Temporal Adjunct Research Articles

When and where did it happen? Systematic differences in recall of core and optional sentence information.

This article reports on four experiments aiming to examine immediate post-sentential recall of core sentence information (conveyed by direct objects), and optional/additional information (conveyed by temporal or locative adjuncts). Participants read simple and unambiguous Czech sentences such as Starší důchodce velmi pečlivě pročetl noviny v neděli v knihovně: "An older retiree read the newspaper very carefully on Sunday in the library." Sentences always appeared as a whole after pressing a space bar. Immediately after the sentence disappeared, an open-ended (free response) question was presented targeting either the direct object (e.g., newspaper), temporal adjunct (e.g., on Sunday), or locative adjunct (e.g., in the library). Altogether, it was found that the core information (conveyed by the direct object) was recalled almost perfectly, whereas additional information, conveyed by temporal and locative adjuncts, was recalled with significantly lower accuracy rates. Information structure also played a role: if the temporal or locative adjunct was focused, it was recalled better than if it was unfocused. The present article thus shows systematic differences in recall success for different pieces of information. These findings suggest the presence of selective attention mechanisms during early stages of sentence processing. Factors such as syntactic function or information structure influence the degree of attention to different pieces of information conveyed by a sentence. In turn, certain pieces of information may not be consciously accessible already after the sentence is processed.

On the interpretation of tense in temporal adverbial clauses

Tenses in English temporal adjunct clauses seem to show properties of both matrix and embedded tenses. On the one hand, they are often argued to be interpreted with respect to the time of utterance (Stump 1985; Arregui & Kusumoto 1998; Kubota et al. 2011). On the other hand, they are more constrained than matrix tenses, claimed to be limited to past tense when the matrix tense is past, and present when the matrix tense is future. I present evidence from the English perfect that adjunct clauses are always interpreted relative to the nearest c-commanding temporal operator, which can in principle give rise to both types of behaviors: adjunct tenses are interpreted relative to some temporal operator if within the scope of matrix tense, or they are interpreted relative to the time of utterance if they are outside the scope of matrix tense. What decides between these possibilities in a given clause are syntactic and pragmatic conditions on adjunction and the resulting interaction between the presuppositions introduced by the adjunct clause and the meanings of the temporal connectives. The result is that when the matrix clause is a non-perfect, adjunct tenses are always interpreted relative to the utterance time. When the matrix clause contains a perfect, however, adjunct tenses may be interpreted relative to the matrix tense operator.

Os adjuntos temporais na perspectiva da Cartografia Sintática e da Semântica de Eventos

O estudo dos sintagmas adverbiais é um produtivo campo para o desenvolvimento de pesquisas no âmbito da sintaxe a semântica das línguas naturais. Os adjuntos temporais, como “em x tempo” e “por x tempo”, mesmo que já bastante descritos pela literatura, ainda carecem de uma descrição mais aprofundada quando se busca entender de que maneira podem influenciar as possíveis interpretações das sentenças em que estão presentes. Tendo isso em mente, o objetivo principal deste artigo é propor uma análise que, ao considerar a metodologia da Cartografia Sintática e da Semântica de Eventos, capture a contribuição do adjunto temporal – mais especificamente do adjunto “em x tempo” – em sentenças do português brasileiro, bem como, argumentar a favor de uma hipótese segundo a qual os traços dos adjuntos temporais sejam valorados em mais de uma posição da hierarquia universal.

Discourse effects on older children’s interpretations of complement control and temporal adjunct control

ABSTRACTThe reference of understood subjects (ecs) in complement control (John persuaded Peteri eci to read the book) and temporal adjunct control (Johni tapped Peter while eci reading the book) has long been described as restricted to the object and subject of the main clause respectively. These restrictions have shaped the grammatical targets proposed for children, most of whom are reported as having acquired both subtypes by age 7. Using three picture-selection tasks, 76 children’s (34 girls; aged 6;09–11;08) interpretations of the ecs were tested. Task 1 established their baseline preferences. Task 2 weakly cued the ecs toward an alternative referent and Task 3 strongly toward an alternative referent. Complement control responses were consistent across all tasks, but in adjunct control they shifted significantly toward the object in Task 3—a pattern mirrored by 15 adults. Responses in adjunct control also exhibited a degree of fluctuation in the baseline condition that complement control did not. A follow-up study on adjunct control showed that neither children nor adults permitted an external-referent reading, even when strongly cued in that direction. Two alternative proposals are discussed: one in which the results are viewed solely as the product of a parser’s sensitivity to activation and another that proposes two possible structures for adjunct control; this permits the evident interpretation shift yet gives precedence to the highly preferred subject-oriented reading.

Contrasting Complement Control, Temporal Adjunct Control and Controlled Verbal Gerund Subjects in ASD: The Role of Contextual Cues in Reference Assignment.

This study examines two complex syntactic dependencies (complement control and sentence-final temporal adjunct control) and one pragmatic dependency (controlled verbal gerund subjects) in children with ASD. Sixteen high-functioning (HFA) children (aged 6–16) with a diagnosis of autism and no language impairment, matched on age, gender and non-verbal MA to one TD control group, and on age, gender and verbal MA to another TD control group, undertook three picture-selection tasks. Task 1 measured their base-line interpretations of the empty categories (ec). Task 2 preceded these sentence sets with a weakly established topic cueing an alternative referent and Task 3 with a strongly established topic cueing an alternative referent. In complement control (Ron persuaded Hermione ec to kick the ball) and sentence-final temporal adjunct control (Harry tapped Luna while ec feeding the owl), the reference of the ec is argued to be related obligatorily to the object and subject respectively. In controlled verbal-gerund subjects (VGS) (ec Rowing the boat clumsily made Luna seasick), the ec's reference is resolved pragmatically. Referent choices across the three tasks were compared. TD children chose the object uniformly in complement control across all tasks but in adjunct control, preferences shifted toward the object in Task 3. In controlled VGSs, they exhibited a strong preference for an internal-referent interpretation in Task 1, which shifted in the direction of the cues in Tasks 2 and 3. HFA children gave a mixed performance. They patterned with their TD counterparts on complement control and controlled VGSs but performed marginally differently on adjunct control: no TD groups were influenced by the weakly established topic in Task 2 but all groups were influenced by the strongly established topic in Task 3. HFA children were less influenced than the TD children, resulting in their making fewer object choices overall but revealing parallel patterns of performance. In this first study of three sub-types of control in ASD, we demonstrate that HFA children consult the same pragmatic cues to the same degree as TD children, in spite of the diverse pragmatic deficits reported for this population.

Effects of discourse on control

This study examined discourse effects on obligatory and non-obligatory control interpretations. Seventy participants undertook three online forced-choice surveys, which monitored preferred interpretations in complement control, verbal gerund subject control, long-distance control and sentence-final temporal adjunct control. Survey 1 ascertained their baseline interpretations of the empty category in these constructions. Survey 2 primed the critical sentences used in survey 1 with a weakly established topic of discourse and survey 3 primed them with a strongly established one. Reference assignment in complement control remained consistent across all three conditions, illustrating that pragmatics does not infiltrate this structurally regulated and syntactically unambiguous construction. Changes in interpretation were found in the remaining three constructions. An accessibility-motivated scale of influence, combining three independent discourse factors (topichood, competition and linear distance) was created to model reference determination in verbal gerund subject control and long-distance control. The results for temporal adjunct control are novel. They revealed a much stronger susceptibility to pragmatic interference than that reported in the literature yet the construction behaved differently from non-obligatory control under discourse pressure. We propose a structural account for sentence-final temporal adjunct control, which permits the evident interpretation shift while still excluding arbitrary and sentence-external interpretations.

Tense in Temporal Adjunct Clauses

The behaviour of tense in subordinate clauses is not uniform across languages and theories that deal with the interpretation of tense try to explain this. The interpretation of past and present tense in complement clauses is one of the well known puzzles. Languages differ on this respect, and have been classified accordingly as sequence of tense languages (e.g. English) and non-sequence of tense languages (e.g. Japanese). In this paper we will be concerned mainly with the interpretation of tenses in temporal adjunct clauses (TACs). We will discuss the analysis proposed by Ogihara [1994, 1996] and argue that the differences in tense distribution that we observe between English and Japanese TACs are not to be explained as a case of sequence of tense.

HAVE-perfects in Post-classical and Early Byzantine Greek

In this article, I analyze the use and development of periphrastic perfect constructions with the Ancient Greek verb «have» (ἔχω) in Post-classical and Early Byzantine Greek. To be more specific, I discuss the following four constructions: (a) ἔχω with active/middle aorist participle (anterior); (b) ἔχω with passive perfect participle (resultative); (c) ἔχω with passive aorist or present participle (resultative) and (d) ἔχω with active/middle aorist or present participle and a temporal adjunct (anterior). My analysis is based on a register-balanced corpus of texts, whereby I distinguish between works of a «low», «middle» and «high» register.

Obviation properties of the d-pronoun in Dutch

The present paper discusses a decisive difference in Dutch between the d(emonstrative)-pronoun and the p(ersonal)-pronoun. The d-pronoun is a grammatical device for focus-to-topic-shift. Van Kampen (2010) derived this from two properties of the d-pronoun , neither of them present in the p-pronoun. (i) The d-pronoun obviates as antecedent all arguments except the first preceding focus. (ii) The d-pronoun introduces the new topic of its sentence. The present paper derives three other properties of the d-pronoun. The d-pronoun allows a bound variable reading in certain complex CPs (Section 2). A d-pronoun in a temporal adjunct CP can bind a quantifier in the matrix CP , but it does not do so in non-temporal adjunct CPs (Section 3), nor in complement CPs (Section 4). Since the d-pronoun is not only an anaphor locally bound by the first preceding focus , but also a discourse anaphor , it invites a reconsideration of the notion ‘bound anaphor’ in the Binding Theory.

Future vs. Present in Russian and English Adjunct Clauses

We treat the interpretation and motivate the morphology of tense in adjunct clauses in English and Russian (relative clauses, before/after/when-clauses) with a future matrix verb. The main findings of our paper are the following: 1. English has a simultaneous reading in present adjuncts embedded under will. This follows from our SOT parameter. Russian present adjuncts under budet or the synthetic perfective future can only have a deictic interpretation. 2. The syntax of Russian temporal adjunct clauses (do/posle togo kak…) shows overt parts that had to be stipulated for English as covert in earlier papers. We are thus able to present a neat and straightforward analysis of Russian temporal adjuncts.

Dependencies in Temporal Adjunct Clauses

No abstract.

A preliminary assessment of Emai posture verb parameters

This paper builds on Newman's (2002a) crosslinguistic observation that posture verbs equivalent to sit/stand/lie exhibit distributional asymmetry shown by the hierarchy STAND > SIT > LIE and that they evolve into locative and aspectual markers through the grammaticalization path POSTURE > LOCATIVE > ASPECT. To assess these proposals, we engage data from Nigeria's Edoid language Emai. It has verbs with a polysemous structure encompassing posture ('stand', 'sit', 'lie') and continuative state ('wait', 'stay', 'sleep'). Important for selecting between contrasting sense assignments are the parameters of spatial and temporal extent. Minimal verb constructions exhibit either posture or continuative state interpretations. Constructions with locative complement, temporal adjunct or verb in series absolutely or partially constrain sense assignment. Asymmetry of sense assignment and of assignment within each sense leads to alternative proposals for the posture verb hierarchy as well as grammaticalization path.

Quantificational Arguments in Temporal Adjunct Clauses

Quantificational arguments can take scope outside of temporal adjunct clauses, in an apparent violation of locality restrictions: the sentence few secretaries cried after each executive resigned allows the quantificational NP each executive to take scope above few secretaries. I show how this scope relation is the result of local operations: the adjunct clause is a temporal generalized quantifier which takes scope over the main clause (Pratt and Francez, Linguistic and Philosophy 24(2), 187–222. [2001]), and within the adjunct clause, the quantificational argument takes scope above the implicit determiner which forms the temporal generalized quantifier. The paper explores various relations among quantificational arguments across clause boundaries, including temporal clauses that are modified internally by a temporal adverbial and temporal clauses with embedded sentential complements.

Focus and the Interpretation of Pitch Accent: Disambiguating Embedded Questions

It has been suggested that prosodic disambiguation of sentences is largely a matter of prosodic phrasing. Ambiguities can be resolved if a prosodic break aligns with a major syntactic boundary of one structure but not another. The placement of pitch accents is viewed as playing only a supporting role (cf. Price, Ostendorf, Shattuck-Huffnagel, & Fong, 1991). This view of prosodic disambiguation does not apply tho all structures of a language. We report five experiments studying ambiguous sentences like (i) and (ii): (i) I asked the pretty little girl WHO is cold. I asked the pretty little girl who is COLD. (ii) Joshua began to wonder WHEN his girlfriend got a tattoo. Joshua began to wonder when his girl friend got a TATTOO. The presence of a prominent pitch accent on the interrogative constituent ( who, when) biased listeners to a emmbedded question interpretation whereas its absence biased thhem to a relative clause(i) or temporal adjunct(ii) analysis. The results suggest that accent, like prosodic breaks, can play a central role in guiding sentence comprehension.

The function of discourse particles: A study with special reference to spoken standard French By M.-B. Mosegaard Hansen (review)

The function of discourse particles: A study with special reference to spoken standard French By M.-B. Mosegaard Hansen (review)

The Temporal Structure of Discourse: the Syntax and Semantics of Temporal Then

This paper presents an analysis of the discourse representation of tense. I argue that temporal interpretation across sentences in discourse is subject to the same principles as temporal interpretation within sentences, and that there is thus no need to posit independent principles to account for the discourse behavior of tense. This approach makes possible an analysis of the temporal adverb then. The semantic dependency that then induces between sentences in discourse is argued to be identical to the dependency that holds within sentences in temporal adjunct clause constructions. In order to explain how the meaning of then differs depending on its position, I claim that then associates different times in tense structure depending on its syntactic position, resulting in different interpretations. This analysis accounts for interpretive parallels between discourse sequences with then and temporal adjunct clauses, and it predicts the interaction of temporal then with perfect tenses, future readings of present tense, and infinitival clause constructions.

Tense in Temporal Adjunct Clauses

The behaviour of tense in subordinate clauses is not uniform across languages and theories that deal with the interpretation of tense try to explain this. The interpretation of past and present tense in complement clauses is one of the well known puzzles. Languages differ on this respect, and have been classified accordingly as sequence of tense languages (e.g. English) and non-sequence of tense languages (e.g. Japanese). In this paper we will be concerned mainly with the interpretation of tenses in temporal adjunct clauses (TACs). We will discuss the analysis proposed by Ogihara [1994, 1996] and argue that the differences in tense distribution that we observe between English and Japanese TACs are not to be explained as a case of sequence of tense.