Summative Existentials

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itamar Francez
Keyword(s):  
Individual Concept ◽  
Existential Sentences

Under certain conditions, existential sentences have readings that are not predicted and cannot be modeled, given common assumptions about the construction. For example, the sentence There could be three outcomes to this election is normally taken to express that three things could be the outcome of the election, not that it is possible that the election will have three outcomes. This article proposes the first analysis of such “summative” readings of existentials, premised on a novel semantics for cardinal determiners as counting the values of an individual concept across indices. The analysis is shown to predict the observed descriptive generalizations about summative existentials, including the highly restricted circumstances that give rise to them. The unorthodox semantics proposed for cardinals is argued to be independently motivated.

Formal and Functional Types of Indefinite Pronoun

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Haspelmath
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Ontological Category ◽  
Functional Types ◽  
Formal Element ◽  
Free Relative ◽  
Existential Sentences ◽  
Universal Quantifiers ◽  
Indefinite Pronoun ◽  
Indefinite Pronouns

This chapter examines formal and functional types of indefinite pronoun. It first presents some examples of different indefinite pronoun series in a variety of languages, focusing on a formal element shared by all members of an indefinite pronoun series, such as some and any in English. This element is called indefiniteness marker, an affix or a particle which stands next to the pronoun stem. The chapter proceeds by discussing two main types of derivational bases from which indefinite pronouns are derived in the world's languages: interrogative pronouns and generic ontological category nouns like person, thing or place. It also looks at the main functional types of indefinite pronoun, namely: negative indefinite pronouns and negative polarity (or scale reversal). Finally, it analyses some alternatives to indefinite pronouns, including generic nouns, existential sentences, non-specific free relative clauses, and universal quantifiers.

Are “All-and-Some” Statements Falsifiable After All?: The Example of Utility Theory

1986 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Mongin
Keyword(s):  
Melting Point ◽  
Utility Theory ◽  
Logical Form ◽  
Empirical Science ◽  
Demarcation Criterion ◽  
Existential Sentences ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Universe Of Discourse

Popper's well-known demarcation criterion has often been understood to distinguish statements of empirical science according to their logical form. Implicit in this interpretation of Popper's philosophy is the belief that when the universe of discourse of the empirical scientist is infinite, empirical universal sentences are falsifiable but not verifiable, whereas the converse holds for existential sentences. A remarkable elaboration of this belief is to be found in Watkins's early work (1957, 1958) on the statements he calls “all-and-some,” such as: “For every metal there is a melting point.” All-and-some statements (hereafter AS) are both universally and existentially quantified in that order. Watkins argued that AS should be regarded as both nonfalsifiable and nonverifiable, for they partake in the logical fate of both universal and existential statements. This claim is subject to the proviso that the bound variables are “uncircumscribed” (in Watkins's words); i.e., that the universe of discourse is infinite.

Clause structure, case and agreement in Polish existential, possessive and locative sentences: A phase-based account

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-696
Author(s):  
Joanna Błaszczak
Keyword(s):  
Information Structure ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
External Argument ◽  
Case Alternation ◽  
Crucial Question ◽  
Existential Sentences ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Event Variable

Abstract In this paper it will be argued that the difference between existential and locative sentences is primarily structurally encoded at the vP/VP level (at the first phase of a derivation). The crucial question is which argument of the verb BE (the Location or the nominal argument (“Theme”)) is projected as the “external argument”, i.e., which argument is the subject of inner predication. In the case of existential sentences it is the Location argument which is the subject of inner predication, and in the case of locative sentences it is the nominal argument. The subject of inner predication becomes by default also the subject of outer predication, i.e., the topic of the sentence. Hence, in the case of locative sentences the nominal argument is the subject of outer predication, i.e., the topic of the sentence, and in the case of existential sentences it is the Location which becomes the topic. (Or, alternatively, the actual topic (the subject of outer predication) might be the situational/ event variable, and the Location functions as a restriction on it.) However, the actual arrangement of constituents in the sentences under discussion, as in any other Polish sentence, is determined by the pragmatic/communicative principles. Given this, it is reasonable to think that the NOM/GEN case alternation in negated existential/locative sentences is primarily a matter of syntax, and not one of information structure or scope of negation. The analysis will be modeled in accordance with the phasal model of Chomsky (2000 et seq.).

scholarly journals LENGUAJE, FORMA INTERNA Y EXISTENCIA: LA FILOSOFÍA DEL LENGUAJE DE ANTON MARTY

2021 ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Luis Niel
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Edmund Husserl ◽  
Genetic Theory ◽  
Categorical Judgment ◽  
Origin Of Language ◽  
Existential Sentences ◽  
Franz Brentano ◽  
Shed Light

El artículo analiza ciertos temas centrales de la filosofía del lenguaje de Anton Marty: primero, su teoría genética del origen casual del lenguaje; segundo, su descripción de los componentes mereológicos y semánticos del lenguaje, en particular del concepto de forma inter-na; tercero, su crítica del juicio categórico, basada en sus análisis de las oraciones impersonales y existenciales; cuarto, la importancia del concepto de existencia para aclarar problemas ontológicos. El trabajo hace además hincapié en señalar las conexiones entre su pensamiento y el de Edmund Husserl, ambos discípulos de Franz Brentano.The article addresses some essential issues of Anton Marty’s philosophy of language: first, its genetic theory of the random origin of language; second, his description of the mereological and the semantic components of language, focused on the concept of internal form; third, its criticism of the categorical judgment, based on its analyses of impersonal and existential sentences; fourth, the importance of the concept of existence in order shed light upon ontological problems. The paper also focuses on emphasizing the connections between his thought and that of Edmund Husserl, both disciples of Franz Brentano.

scholarly journals Existential Sentences as a Characteristic Syntactic Feature of I. A. Bunin’s Poetic Texts

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4 (202)) ◽  
pp. 256-272
Author(s):  
Olga A. Selemeneva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Literary Texts ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Surrounding World ◽  
Traditional Structure ◽  
Lyrical Poetry ◽  
Poetic Text ◽  
Existential Sentences ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Poetic Texts ◽  
Main Components

In this article, existential sentences are examined as a syntactic dominant of I. A. Bunin’s lyrical poetry. The interest in the originality of the syntax of Nobel laureate’s literary texts is due to the lack of research on this issue, linguists’ focus on the aesthetic salience of the vocabulary, its expressive properties and combination potential, as well as stylistic figures and tropes. Meanwhile, it is the writer’s selection of specific syntactic structures for the implementation of the idea, the representation of key ideas and concepts that reflect his personality and the peculiarities of his perception of the surrounding world. The author refers to Bunin’s poems from 1886–1917 and 1918–1953 published in Bunin’s collected works in 9 volumes. In the writer’s poetic oeuvre, existential sentences are regularly used. Despite the traditional structure that underlies them and is represented by three meanings (‘the object of being’, ‘being’, and ‘area of being’), the richness of the lexical content of each of the main components stands out. As a result, existential sentences become a universal form used to represent completely different situations in the author’s individual worldview: the existence of natural objects in space, meteorological phenomena, events, time periods, artifacts, etc.; physical states of the surrounding world; psychological states of the subject. Acting as a semantic core of a poetic text, existential sentences do not have a fixed place in it, and are used as a lyrical beginning, an interposed element, or an ending in its structure. In each position, their use is conceptually significant. It is established that the peculiarity of existential sentences in Bunin’s lyrical poetry is their syntactic unconditionality (attachment to three registers of speech, i.e. reproductive, informative, and generative) and polyfunctionality (performing the pictorial, characterising and concluding, and generalising functions).

scholarly journals Adults’ and Children’s Comprehension of Linguistic Disjunction

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masoud Jasbi ◽  
Michael C. Frank
Keyword(s):  
Forced Choice ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Mutual Knowledge ◽  
Existential Sentences ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses ◽  
Pragmatic Reasoning ◽  
Truth Conditional ◽  
Forced Choice Tasks ◽  
Choice Tasks ◽  
Pragmatic Knowledge

Disjunction has played a major role in advancing theories of logic, language, and cognition, featuring as the centerpiece of debates on the origins and development of logical thought. Recent studies have argued that due to non-adult-like pragmatic reasoning, preschool children’s comprehension of linguistic disjunction differs from adults in two ways. First, children are more likely to interpret “or” as “and” (conjunctive interpretations); Second, children are more likely to consider a disjunction as inclusive (lack of exclusivity implicatures). We tested adults and children’s comprehension of disjunction in existential sentences using two and three-alternative forced choice tasks, and analyzed children’s spontaneous verbal reactions prior to their forced-choice judgments. Overall our results are compatible with studies that suggest children understand the basic truth-conditional semantics of disjunction. Children did not interpret “or” as “and”, supporting studies that argue conjunctive interpretations are due to task demands. In addition, even though our forced-choice tasks suggest children interpreted disjunction as inclusive, spontaneous verbal reactions showed that children were sensitive to the adult-like pragmatics of disjunction. Theoretically, these studies provide evidence against previous developmental accounts, and lend themselves to two alternative hypotheses. First, that preschool children’s pragmatic knowledge is more adult-like than previously assumed, but forced-choice judgments are not sensitive enough to capture this knowledge. Second, children may have the knowledge of the relevant lexical scale themselves, but be uncertain whether a new speaker also has this knowledge (mutual knowledge of the scale).

Conceptual Innovation and the Future of Environmental Policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Meadowcroft ◽  
Daniel J. Fiorino
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Environmental Equity ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Individual Concept ◽  
Policy Domain ◽  
Conceptual Innovation ◽  
The Future ◽  
Environmental Limits

This chapter provides a conclusion to the volume. It begins by synthesising some of the main findings of the eleven individual concept studies. It then considers the light these studies shed on processes of conceptual innovation in the environmental policy domain. Finally, it considers what these cases, and attention to concepts and conceptual innovation more generally, can tell us about the underlying structure and evolution of the environmental policy domain. In particular it discusses four cross-cutting themes which emerge from this enquiry: science and policy, environmental limits, economy and environment, and environmental equity.

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