP substitute. The semantic difficulty raised is that a typical adjunct can substitute for an argument CP. The syntactic problem is that, though a substitute, aşa ‘so’ may often appear in the same sentence with a CP, which determines its interpretation. Two main ingredients are used in solving these problems: a) the idea that CPs are predicative in content and combine with verbs by predicate modification (Kratzer 2006, Moulton 2015); b) the idea that in all of its occurrences, aşa ‘so’ is a demonstrative of similarity. As an auxiliary step, we have also examined another use of aşa ‘so’ as a substitute, specifically aşa as an adjectival substitute. The two substitutes have identical syntax and both have property-type interpretations.

A counterfactual analysis of adnominal modifiers

In this article, I shall argue for a counterfactual analysis of the semantics of some ad-nominal modifiers. This analysis formalizes the intuition that adnominal modifiers are always restrictive in some sense. Technically, the proposal is formalized with an opera-tor that applies to two intensional entities of type <s,et> and returns as the value the same type of semantic entity (type: <s,et>). In terms of how the rule works, it resem-bles Predicate Modification since it requires a special rule. However, it does not inter-sect the two sets in question. Rather, the rule yields a set of entities that are not neces-sarily a subset of the entities specified by the common noun in the actual world. I call this semantic procedure Restrictive Modification (RM). Essential reasoning is given as follows: the property of being x that has the modifier property and if in all closest worlds w in which x had a crucial property that all CN entities have, then x would have the CN property in w. For example, in the case of stone lion, it denotes the prop-erty of being x made of stone such that if x were to possess a crucial property that a re-al lion has (say, the property of being alive with flesh and blood), then x would be a real lion. This reasoning applies to a variety of adjective types. Some problematic ex-amples such as house key and ice water remain, and they are a reserved for a future study.

Scrambling in Korean and the Labeling Theory

Myung-Kwan Park and Yong Suk Yoo. 2019. Scrambling in Korean and the Labeling Theory. Studies in Modern Grammar 102, 1-30. This paper investigates the long-standing issue of how scrambling as a word order- changing operation is to be understood in light of the general theory of structure building, particularly vis-a-vis Chomsky’s (2013, 2005) Labeling Theory. First, noting that case or inflectional markers are realized on clausal dependent elements in-situ in Korean, we argue that they come about to record the output of labeling in the wake of the Merge operation during structure building. In other words, they are reflections of labeling in head-complement or XP-YP relations in tandem with theta-marking, predication, and predicate modification. Second, noting that scrambling is an adjunction operation via non-A, non-operator movement, we argue that a scrambled element enters into licensing relation just like an adjunct. Neither the former nor the latter can be accommodated into the properly labeled structure in the syntactic component. They rather resort to processes such as semantic predication or predicate modification at the interface to resolve the problem with labeling.

Stage salience and situational likelihood in the formation of situation models during sentence comprehension

Two experiments examined the relation between event structure, situational likelihood and eye fixation time while reading predicate modifiers in isolated sentences. Experiment 1 used activity predicates and preparatory process predicates (climbed a mountain), which make salient the process that leads to a culmination. Preparatory process predicates increased first pass time on durative modifiers (for several years) and decreased total time on frequency modifiers (e.g., every year). Situational likelihood was associated with fixation times on frame modifiers (last year) but not with fixation times on durative or frequency modifiers. Experiment 2 used activity predicates and result state predicates (halted a class), which make salient the result that follows from a culmination. Result state predicates had no effect on fixation times on durative modifiers and decreased total time on frequency modifiers. Situational likelihood was associated only with total time on durative modifiers. These results demonstrate that readers use the meanings of predicates and modifiers to form an initial model of a sentence and that the likelihood of the reported situation is related to reading time relatively late. The results are discussed in terms of type coercion theory and situation models in sentences and narratives.

Erratum to: The descriptive content of names as predicate modifiers

Erratum to: The descriptive content of names as predicate modifiers

The descriptive content of names as predicate modifiers

In this paper I argue that descriptive content associated with a proper name can serve as a truth-conditionally relevant adjunct and be an additional contribution of the name to the truth-conditions. Definite descriptions the so-and-so associated by speakers with a proper name can be used as qualifying prepositional phrases as so-and-so, so sentences containing a proper name NN is doing something could be understood as NN is doing something as NN (which means as so-and-so). Used as an adjunct, the descriptive content of a proper name expresses the additional circumstances of an action (a manner, reason, goal, time or purpose) and constitute a part of a predicate. I argue that qualifying prepositional phrases should be analyzed as predicate modifiers and propose a formal representation of modified predicates. The additional truth-conditional relevance of the descriptive content of a proper name helps to explain the phenomenon of the substitution failure of coreferential names in simple sentences.

CPs: Copies and Compositionality

Finite clausal arguments differ from other arguments—and other CPs—in two fundamental ways: (a) they do not move leftward ( Koster 1978 , Alrenga 2005 , Takahashi 2010 , Moulton 2013 ) and (b) they may combine with nouns that do not accept arguments ( Stowell 1981 , Grimshaw 1990 ). I argue that finite clausal arguments are predicates of propositional content (type 〈e,〈s,t〉〉), following proposals in Kratzer 2006 , Moulton 2009 . They combine with nouns by Predicate Modification, explaining (b). In order to complement verbs, CPs trigger two type-driven leftward movements (CP-movement and remnant AspPfronting). I argue that the resulting configuration prevents further leftward movement of clausal arguments, explaining (a). Also derived are the right-peripheral position of CPs relative to arguments and the verbal complex in Germanic, freezing effects in the VP, extraction from and binding into CPs, and the similarities and differences among CP argument extraposition, heavy NP shift, and relative clause extraposition. More broadly, the proposal demonstrates that copies can denote restricted variables, but need not be DPs (cf. Fox 2002 , Takahashi 2010 , Johnson 2012 ).

Saturating syntax: Linkers and modification in Tagalog

Not all instances of composition are saturating in the sense of functional application (McNally, in press). For example, intersective modification with adjectives or relative clauses requires a non-saturating mode of composition (cf., e.g., Chung and Ladusaw, 2004). To account for such semantic configurations, composition rules like Predicate Modification (Heim and Kratzer, 1998) or Restrict (Chung and Ladusaw, 2004) have been posited. In Tagalog, wherever we find instances of non-saturating composition, we also find the element na/-ng, known in the Austronesian literature as linker. Sabbagh (2009, fn.31) points out that linker may be analyzed either as a semantically vacuous element serving as a “morphological flag” for non-saturating composition (in the style of Chung and Ladusaw, 2004, or as an operator of type 〈et, et〉 that composes with a predicate and adds the “instruction” to compose its output with another predicate via a non-saturating composition rule. Both options leave us with the need for a specialized composition rule in addition to functional application so that two properties may compose in the semantics. Alternatively, Rubin (1994) proposes that the grammar supplies a functional head of type 〈et, 〈et, et〉〉 that composes with two predicates and returns a single predicate denoting the intersection of both – a head that does the work of modification. Following Rubin, we argue that in Tagalog this element is realized overtly as linker. Adopting this latter proposal allows us to simplify the compositional mechanism so that it need not rely on specific processes for modification in addition to functional application. It also makes strong predictions, consistent with the data, about the environments in which we expect linker to appear. We explore the possibility of expanding the predictive power of our account of linker such that modification is implicated wherever it surfaces.

Another Quantificational Variability Effect: The indefinite pronoun neemen ‘no one’ as a floating quantifier and as a negative adverb in Fering–Öömrang (North Frisian)

In this paper some special uses of the indefinite pronoun neemen in Fering–Öömrang (North Frisian) are discussed. Alongside its normal use as a negative personal quantifier (‘no one’) this element can be employed as a floating quantifier (‘none of us/you/them) and as a negative adverb (‘never’ or ‘not (at all)’). In most cases, it is in fact ambiguous between a floating quantifier and an adverbial reading, whereby the latter seems to be contingent on the former. It will be argued that this ambiguity is an instance of Quantificational Variability. The case of Fering–Öömrang neemen thus links up the analyses of Quantificational Variability Effects and Quantifier Float and provides some evidence that both of these phenomena involve predicate modification.

Hindi pseudo-incorporation

This paper argues that Hindi incorporation is, in fact, pseudo-incorporation, involving noun phrases rather than nouns. Furthermore, it shows that there is no requirement that the incorporated nominal surface as a morphological or even a syntactic unit with the verb. Such loosely aligned nominals can nevertheless be identified as incorporation on the basis of semantic intuitions having to do with number interpretation, anaphora, and certain properties typically associated with lexical processes. Contrary to standard assumptions, it is argued that the target of pseudo-incorporation is specified for number. Singular incorporated nominals in Hindi are shown to be semantically singular, with number neutrality arising as a consequence of interaction with aspectual operators. Taking aspectual information into account is also shown to have interesting implications for current approaches to the semantics of incorporation, one in which the incorporated nominal introduces a discourse referent, and one in which it functions as a predicate modifier. A closer look at the effect of aspect on anaphora, for example, does not unequivocally support the predicate modification view of pseudo-incorporation. The paper draws on data from Hungarian, and to some extent Danish, to explore the cross-linguistic applicability of the claims made on the basis of Hindi. Most notably, a distinction between Hungarian verbs with respect to incorporation of bare singulars provides striking confirmation of the claim that number morphology is semantically visible in pseudo-incorporation. It also addresses restrictions on the productivity of pseudo-incorporation in light of the proposed analysis of pseudo-incorporation.

How do phrasal and lexical modification differ? Contrasting adjective-noun combinations in German

In contrasting newly coined lexical and phrasal adjective-noun combinations as e.g. Blautee (‘blue_tea’) versus blauer Tee (‘blue tea’), the present paper argues in favour of a different semantic make-up of phrasal versus lexical modification in German. Whereas the former triggers direct modification along the lines of ordinary predicate modification, the latter involves a mediating free variable to be instantiated at the conceptual level. The analysis accounts for interpretational differences between phrasal and lexical adjectival modification in the cases of incompatible attribution and negation. Furthermore, the proposal made here supports the assumption of a particular naming function of lexical units. Additional evidence will be drawn from the observation that non-predicative adjectives and comparatives are ruled out in adjective-noun compounds and that adjectives projected word-internally contribute atemporal properties. Finally, it is shown that despite the particular naming function of lexical units a straightforward identification of lexical adjective-noun structures with kind-referring expressions is too strong a conclusion.

Clitic incorporation and abstract semantic objects in idiomatic constructions

This article analyzes inherent clitics of idiomatic constructions as verbal arguments (Jelinek, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 2: 39–76, 1984; Baker, The polysynthesis parameter, Oxford University Press, 1996; Hale, On the significance of Eloise Jelinek's pronominal argument hypothesis, John Benjamins, 2003) that are translated as free variables (Delfitto, Catalan Journal of Linguistics 1: 41–69, 2002): they are anaphoric to a (hidden) nonreferential discourse topic or (right) dislocated constituent. Furthermore, since they denote abstract semantic objects (Asher, Reference to abstract objects in discourse, Kluwer, 1993), they are assumed to be semantically incorporated into the verb to which they are affixed at the syntax-semantics interface (Van Geenhoven, Semantic incorporation and indefinite descriptions, CSLI, 1998), either by unification of selecting features or by predicate modification of some role function of the event under consideration (Farkas and Swart, The semantics of incorporation, Stanford University Press, 2003; Dayal, A semantics for pseudo incorporation, Rutgers University, 2003). Whereas noun incorporation is a salient property of polysynthetic languages (as has been extensively argued in the linguistic literature [Mardirussian, Chicago Linguistic Society 11: 383–389, 1975; Mithun, Language 60: 847–894, 1984]), in this article the incorporation of clitics and nouns is argued to be a covert phenomenon of nonpolysynthetic languages, specifically in idiomatic constructions (Espinal, Property denoting objects in idiomatic constructions, John Benjamins, 2001).

Development of Reality-Status Semantics in Early Childhood

The distinction between reality and various forms of non-reality, i.e. apparent, imaginary, counterfactual or fictional objects or events, is central to many domains of cognition (Flavell, 1988; Clark, 1996; Harris, 2000; Gelman, 2003). Reality is an abstract and broadly applicable concept; for instance, the word real is used to express different types of information in statements like Unicorns are real, This is a real diamond and The patient's life is in real danger. Despite its semantic complexity, this domain is invoked by children's language early in development. By three years of age children use such expressions as real/really, pretend/make-believe, looks/sounds/is like to distinguish reality from non-reality (Woolley & Wellman, 1990; Woolley, 2002), though their construal of these terms' meaning may not be adult-like (Lillard 2001; Hansen & Markman, 2005). Despite long-standing interest in children's developing conception of reality vs. non-reality, their use and comprehension of the relevant vocabulary have not been directly addressed. The present study examines spontaneous use of common reality-status terms by young children and their parents in everyday conversation. Our main hypothesis, drawing on the cognitive-semantics analysis of polisemy (Lakoff, 1987) and on the conceptualchange account of cognitive development (Carey, 1988), is that children's conceptualization of reality and non-reality undergoes progressive elaboration and differentiation, which is reflected in their use of reality-status vocabulary. We present a semantic analysis of reality-status terms and posit predicate modification as these terms' common function. For instance, by saying This is like an orange or This is a real orange speakers convey information about the strength and scope of the current application of the predicate is an orange, analogous to the information conveyed by hedge terms (e.g. John is somewhat/definitely/extremely tall; see Lakoff, 1972). From this analysis we derive empirical predictions about the developmental trajectory of young children's use of reality-status vocabulary, including the order in which different words and different word senses enter children's lexicon. We predict that children should initially use reality-status expressions as simple intensifiers/detensifiers and subsequently express more specific information about the nature of modification, e.g. fiction vs. reality, apparent vs. actual kind membership, reality vs. representation of reality, etc. Our predictions are then tested against a longitudinal corpus of spontaneous parent-child conversations, obtained from 64 families. Despite considerable variation in how early and how often children produce reality-status terms, these data reveal a common pattern in line with our predictions. We find furthermore, that while the frequency of parental use of reality-status terms predicts the overall timing of children's acquisition, it can not account for the order in which different senses of these terms are expressed in children's speech. We argue that these findings support our semantic analysis of reality status. Taken as a case study of children's acquisition of abstract vocabulary, our findings suggest that it involves stepwise structuring and augmentation of conceptual frameworks by children using input from adults as evidence. At the same time, our study exemplifies the potential utility of child language data as empirical evidence on semantic analysis of polisemy.

Chamorro evidence for compositional asymmetry

In earlier work, we developed an composition in which predicates can be composed with arguments by operations other than Function Application, and it makes a difference which composition operation is employed. Here we take our approach further by examining two nonsaturating operations that combine property contents: Restrict, which composes a predicate with the property content of an indefinite; and Modify, which is involved in predicate modification. Nonsaturating operations that combine property contents are often formalized in terms of predicate intersection, which is commutative. Using Austronesian language Chamorro, we argue that Restrict and Modify are not ‘commutative’, but instead incorporate an asymmetry: they take one content to supply a domain that is narrowed further by combination with the other content. Syntactically, it is transparent which category’s content supplies the domain. But semantically, this information can be recovered only from the way in which the composition operation affects the contents that it composes, since—as we show—the same contents can be composed with distinct results.

On the modifier razgovetno

A problem not previously considered is whether the actual Standard Serbian vocabulary of manner adverbs coincides with the one attested in Vuk Karadzic' times. Pointing to some relevant facts concerning the co-occurrence of the speech act verbs with the manner modifier razgovetno, this paper not only delineates the differences in the expression of such a manner modification between the earlier stages of Standard Serbian and the contemporary language but also provides a novel argument for the validity of the author's claim (published in one of her previous articles) that it is theoretically as well as pragmatically important to distinguish between the partial and the total types of predicate modifiers.

Verbflexion und funktionale Kategorien im Französischen

It is argued that the standard analysis of French finite and infinite clauses in the GB framework by means of two movement operations (V-raising and I-lowering) as well as Pollock's (1989) approach based on the split-Infl-hypothesis cannot be maintained because of serious conceptual defects, relating particularly to the concepts of functional category, head movement, and basic syntactic unit. An alternative non-transformational analysis is proposed which covers the same range of data as Pollock 1989. The new analysis is based on the following assumptions: (i) Only those functional elements may be said to belong to PS categories whose realizations combine with other syntactic elements in a purely concatenative way; these categories are unable to project to higher bar levels by themselves. (ii) No syntactic category Infl can be said to exist in French. (iii) French inflected verbs are inserted as syntactic atoms in D-structure, their syntactic category being given by the feature specification [+V, -N, ±finite]; participles have the category given as [+V], i.e. they are unspecified for [±N] or [±finite]. (iv) Non-lexical categorial specifications such as [±finite] or [±negation] are co-projected to higher bar levels together with the lexical categorial feature specifications [±N] and [±V]; this process involves unification of the categorial specifications making up the node labels of an adjunction-like subtree. (v) Syntactic atoms (lacking any bar specification) must be distinguished from zero bar projections; only the latter may dominate amalgams of syntactic atoms. What is usually called head movement must be split into Move-X and Move-X°; X-movement (if it exists) can only be tantamount to moving a syntactic atom of category X into an empty X position: it never yields a Chomsky adjunction. (vi) Predicate modifiers adjoin to verbal projections of bar level zero or one, never to maximal verbal projections (i.e. clauses). (vii) In French nominative Case is assig

Episodic Logic: A comprehensive, natural representation for language understanding

A new comprehensive framework for narrative understanding has been developed. Its centerpiece is a new situational logic calledEpisodic Logic (EL), a knowledge and semantic representation well-adapted to the interpretive and inferential needs of general NLU. The most distinctive features of EL is its natural language-like expressiveness. It allows for generalized quantifiers, lambda abstraction, sentence and predicate modifiers, sentence and predicate reification, intensional predicates (corresponding to wanting, believing, making, etc.), unreliable generalizations, and perhaps most importantly, explicit situational variables (denoting episodes, events, states of affairs, etc.) linked to arbitrary formulas that describe them. These allow episodes to be explicitly related in terms of part-whole, temporal and causal relations. Episodic logical form is easily computed from surface syntax and lends itself to effective inference.

The logical form of action sentences and the Anscombe thesis

This paper has three sections. In the first one, 1 expose and discuss Davidson's semantic account of adverbial sentences: the basic idea is that these sentences involve quantification over events, and 1 defend that view frorwopposing perspectives like the theory of adverbs as predicate modifiers. In the second section 1 defend the claim that in english constructions following the scheme: X did V by T-ing, we are referring to the same action of X; what is sometimes called The Anscombe Thesis. Again 1 discuss competing theories only to conclude that the Anscombe Thesis is true. In the third section, however, it is shown that to assume as prernisses these two theses -Davidson's account and the Anscombe Thesisleads to a serious conflict. Alternative solutions are worked out and rejected. It is also argued that the only tenable solution depends on certain metaphysical assumptions. Finally, however, 1 will cast doubt on this solution

On the logic of adverbs

In the paper I investigate aspects of adverbial modification as an operation applying an adverb or adverbial phrase to a predicate and thereby creating a new predicate. The logic of adverbial modification, on this view, belongs to the logic of predicate modifiers. The theory I present is intended to cover not only adverbial modification but also attributive modification, but problems concerning the latter will not be given any special attention.

An intensional logic of predicates and predicate modifiers without modal operators.

An intensional logic of predicates and predicate modifiers without modal operators.