Natural Language & Linguistic Theory最新文献

In this paper, we propose a semantic analysis of control verbs in Japanese that take finite clauses marked by the nominalizer koto. We argue for an analysis in which the invisible subject of the embedded clause is a run-of-the-mill zero pronoun and where the obligatory coreference relation between the controller and the embedded subject is mediated by a primarily semantic factor. At the heart of our analysis lies the idea that there is a common underlying meaning shared across apparently heterogeneous classes of koto-taking control verbs, which consists of a causal relation between a volitional action inherent in the meaning of the verb and a de se attitude denoted by the embedded clause. The semantic analysis we offer not only explains language-internal properties of Japanese control verbs with respect to tense morpheme distribution that have been attributed to syntactic factors in the previous literature, but it also suggests a hitherto unnoticed possible cross-linguistic generalization about finite control and embedded tense interpretation which we dub ‘hypothesis of relative tense in finite control.’

This work explores the coupling of person-split nominative objects with anomalous subjects (Jahnsson’s Rule (JR), Person-Case Constraint (PCC)). In Breton, split-nominative objects spread from an Icelandic-like combination with oblique subjects of unaccusatives, to Finnish-like combinations with subjects of transitives in constructions like the imperative, and then retreated piecewise. These changes admit of externalist sources, such as frequency entrenchment and analogy over clitic forms, but are bounded by persistent coupling of split-nominative objects with anomalous subjects, and disfavour external sources for it like ambiguity avoidance. An approach is set out through constraints on φ-dependencies, their relationship to case and licensing, and their interaction with grammaticalisable partial φ-specification, building on other work on JR/PCC. The anomalies of the restricting subject are analysed as person-only specification, and extended from quirky obliques to pronouns minimal in absence of number + n/N: imperative pro and human impersonals. The ineffability or accusative of the restricted persons is analysed through the integration of dependent case into Φ/Case theory but apparent syntactic variation is modelled through externalisation.

French liaison is a type of external sandhi involving the use of a special consonant-final allomorph before vowel-initial words. Consonants occurring at the end of these allomorphs are challenging for phonological theory because of evidence that their prosodic and segmental realization is intermediate between the realizations of word-final and word-initial consonants. This puzzling behavior of French liaison has been used to motivate new phonological and lexical representations, including floating consonants, lexical constructions and gradient symbolic representations. This paper proposes an alternative analysis: the variable realization of liaison is derived as a paradigm uniformity effect, assuming traditional phonological and lexical representations. In a Word1-Word2 sequence, the liaison consonant at the boundary between the two words ends up acquiring properties of both word-final and word-initial consonants because of a pressure to make contextual variants of Word1 and Word2 similar to their citation forms. The proposal is implemented in a probabilistic constraint-based grammar including paradigm uniformity constraints and is shown to account for the intermediate behavior of liaison both in terms of prosodic attachment and segmental realization. The paper provides evidence for two key predictions of this analysis, using judgment data on the prosodic attachment of liaison consonants in European French and phonetic data on the interaction between liaison and affrication in Quebec French.

Research on the (in)definiteness of bare nouns has developed various proposals regarding which type-shifters exist in human language and which principles are needed to govern their distribution (Carlson 1977; Partee 1987; Chierchia 1998; Dayal 2004; i.a.). At the same time, literature on headless relative clauses (HRCs), primarily focusing on free relatives (FRs) in Indo-European languages, has also developed type-shifting principles (Jacobson 1995; Caponigro 2003, 2004). The type-shifting principles from the FR literature, however, are fundamentally different than those found in proposals for bare nouns. Here, we present case studies from two Mayan languages which diverge from one another in the behavior of bare nouns, and which possess several different kinds of headless relative clauses. We show that “super-free relative clauses” (Caponigro et al. 2021; Caponigro 2022), which lack a wh-word, pattern in ways parallel to bare nouns in the respective languages. We also demonstrate that HRCs headed by a wh-word—i.e., FRs—diverge from bare nouns; they pattern similarly to one another across the languages under investigation, and in ways similar to what has been reported for FRs crosslinguistically. We provide evidence that there is a dedicated FR type-shifter (FR-ι) used as a post-syntactic mechanism to repair a type-mismatch at the CP level, building on work by Caponigro (2004). Our novel contribution is that this type-shifter is available regardless of the presence or absence of other type-shifters in a language. This paper adds new data to our understanding of the range and applicability of different definiteness-related type-shifters as well as captures certain typological tendencies regarding HRCs.

This paper presents a first attempt to formally characterize the prosodic properties of Spanish acronyms. Based on the examination of a dataset and the results of a written questionnaire and perception test administered to native speakers, the stress patterns and prosodic size of Spanish acronyms are investigated. We show that stress in acronyms follows the regular stress patterns of the language. We further claim that acronyms are restricted to an upper limit of three syllables, which we explain by resorting to layered feet. Additionally, we show that an interesting minimality requirement applies exclusively to acronyms, one that must be expressed not in terms of syllable weight, but rather in terms of the number of segments.

Spanish has two forms to introduce comparative standards: que ‘that’ and de ‘of.’ The comparative morpheme is always the same más ‘-er/more.’ While que-comparatives show no variation in their syntactic properties, there is significant variation within de-comparatives regarding extraposition, scope, ACD resolution and the syntax of comparative numerals. Despite this variation, I argue that a uniform account is possible. I propose that más has the same syntax across the board (i.e. it takes the late-merged standard as complement, Bhatt and Pancheva 2004) and semantically it is a generalized quantifier over degrees (Heim 2001). The analysis (i) ensures that más and the standard form a constituent, (ii) allows for inverse scope, ACD resolution inside the standard of comparison and extraposition.

The Sakha particle da(ɣanï) has a restricted, semantically varied distribution. It appears in three main roles: negative polarity item (NPIs), a marker of scalar focus, and doubled in coordination constructions. In coordination X da(ɣanï) Y da(ɣanï) means ‘both X and Y’ in positive sentences, but ‘neither X nor Y’ in negative sentences. Following from the assumption that NPIs denote low-point existentials, it is surprising to find a particle that is involved in these as well as ‘both…and’ coordination. While there are quantifier particles in other languages which overlap with all of da(ɣanï)’s uses, these typically these serve far more roles. One such common role that da(ɣanï) lacks is a basic additive ‘too’ reading, though an additive reading emerges with scalar focus. I argue that da(ɣanï) is an element which combines with an host that has semantic alternatives and makes them obligatorily active, in the sense of Chierchia (2013). When it combines with a low-point existential, this has the effect of creating NPIs. The ‘both…and’ reading is argued to be the result of da(ɣanï) inducing an additive post-supposition. However, a unary ‘too’ function is blocked by the additive presupposition of another particle emie.