Cumulation Across Attitudes and Plural Projection

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-609
Author(s):  
Viola Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Analysis ◽  
Individual Concepts ◽  
Part Structure ◽  
De Dicto ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Collective Belief

Abstract This paper investigates cumulative readings of sentences in which some, but not all of the plural expressions have a de dicto reading, i.e. sentences where the lower plural is interpreted in the scope of an attitude verb like believe. I argue that such cases represent a problem for existing accounts of cumulativity, because the required cumulative relation cannot be formed. I then motivate and propose an alternative analysis where all plural expressions are interpreted in situ: I expand the ‘plural projection’ framework put forth by Haslinger & Schmitt (2018, 2019), Schmitt (2019), where embedded pluralities ‘project’ to the denotations of higher nodes in the sense that the latter reflect the part-structure of the former and where cumulativity is derived via a compositional rule in a step-by-step fashion. I show that if the denotations of the plurals with the de dicto construal are analyzed as pluralities of individual concepts, which project in the afore-mentioned sense to pluralities of propositions, the data can be explained straightforwardly. This proposal differs from treatments in terms of collective belief that don’t appeal to pluralities of propositions ( Pasternak 2018a, b), in that it (i) arguably generalizes to a larger number of examples and (ii) links grammatical plurality in the embedded clause to the availability of cumulative readings.

Scope Marking at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veneeta Dayal ◽  
Deepak Alok
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Matrix Clause ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Embedded Clauses ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Semantic Properties

Natural language allows questioning into embedded clauses. One strategy for doing so involves structures like the following: [CP-1 whi [TP DP V [CP-2 … ti …]]], where a wh-phrase that thematically belongs to the embedded clause appears in the matrix scope position. A possible answer to such a question must specify values for the fronted wh-phrase. This is the extraction strategy seen in languages like English. An alternative strategy involves a structure in which there is a distinct wh-phrase in the matrix clause. It is manifested in two types of structures. One is a close analog of extraction, but for the extra wh-phrase: [CP-1 whi [TP DP V [CP-2 whj [TP…t­j­…]]]]. The other simply juxtaposes two questions, rather than syntactically subordinating the second one: [CP-3 [CP-1 whi [TP…]] [CP-2 whj [TP…]]]. In both versions of the second strategy, the wh-phrase in CP-1 is invariant, typically corresponding to the wh-phrase used to question propositional arguments. There is no restriction on the type or number of wh-phrases in CP-2. Possible answers must specify values for all the wh-phrases in CP-2. This strategy is variously known as scope marking, partial wh movement or expletive wh questions. Both strategies can occur in the same language. German, for example, instantiates all three possibilities: extraction, subordinated, as well as sequential scope marking. The scope marking strategy is also manifested in in-situ languages. Scope marking has been subjected to 30 years of research and much is known at this time about its syntactic and semantic properties. Its pragmatics properties, however, are relatively under-studied. The acquisition of scope marking, in relation to extraction, is another area of ongoing research. One of the reasons why scope marking has intrigued linguists is because it seems to defy central tenets about the nature of wh scope taking. For example, it presents an apparent mismatch between the number of wh expressions in the question and the number of expressions whose values are specified in the answer. It poses a challenge for our understanding of how syntactic structure feeds semantic interpretation and how alternative strategies with similar functions relate to each other.

Les questions multiples : le débat continue

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-312
Author(s):  
Denis Liakin
Keyword(s):  
Functional Category ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Alternative Analysis ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Embedded Clause

AbstractIn this article we offer an alternative analysis of multiple questions in Russian that is not only related to topic and focus, but also to other discourse factors. The characteristics that put Russian is the same group as Chinese and Japanese also apply to other multiple wh fronting languages such as Bulgarian, Romanian, and Serbo-Croatian, which, according to previous classification, belong to two different groups. We argue that multiple wh fronting languages can be classified on the basis of the presence of a functional category D-WhP in the left periphery of the matrix or embedded clause. This category is related to the discourse and the speaker’s intentions—one of the wh phrases is more important to the speakers than the others.

scholarly journals The in-situ manifestation of solar prominence material

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (S300) ◽  
pp. 289-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan T. Lepri ◽  
Thomas H. Zurbuchen ◽  
Jacob R. Gruesbeck ◽  
Jason A. Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Flux Rope ◽  
Ion Composition ◽  
Solar Prominence ◽  
Magnetic Flux Rope ◽  
Analysis Process ◽  
Part Structure ◽  
Low Charge

AbstractCoronal mass ejections observed in the corona exhibit a three-part structure, with a leading bright front indicating dense plasma, a low density cavity thought to be a signature of the embedded magnetic flux rope, and the high density core likely containing cold, prominence material. When observed in-situ, as Interplanetary CMEs (or ICMEs), the presence of all three of these signatures remains elusive, with the prominence material rarely observed. We report on a comprehensive and long-term search for prominence material inside ICMEs as observed by the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer on the Advanced Composition Explorer. Using a novel data analysis process, we are able to identify traces of low charge state plasma created during prominence eruptions associated with ICMEs. We find that the likelihood of occurrence of cold material in the heliosphere is vastly lower than that observed in the corona but that conditions during the eruption do allow low charge ions to make it into the solar wind, preserving their expansion history. We discuss the implications of these findings.

scholarly journals Individual Concepts and Attitude Reports

1998 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Yael Sharvit
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
De Re ◽  
Individual Concept ◽  
Individual Concepts ◽  
Attitude Reports ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
De Dicto ◽  
The Individual

This paper argues that <it>de dicto</it> reports of the form 'x believes [that ....[<sub>DetP</sub> the [<sub>NP</sub>...]] . . . . . ]' are <it>de re</it> reports where the <it>res</it> is the individual concept which corresponds to '[<sub>DetP</sub> the [<sub>NP</sub> . . . ]'. This claim is based on the observation that definite descriptions project existence from complement clauses of attitude reports, even in those cases where the reporter and the bearer of the attitude do not have the same description "in mind."

Scope marking and Focus in Somali

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 78-116
Author(s):  
Mara Frascarelli
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Narrow Focus ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Informative Part ◽  
Specific Interpretation ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Formal Properties ◽  
Alternative Set

In this paper a novel approach is proposed for a particular type of cleft-like construction in Somali, the waxaa sentence, in which wax is a scope marker. As such, it operates a function choice in the alternative set overtly expressed in the embedded clause, which serves as a semantic restrictor. In this line of analysis, wax requires the realization of a bi-clausal, copular construction in which the relativized presupposition (i.e. the restrictor) is merged in subject position, while the focused phrase is the predicate. Indefinite wax is located in the position dedicated to focused constituents in Somali and incorporates the Focus Marker baa, allowing for the realization of an in situ Focus (an option otherwise excluded in this language) and obtaining a specific interpretation for the unfocused part of the sentence. Indeed, based on corpus analysis and interface considerations, evidence is provided that baa and waxaa constructions are by no means interchangeable narrow Focus constructions. Focusing by means of waxaa implies a context in which unfocused information is not properly ‘given’; rather it conveys a type of ‘weakly familiar’ information that contributes somehow to the informative part of the sentence. A discussion about the function and formal properties of internal Topics in Focus-prominent languages concludes the work. Keywords: cleft construction; discourse; (weak) familiarity; (narrow) Focus; presupposition; relative clause; scope marker; specificational (copular) sentence; internal Topic

Revisiting the Syntax of Monsters in Uyghur

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-42
Author(s):  
Travis Major
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Alternative Analysis ◽  
Discourse Context ◽  
Embedded Clause

This paper is written in response to Shklovsky and Sudo (2014), who propose a syntactic analysis of Uyghur indexical shift, a process by which embedded indexicals, such as "you" and "I" are interpreted relative to the reported context, as opposed to the present discourse context. Based on novel data, I offer an alternative analysis, which argues that there are two distinct types of tensed embedded clause that differ in clause structure, size, and the functional heads present within the structure. I correlate these properties with case, agreement, and indexical shift.

scholarly journals Individual Concepts and Attitude Reports

2015 ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Yael Sharvit
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
De Re ◽  
Individual Concept ◽  
Individual Concepts ◽  
Attitude Reports ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
De Dicto ◽  
The Individual

This paper argues that <it>de dicto</it> reports of the form 'x believes [that ....[<sub>DetP</sub> the [<sub>NP</sub>...]] . . . . . ]' are <it>de re</it> reports where the <it>res</it> is the individual concept which corresponds to '[<sub>DetP</sub> the [<sub>NP</sub> . . . ]'. This claim is based on the observation that definite descriptions project existence from complement clauses of attitude reports, even in those cases where the reporter and the bearer of the attitude do not have the same description "in mind."

Using Global Simulations to Relate the Three‐Part Structure of Coronal Mass Ejections to In Situ Signatures

2008 ◽  
Vol 672 (2) ◽  
pp. 1221-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pete Riley ◽  
Roberto Lionello ◽  
Zoran Mikić ◽  
Jon Linker
Keyword(s):  
Coronal Mass Ejections ◽  
Part Structure

Rendez vous with Saturn's rings

1984 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 743-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry T. Nock
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Electric Propulsion ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Propulsion System ◽  
Low Thrust ◽  
Ring Plane ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Total Impulse ◽  
Saturn's Rings

ABSTRACTA mission to rendezvous with the rings of Saturn is studied with regard to science rationale and instrumentation and engineering feasibility and design. Future detailedin situexploration of the rings of Saturn will require spacecraft systems with enormous propulsive capability. NASA is currently studying the critical technologies for just such a system, called Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP). Electric propulsion is the only technology which can effectively provide the required total impulse for this demanding mission. Furthermore, the power source must be nuclear because the solar energy reaching Saturn is only 1% of that at the Earth. An important aspect of this mission is the ability of the low thrust propulsion system to continuously boost the spacecraft above the ring plane as it spirals in toward Saturn, thus enabling scientific measurements of ring particles from only a few kilometers.

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