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This paper discusses the progressive construction in German and argues that this form constitutes a genuine instance of noun incorporation. Despite the fact that noun incorporation is not generally considered to be a property of Indo-European languages, we discuss several characteristics of the German progressive that bear a striking resemblance to noun incorporation constructions in languages better known for the phenomenon. Thus, we argue that the German progressive should be analyzed along the same lines as noun incorporation in other languages. In particular, we adopt the analysis for noun incorporation in Barrie (2006), which employs a Dynamic Antisymmetry framework. This paper, then, has two goals. The first is to describe the syntax and semantics of the German progressive, arguing that it is a type of noun incorporation. The second is to construct and analysis for noun incorporation in German similar to analyses for noun incorporation in other languages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper seeks to give a unified semantics for perfectivity in Russian within an explicitly decompositional syntactic framework. The aim is to account for the similar behaviour of the perfective class of predicates, despite the differences in the syntactic and semantic behaviour of the prefixes that attach to imperfective roots to give the perfective form. The first part of the paper gives the data that show that prefix types must be separated into at least two types (‘inner’ or ‘lexical’ prefixes vs. ‘outer’ or ‘superlexical’ prefixes) and that traditional notions of telicity and/or quantization are not uniformly correlated with linguistic perfectivity. The second half of the paper argues for an interpretation of perfectivity as corresponding to the ‘definiteness’ of the assertion time with respect to the run time of the event, in terms of a syntax–semantics account that makes use of both event and time variables. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the nature of labels created by External and Internal Merge operations. The standard minimalist assumption is that in External Merge structures, one of the merged elements projects as the label, and in Internal Merge structures, the Probe does. However, these two options do not exhaust all the possibilities. For External Merge of α and β, the options that do not violate Inclusiveness are: (i) Project α, (ii) Project β, (iii) Project Both α and β, and (iv) Project Neither α nor β. For Internal Merge, the options are: (i) Project Probe, (ii) Project Goal, (iii) Project Both Probe and Goal, and (iv) Project Neither Probe nor Goal. The proposal I defend in this paper, both on theoretical and empirical grounds, is that all these possibilities are in fact attested. I focus on the following, previously unattested, ones: Project Both in External Merge, and Project Goal and Project Both in Internal Merge structures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper argues that Nepali is neither a fully ergative language nor a simple split-ergative language conditioned by tense/aspect, because the language shows a more complex case-marking pattern than previously described. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that Nepali is a split-ergative language conditioned by the semantic nature of NPs. In the domain of inanimate NPs, the language is ergative; elsewhere, it resists classification as ergative or accusative. This finding is of typological significance in that it provides a good example for a rare split between inanimate NPs and animate NPs. Moreover, the paper argues that Nepali shows split intransitivity in terms of case marking, and it offers a semantic account of the split in terms of the interaction of two semantic factors, agentivity and telicity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Coordination of parts of words, as in ortho and periodontists, has to be interpreted at the level of the word parts because the above NP can felicitously describe a pair of one orthodontist and one periodontist. This paper develops a theory of denotations for arbitrary word parts, in which the coordinate word parts denote their own sound. and the rest of the word is a function from sounds to word meanings. This yields the correct interpretation for number in coordinate constructions. The paper also explores phonological constraints on coordinate structures, and shows how certain ungrammatical structures that can be interpreted by the semantics are ruled out on phonological grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

French questions come into two brands: a movement version and an in-situ alternative. In this context, the present paper argues for a flexible one-to-one mapping between form and interpretation: fronting of the nominal typically correlates with one reading, while the in-situ nominal may, but need not, correlate with another. The contention is nevertheless that there is no such thing as optional WH-movement in French: the EPP/D feature associated with [+WH] in C is always strong; what varies is the placement of the noun. In the dialect/register reviewed in this study, the default interpretation associated with the in-situ position is non-specific while the raising of the noun favours a specific interpretation. Moreover, it is argued that pragmatically, in this variant of French, in-situ fronted-questions are adequate in a prominent context whereas their WH-in-situ counterparts are only felicitous in a non-prominent context. One assumption on which the proposal is based is that single WH-constructions in French are instances of split-DP constructions: a bare operator is separated from its associated semantic nominal restriction in the course of the derivation. Finally, it will be shown that the semantic and discourse properties of in-situ/stranded nominals in the variety of the language examined in this paper follow from the fact they are semantically incorporated. They denote, not an argument, but a property, crucially without scope of their own. Coupled with the assumption that French WH in-situ constructions are split-constructions, the fact that in-situ WH-nominals are semantically incorporated explains the intervention effects exhibited by such constructions. The existential quantifier is provided by the verb. Thus, the existential quantifier will necessarily take scope under all other scopal elements present in the sentence, including negation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a multidominance analysis for appositional constructions. It is argued that appositions are related to their anchors in two ways. First, these two elements are coordinated. Second, the apposition functions as the predicate of the anchor. The predication relation is argued to have the structure of a full copular CP, parenthetically related to the anchor. In this secondary clause, the anchor is represented by a (silent) pronoun, while the apposition functions simultaneously as the predicate of the copular CP and as the second conjunct to the anchor. This analysis is used to explain the case marking patterns on appositions in several languages. It is proposed that both the coordinative structure and the predicative structure assign a case feature to the apposition. Which of these features is spelled out is decided by language-specific rules in PF, also depending on the semantic type of the apposition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present perfect (PP) exhibits great variation in use, while concurrently following the same general evolutionary path across languages. The Spanish PP is no exception, with some varieties being more conservative (e.g. Northwestern Spain, Mexico City), than others (e.g. Alicante, Andes). As little is known of the evolution of the PP in the Andean region – the focus of this paper – a detailed semantic analysis of perfect constructions in the Andean colonial period is presented. Judicial complaints are chosen for the analysis, as they represent controlled event-structured narratives, where the author is the complainant, and the audience is the Spanish administration. As expected, PPs are common in the description of the wrongdoing, since this section narrates events close to the experience of the complainant, that is, events that have affective charge. The analysis suggests that during this period, the PP exhibited semantic functions found in the Spanish of the time, although constrained by discourse strategies attributable to differences in the social status of individuals in colonial society. A unified development of the PP is found to have taken place during this stage of the evolution of the PP in this region, including resultative and current relevance functions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper argues that the semantics of imperfective aspect in Badiaranke (Atlantic, Niger-Congo) cannot receive an adequate explanation through previous approaches to aspect in other languages (e.g. ). The Badiaranke imperfective marks not only in-progress and habitually recurring eventualities (expected), but also future eventualities, eventualities in consequents of conditionals and counterfactuals, and epistemically probable eventualities (unexpected). Building on analysis of modality, and on modal analysis of the English progressive, I argue that the Badiaranke imperfective entails eventuality realization at some interval in the set of accessible worlds selected by some modal base and ordering source. Pragmatic and syntactic context set the modal base and ordering source, allowing for an underspecified semantics to cover all of the imperfective’s functions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, I examine the syntax-semantics of subjunctive na clauses in (Modern) Greek. These clauses contain a dependent verbal form with no formal mood features: the perfective nonpast (PNP). I propose that the function of na is to introduce the variable now (n) into the syntax, which is needed because the apparent present tense in the PNP cannot introduce n. The PNP contains a dependent time variable, i.e. a referentially deficient variable that cannot be identified with the utterance time of the context. This analysis suggests that there is a meaningful distinction between the category “non-past”—which does not make reference to the utterance time—and the category “present”—which does. The analysis relies on the pronominal theory of tense (Partee, 1973, 1984; Kratzer, 1998, and others), and the idea that at least some polarity dependencies emerge as referential ‘deficiency’ of what becomes the polarity item (Giannakidou, 1998, 2001, to appear). In the present work, I treat the Greek non-past as a non-deictic time, i.e. as a time that cannot get a value from the context alone, thus rendering the PNP an instance of a temporal polarity dependency. The analysis proposed here for the PNP can hopefully be useful also for the analysis verbal subjunctives in Romance languages, and infinitival forms in English, but investigation of these will have to be left for the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper introduces a new semantic effect induced by the Turkish accusative and argues that accusative marked definites serving as the arguments of verbs of motion, incremental theme verbs and verbs of location yield a delimited reading. This delimited reading is further observed to arise when the accusative definite is unaccented suggesting that the semantic effects stemming from the presence of the accusative objects are intricately related to focus facts. Elaborating this view, the present study argues that an accented accusative definite triggers existential presupposition rendering a hearer-inferrable and discourse-new information status whereas an unaccented one triggers pragmatic presupposition which gives rise to a hearer-status which is old and a discourse status rendered old through evaluation of the accepted commonground between interlocutors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the behaviour of VP topicalization in two unrelated languages, Hungarian and Spanish. It will show that in spite of the superficial similarity between the elements involved in such topicalization, the two languages employ a fundamentally different strategy in the derivation of these sentences. Hungarian fronts the VP material and spells it out in the form of a resumptive pronoun in the left periphery, in a mechanism similar to that described in Grohmann (2003). Spanish on the other hand generates the resumptive pronominal as an argument internal to the clause. This difference in the two derivations correlates with other differences in VP topicalization in the two languages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a crosslinguistic study into the acquisition of form-to-meaning correspondences in the domain of aspect. How may form affect the acquisition process and how may meaning do so? The results from aspectual comprehension experiments with Dutch, Italian and Polish L1 learners reveal that both form and meaning properties affect the acquisition path and lead to developmentally different patterns across languages. The semantics of perfective aspect is acquired earlier than imperfective aspect. Moreover, there is a surprising discrepancy in the understanding of perfective aspect. Whereas Dutch and Polish children have acquired the completion entailment of their Present Perfect and perfective aspect respectively by the age of 3, Italian 3-year-olds perform at chance with their Present Perfect. These results do not support the hypothesis of Uniformity of Aspect Acquisition, which claims that certain aspectual notions (in particular, perfective aspect) are acquired around the same age independent of the language-specific encoding. Instead I put forward an acquisition theory of form-to-meaning correspondences that is sensitive both to form – Morphological Salience, namely, the idea that the semantics of morphologically salient paradigms is acquired early – and to meaning – Semantic Complexity, namely, the idea that the semantics of simple aspectual operations is acquired early. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Tungus proprietives, regularly derived from nouns by affixation, demonstrate a mixed behaviour. As adnominal modifiers, they have the full syntactic and morphological distribution of an adjective. Yet, the base noun retains some nominal properties: it can head its own syntactic phrase, control agreement on its modifier, trigger various anaphoric processes, pluralize, and take derivational affixes. These forms present a problem for the traditional view of syntactic categories, as they have the morphosyntactic properties of more than one part of speech. They are also important for the syntax/morphology interface, because the word structure and the phrase structure do not match: although the base noun selects modifiers as if it were an independent phrasal head, it is not an independent word in morphology. The paper shows that syntactic affixation analyses cannot adequately capture the Tungus data. Instead, I propose a constructional analysis based on the idea that relationships among classes of words are expressed in the lexicon by means of cross-cutting hierarchical types, where more specific types inherit information from more general types. The idiosyncratic behaviour of proprietives is lexically specified by the cross-classification of head values. Categorial information is inherited from adjectives and determines the external distribution of the phrase. At the same time, proprietives inherit the underlying noun''s semantics (referentiality) and selectional properties. This analysis raises further questions about the nature of the traditional syntactic labels such as nouns or adjectives, namely, whether we are dealing with a new category type in each case of mixed categories. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Construct State (CS) in Modern Hebrew displays a phenomenon known as Definiteness Spreading (DS), often characterized as having the definiteness value of the CS determined by that of its embedded genitive phrase. This is shown to be an oversimplification: semantically, DS gives rise to no less than four different interpretation patterns in definite-marked CSs. We examine the implications of these semantic facts for a Minimalist analysis of DS in terms of the operation Agree. It is argued that the formulation of Agree given in does not provide the tools needed to account for these facts. A further problem for a syntactic analysis based on Agree is posed by the structural configuration found with adjectival CS modifiers, where agreement takes place despite the lack of the c-command relation required by Agree. This paper argues that both problems can be solved by viewing the Agree operation as a feature sharing operation, as proposed independently by several authors. Using this approach, all four semantic patterns can be derived using an independently motivated hypothesis regarding the interpretation of features at the syntax–semantics interface. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we relate the so-called incompleteness effects observed in Chinese to a failure of anchoring tense, i.e., to guarantee a proper temporal reference of a given sentence through syntactic measures. Based on an insight from S. Huang''s (2005) plurality analysis of eventuality predicates, we propose to analyze tense anchoring as a process of spelling out an underlying event argument by a variety of morpho-syntactic means. This process may involve event coordination, event subordination, event modification, event quantification, or verb raising to v/T. Furthermore, a three-layered analysis of aspectual projections is adopted to account for a disparity between syntactic and semantic groupings of Chinese aspects, in that syntax and semantics may indeed have different agendas towards securing a temporal reference in grammatical terms. As a result, a unified account can be provided for the incompleteness effects typically associated with middle and inner aspects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Based on the analysis of 4500 Mandarin speech errors in naturalistic settings, this paper examines the phonological organization of tones in speech production and reports on several significant findings. First, at the level of phonological representation, tone errors occur just as freely as segmental errors and are likewise largely due to an adjacent syllable. In terms of directionality, perseverative tone errors are the most frequent. While substitution errors predominately involve the falling tone, contour tones in turn outnumber level tones. The analysis also indicates that tones in Mandarin do not have the same syntagmatic organizational status as lexical stresses in languages like English, as tones are more closely associated with lexical items in their underlying forms and are part of the lexical organization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aspects of the semantics of colour terms in English-lexifier Atlantic creoles have been observed by creolists, and have generally been attributed to West African substrate influence. This paper explores, through lexicographic evidence, the basic colour term inventories displayed by English-lexifier Caribbean varieties, and one West African variety, from the perspective of research on the universals of colour terms initiated by Berlin and Kay. It is argued that West African substrate influence (revisited from the perspective of cross-linguistic research on colour terms) and considerations from a universalist perspective best account for the colour term systems displayed by English-lexifier Atlantic creoles, although possible superstrate influence is also briefly explored. Insights from the research on universals of colour terms, such as colour term hierarchies and trajectories, the salience of certain categories, and the relationship between technological complexity and colour term inventories, prove useful in a discussion of colour terms that is framed within an account of creole development that admits multiple contributing factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The recent literature on adverb positioning is roughly divided between two theoretical camps, one of which claims that adverbs are licensed in spec positions by empty functional heads (Cinque, 1999), the other taking adverbs as adjoined and licensed largely by semantically based principles (Ernst, 2002). This paper defends the latter view, presenting two sets of evidence. First, the syntactic approach invoking functional heads holds that certain aspects of an adverb''s meaning are encoded in the functional heads, such as the different scopes of frequency adverbs, e.g. in Texans often drink beer versus Texans drink beer often. It is shown that this approach to adverb meaning leads to significant redundancy and great difficulties in representing adverb semantics in a coherent way. Second, while the functional-head theory does account for the normal order of subject-oriented adverbs and negation (She probably didn’t leave versus *She didn’t probably leave), the existence of exceptional cases where adverbs may follow negation requires this theory to adopt a semantically based explanation (invoking the adverbs’ status as positive polarity items) in any case. As a result, its original account of subject-oriented adverbs is redundant. For both sets of evidence, the semantically based theory handles the data easily: scope and related patterns are predicted by its basic semantic principles, and the polarity explanation for the second set also fits naturally into this framework without redundancy. Thus, the two phenomena provide evidence for the semantically based theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper I address two main issues in the semantics of deadjectival verbs. First, I review alternative accounts of the nature of the telos associated with a deadjectival verb on a telic interpretation. Traditional accounts gloss the telic sense of a deadjectival verb as ‘become A’: for example, the telic interpretation of The sky cleared is ‘The sky became clear’. On this account, the telos of the event denoted by telic clear is the onset of the state denoted by The sky is clear. An alternative account by Hay et al. (1999) is based on the property scale associated with an adjective and its derived verb. Property scales may be open, with no maximal degree of the property (i.e. no upper bound), or closed, in which case the property has a maximal possible degree beyond which no higher degrees of the property exist, and the maximal degree of the property constitutes the upper bound of the scale. Hay et al. argue that a telic interpretation arises where a deadjectival verb is interpreted with reference to a closed property scale. In the event denoted by a telic deadjectival verb, the theme of change traverses the property scale to the upper bound, the maximal possible degree of the property. For example, in The sky cleared on a telic interpretation, the sky is understood to traverse the scale of increasing degrees of clearness until the maximum possible degree of clearness is reached. On this account, the telos is the onset of the state in which the sky is maximally clear, such that it could not be clearer. I argue in favour of the traditional view that a telic deadjectival verb denotes ‘become A’, and against the alternative account that a telic deadjectival verb denotes ‘become maximally A’. By way of clarification preparatory to the main discussion, I show that deadjectival verbs have two types of telic sense, an achievement sense and an accomplishment sense. The telic sense at issue in the traditional telic/atelic contrast is the accomplishment sense. I also argue that the availability of telic and atelic senses of deadjectival verbs is generally predictable from characteristics of the state denoted by x is A. The telic (accomplishment) sense of a deadjectival verb is available only if the property region that counts as ‘A’ has a lower bound (i.e. the least degree that counts as ‘A’) which is accessible to modification. The telic (accomplishment) sense is the strong default reading where x is A entails that x bears the maximal possible degree of the relevant property. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper compares the properties of bare nouns in a non-plural marking French Lexifier Creole to those in plural marking languages in order to better understand the role played by number, both semantic and morphological, in determining the meaning of bare nouns. A parameter is proposed that distinguishes languages according to whether or not the structure of their nominal expressions obligatorily includes a functional projection for Number. The presence of NumP is taken to enforce the realization of a kind into its instances, offering a link between the morpho-structure of bare nouns and their interpretation that obviates the needs for a semantic parameterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we regard Zimmermann's [Natural Language Semantics 1 (1993) 149] property analysis of verbs of absence as a special case of the independent ability of verbs to take property-type complements [Ladusaw, W.A. (1994). Proceedings of SALT IV. Ithaca: CLC Publications, p. 220]. By integrating into this analysis a Quinian decomposition of verbs of absence we can tease apart the distinction between opaque and transparent, nonspecific complements, as well as the distinction between de dicto and de re readings of nonspecific complements. This prevents us from overgeneralizing transparent readings of inherently opaque complements and inherently opaque verbs and it helps us to answer some criticisms that Moltmann [Natural Language Semantics 5 (1997) 1] raises against Zimmermann's proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I focus on the relation between the definiteness status of a DP and the definiteness status of its subparts across languages. I show that contrary to what has been assumed in e.g., Longobardi (1996) possessive constructions across languages do not show a uniform behaviour with respect to (in)definiteness spread and thus, it is questionable whether a unified treatment of possessive patterns is desirable. Rather possessive constructions are subject to several, language specific constraints. This leads to a fine-grained picture of expressions of possession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the ramifications of the flexible semantics in Winter (2001a) [Flexibility Principles in Boolean Semantics: Coordination, Plurality and Scope in Natural Language. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts] for the analysis of some of the facts in "the core set" for this special issue. Within this framework, it argues (i) for a general "anti-economy" principle in the application of choice functions to (non-)specificity markers; (ii) for DP structure as the main trigger of different scope potentials; (iii) for lexical structure as characterizing the common/proper noun distinction and the special class of bare "president-like" nominals; and (iv) for Danon's (2001) [Linguistics 39 (2001) 1071] notion of purely-syntactic "definiteness spreading" in Hebrew construct states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for a constructional approach to the analysis of coordination in English, with comparative evidence from a number of other Germanic languages. The analysis of coordination proposed here is functionally based on the notion of illocutionary force and formally reflected in the behavior of the basic clause types (declarative-imperative-interrogative) in the clauses that make up the coordinate construction. On the one hand, it is argued that this approach can help to explain why traditional syntactic criteria like clause order and word order can be used to distinguish coordinate constructions from subordinate ones, and that it can easily handle cases where one conjunction allows both coordinate and subordinate construal. On the other hand, it is argued that this approach also allows one to make a subdivision within the coordinate category depending on the presence or absence of restrictions in illocution type for the second member of the coordinate construction, and that this subdivision allows for a principled account of other features which subdivide the coordinate domain, like subject ellipsis and use in conjoining non-clausal categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the distinction between subordinating and coordinating discourse relations, a distinction that governs the hierarchical structure of discourse. We provide linguistic tests to clarify which discourse relations are subordinating and which are coordinating. We argue that some relations are classified as subordinating or coordinating by default, a default that can be overridden in specific contexts. The distinction between subordinating and coordinating relations thus belongs to the level of information packaging in discourse and not to the level of information content or the semantics of the relations themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some natural languages, a ‘linking morpheme’ intervenes between an N(P) and its adjectival. prepositional, or relative modifier, whereas the semantics requires that an operator conjoin the properties denoted. The paper connects these two elements, arguing that they are the two ‘faces’ of the same item, a functional element that heads a conjunctive phrase. and which is present, even if silent, in other languages too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]