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How is the (in)-dependence (or finiteness) of a clause identified in a language that has no tense, case, or agreement morphology, such as Chinese? This paper investigates the control verb construction and the generic sentential subject construction, bringing to light the special forms and interpretations of the subjects of the dependent clauses in the constructions. The special properties are not found in the subjects of independent clauses. Therefore, contrasts between dependent and independent clauses are attestable in the language. The paper also proposes a derived predication analysis of the interpretation patterns of embedded empty subjects of the language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the properties of syntactic edges, with special attention being paid to two central issues in cyclic syntax: the domain and the nature of cyclicity. This paper argues for the premise that predication domains form a Spell-out domain, and that Spell-out results in order preservation of the predication domain. It is shown that elements externally merged at the edge of a predication domain observe a special ordering restriction, the Edge Generalization. The ordering restriction is explained by the interaction of two premises of cyclic syntax, coupled with a theory of probe-goal Search. Empirical evidence for the proposal comes from various sub-extraction phenomena out of edges of predication domains in Korean and Japanese. In particular, the interactions between floating numeral quantifier constructions and (primary and secondary) predication constructions are closely examined. The current proposal poses some interesting challenges to the proposition-based-phase system: it argues against the claim that only strong phases undergo Spell-out, and that edges are spelled out separately from the complement. The proposal also has some implications for the structure and typology of resultative and depictive predicates, and for the finer-grained structure of VP including aspectual adverbs and small clause complements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The medieval distinction between categorematic and syncategorematic words is usually given as the distinction between words which have signification or meaning in isolation from other words (such as nouns, pronouns, verbs) and those which have signification only when combined with other words (such as conjunctions, quantifiers, and articles). Some words, however, are classified as both categorematic and syncategorematic. One such word is Latin infinita 'infinite'. Because infinita can be either categorematic or syncategorematic, it is possible to form sophisms (logical puzzles or paradoxes) using infinita whose solutions turn on the distinction between categorematic and syncategorematic uses of infinita. As a result, medieval logicians were interested in identifying correct logical rules governing the categorematic and syncategorematic uses of the term. In this paper, we look at 13th-15th-century logical discussions of infinita used syncategorematically and categorematically. We also relate the distinction to other medieval distinctions with which it has often been conflated in modern times, and show how and where these conflations go wrong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses free-choice like effects in generics. Just as Jane may drink coffee or tea can be used to convey Jane may drink coffee and Jane may drink tea (she is 'free to choose'), some generics with disjunctive predicates can be used to convey conjunctions of simpler generics: elephants live in Africa or Asia can be used to convey elephants live in Africa and elephants live in Asia. Investigating these logically slightly more complex generics and especially the free-choice like effects throws light on both the semantics of generics and the interaction between world knowledge and the interpretive options generics offer. This paper presents a package of semantic and pragmatic hypotheses to account for the data, including why the effect is absent in the superficially logically similar elephants live in Africa or give birth to live young. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a novel approach to (a subpart of) the null subject parameter is proposed, in which the interpretation of a thematic pro in subject position is crucially dependent on the syntax and discourse properties of Topic constituents. Based on the analysis of spoken corpora and interface considerations, evidence is provided that preverbal ‘subjects’ sit in an A’-position in a null subject language like Italian and that the interpretation of referential null subjects depends on a matching relation (Agree) with a specific type of Topic. In a cartographic approach to discourse functions, this is identified with the Aboutness-shift Topic (Frascarelli and Hinterhölzl 2007) that is merged in the C-domain and is endowed with the edge feature [榺⺶瞬] – an ‘extended EPP feature’. A Topic Criterion is thus proposed that correlates core grammar with discourse requirements and accounts for the syntactic identification of a referential pro. The Avoid Pronoun Principle is reinterpreted as a structural condition that implies the existence of silent Topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Buddhist texts authored in Indian and Tibetan traditions of scholasticism, one is regularly directed to check one's understanding against "scripture and reasoning." To date, however, comparatively little attention has been given to the usage of the latter term of this pair (Skt. yukti, Tib. rigs pa) in Indian Buddhist texts. Building on the work of Scherrer-Schaub, Kapstein and others, this paper discusses divergent glosses of the term yukti as found in Indian Buddhist texts. By highlighting continuities and discontinuities in these accounts, the paper aims to stimulate reflection on the ways in which our assumptions regarding reasoning--and, by extension, what is to count as "Buddhist philosophy"--are represented in, and perhaps contested by, thematizations offered within the tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and analyzes an unnoticed Spanish construction that includes a measure phrase and a non-comparative adjective conforming to an [MP+ de+A] pattern (e.g., Esta mesa tiene [ un metro de ancha] '(lit.) this table has one meter of wide'). It is proposed that underlying Spanish [MP+ de+A] there is a reverse (predicate-specifier) structure with an attributive interpretation (cf. Den Dikken ), in which the MP predicates over the adjective's degree argument, and the adjective acts as a restrictor of the MP's denotation. Making use of a Project Both labeling algorithm for external merge of maximal projections (cf. Chomsky , Citko ), it is further argued that the MP/QP also projects in this construction. This accounts for the fact that [MP+ de+A] has the interpretation and distribution of a QP as a whole. Finally, the properties of Spanish [MP+ de+A] are compared with those of closely related constructions in Spanish, as well as with the properties of standard constructions containing an MP and a bare adjective in other languages, and an analysis within Den Dikken's () theory of predicational relationships is provided that accounts for the similarities and differences between all these patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To define new property terms, we combine already familiar predicates by means of certain logical operations. Given suitable constraints, these operations may presumably include truth-functional sentence connectives and quantification over objects. What is less clear is whether we can also use modal operators for this purpose. The aim of this paper is to clarify what is involved in this question, and to argue in favor of modal property definitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Russian Linguistics is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Russian Linguistics is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the use of dative subjects in the construction of anteriority in the Russian language. The paper provides a semantic-syntactic characterization of the difference between two variants of the construction of anteriority with an infinitive predicate, namely sentences with and sentences without dative subject. The extent of influence of stylistic conventions on linguistic system is being analyzed.

It is commonly accepted, after Frege, that identity statements like “Tully is Cicero” differ from statements like “Tully is Tully”. For the former, unlike the latter, are informative. One way to deal with the information problem is to postulate that the terms ‘Tully’ and ‘Cicero’ come equipped with different informative (or cognitive) values. Another approach is to claim that statements like these are of the subject/predicate form. As such, they should be analyzed along the way we treat “Tully walks”. Since proper names can appear in predicative position we could go as far as to dismiss the sign of identity altogether, some told us. I will try to discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of this approach and investigate whether Frege’s view that the ‘is’ of identity must be distinguished from the ‘is’ of predication (copula) can be reconciled with the fact that names can appear in predicative position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One limitation of most existing probabilistic latent topic models for document classification is that the topic model itself does not consider useful side-information, namely, class labels of documents. Topic models, which in turn consider the side-information, popularly known as supervised topic models, do not consider the word order structure in documents. One of the motivations behind considering the word order structure is to capture the semantic fabric of the document. We investigate a low-dimensional latent topic model for document classification. Class label information and word order structure are integrated into a supervised topic model enabling a more effective interaction among such information for solving document classification. We derive a collapsed Gibbs sampler for our model. Likewise, supervised topic models with word order structure have not been explored in document retrieval learning. We propose a novel supervised topic model for document retrieval learning which can be regarded as a pointwise model for tackling the learning-to-rank task. Available relevance assessments and word order structure are integrated into the topic model itself. We conduct extensive experiments on several publicly available benchmark datasets, and show that our model improves upon the state-of-the-art models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous languages permit an NP that is not selected by the verb to be added to a clause, with several different possible interpretations. We divide such non-selected arguments into possessor, benefactive, attitude holder, and affected experiencer categories, on the basis of syntactic and semantic differences between them. We propose a formal analysis of the affected experiencer construction. In our account, a syntactic head Aff(ect) introduces the experiencer argument, and adds a conventional implicature to the effect that any event of the type denoted by its syntactic sister is the source of the experiencer's psychological experience. Hence, our proposal involves two tiers of meaning: the at-issue meaning of the sentence, and some not-at-issue meaning (an implicature). A syntactic head can introduce material on both tiers. Additionally, we allow two parameters of variation: (i) the height of the attachment of Aff, and (ii) how much of the semantics is at-issue and how much is an implicature. We show that these two parameters account for the attested variation across our sample of languages, as well as the significant commonalities among them. Our analysis also accounts for significant differences between affected experiencers and the other types of non-selected arguments, and we also note a generalization to the effect that purely not-at-issue non-selected arguments can only be weak or clitic pronouns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs the island repair effect on the Left Branch Condition (LBC) to illuminate the derivation of Mandarin sluicing. It utilizes three unique properties of Mandarin island repair related to the LBC involving (i) covert antecedents, (ii) contrastive modifiers, and (iii) multiple islands including LBC structures in order to examine two deletion-based analyses of sluicing in the literature. It is shown that these analyses fail to satisfactorily explain the properties discussed. To capture the facts, a pseudosluicing analysis is proposed which claims that sluiced clauses in Mandarin are simply composed of a subject pro, an (optional) copula shi 'be', and a wh-in-situ wh-remnant serving as a predicate. The strong redemptive ability of repairing LBC effects in Mandarin is attributed to the construal of pro instead of deletion. From a typological point of view, among East Asian languages, Mandarin sluices differ from Japanese and Korean sluices in that the pro of the former cannot be interpreted as a concealed cleft structure but instead functions as an implicit subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years graph-ranking based algorithms have been proposed for single document summarization and generic multi-document summarization. The algorithms make use of the "votings" or "recommendations" between sentences to evaluate the importance of the sentences in the documents. This study aims to differentiate the crossdocument and within-document relationships between sentences for generic multi-document summarization and adapt the graph-ranking based algorithm for topic-focused summarization. The contributions of this study are two-fold: (1) For generic multi-document summarization, we apply the graph-based ranking algorithm based on each kind of sentence relationship and explore their relative importance for summarization performance. (2) For topic-focused multi-document summarization, we propose to integrate the relevance of the sentences to the specified topic into the graph-ranking based method. Each individual kind of sentence relationship is also differentiated and investigated in the algorithm. Experimental results on DUC 2002-DUC 2005 data demonstrate the great importance of the cross-document relationships between sentences for both generic and topic-focused multi-document summarizations. Even the approach based only on the crossdocument relationships can perform better than or at least as well as the approaches based on both kinds of relationships between sentences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A distinctive syntactic feature of the Chaozhou dialect group is the use of the same morpheme in the passive and in certain intransitive constructions. In the Jieyang variety, the passive marker k'e? derived from the verb 'give' requires an agent, a requirement which we relate to the subcategorization of the lexical verb 'give'. We show that the same morpheme is used with unaccusative verbs in the form [k'e? i V], where i is an expletive pronominal: it cannot encode an agent because the unaccusative predicates concerned lack an agent argument. Therefore what appears to be a passive marker with agent in fact constitutes overt coding of unaccusativity, of a kind unusual in Chinese dialects but paralleled in several Indo-European languages. The passive and unaccusative constructions are shown to share thematic and aspectual properties: the surface subject carries the role of theme or patient, and the predicate denotes a change of state, hence the requirement for a resultative verbal complement (RVC). The [k'e? i V-RVC] construction is shown to involve formation of an unaccusative complex predicate, with the RVC contributing a change of state component to the aspectuality of the predicate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]