Introduction

It is arguable that the word ‘I’ has a context invariant meaning that suffices to secure semantic values for it in context. Set ‘I’ in a context and its context invariant meaning secures the speaker of the context as its semantic value in that context (at least if there is one). Consider the class of contextually sensitive expressions whose context invariant meanings arguably do ...

Felicitous Underspecification

Felicitous uses of contextually sensitive expressions generally have unique semantic values in context. For example, a felicitous use of the singular pronoun ‘she’ generally has a single female as its unique semantic value in context. In the present work, it is argued that contextually sensitive expressions have felicitous uses where they lack unique semantic values in context. The author calls such uses instances of felicitous underspecification. In these uses, the underspecified expression is associated with a range of candidate semantic values in context. A rule is provided for updating the Stalnakerian common ground when sentences containing felicitous underspecified expressions are uttered and accepted in a conversation. The author also gives an account of the mechanism that associates the range of candidate semantic values in context with an underspecified expression. Sentences containing felicitous underspecified expressions can be embedded in various constructions. The author considers the result of embedding such sentences under negation and verbs of propositional attitude. He also examines the question of why some uses of underspecified expressions are felicitous and others aren’t. This investigation yields the notion of a context being appropriate for a sentence (LF), where a context is appropriate for a sentence containing an underspecified expression if the sentence is felicitous in that context. Finally, some difficulties are covered that arise in virtue of the fact that pronouns and demonstratives have some sorts of implications of uniqueness that clash with their being underspecified.

Felicitous Underspecification and Metasemantics

In cases of felicitous underspecification, instead of having a unique semantic value in context, the relevant expression is associated with a range of candidate semantic values in context. I formulate an account of the mechanism that associates this range of candidate semantic values in context with the relevant expression. I argue that it is the same mechanism that associates expressions with unique semantic values in context in “normal” cases.

La gènesi dels somatismes: accions humanes fossilitzades

Somatic idioms – those including a part of the body – have been traditionally studied from a synchronic perspective, yielding different explanations for their semantic value. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the diachronic origin of idiomatic meaning, by illustrating the process of phraseologization from a historical, usage-based perspective. As the first step, we will reflect on the general nature of phraseological meaning, and then on the semantic particularities of somatic idioms. Secondly, we will carryout a corpus-based diachronic analysis of the Catalan idiom tapar-se el nas (to hold one’s nose) within the framework of the Invited Inference Theory of Semantic Change. The different stages of the process will be exemplified and discussed. As a result, a new notion of somatic idioms as frozen human actions will be presented.

THE ‘POLITE’ AORIST: TENSE OR ASPECT?

This article investigates the semantics and pragmatics of the ‘hortative’ aorist (the aorist indicative in questions with τί οὐ ‘why don't …’) and the ‘tragic’ or ‘performative’ aorist (for example ὤμοσα ‘I swear’). Lloyd argued in 1999 that the tragic aorist is a more polite alternative for the corresponding present (ὄμνυμι ‘I swear’). Recently, he has extended this view to the hortative aorist, suggesting that, for example, τί οὐκ ἐκαλέσαμεν; is a polite alternative for τί οὐ καλοῦμεν; Lloyd argues that the politeness value of the aorist derives from its being a past tense, comparing the so-called ‘attitudinal’ past (as in I wanted to ask you something instead of I want to ask you something). The present article, building on work by Colvin, Bary and Nijk, argues instead that the semantic value of the aorist is purely aspectual in these cases: the hortative and tragic aorists serve to construe the designated event as bounded, while the corresponding present forms serve to construe the designated event as unbounded. An extensive discussion of the evidence for the hortative aorist and present is presented, as well as a case study concerning the aspectual behaviour of the verb ὄμνυμι. Moreover, I argue that the proposed semantic account of the hortative and tragic aorists in terms of aspect can be unified with Lloyd's pragmatic account in terms of politeness: the difference in tone between the present and the aorist can be derived from their respective aspectual values, rather than from their temporal values.

Das Präteritum im Alemannischen Südwestdeutschlands

Zusammenfassung This paper analyses the increase in the use of the preterite in spoken Alemannic in south-western Germany. There are almost no recent studies that explore the preterite in Upper German because of the widespread hypothesis that there is no preterite in Upper German (except for the verb sein ‘to be’) due to the loss of the preterite in Upper German (Oberdeutscher Präteritumschwund). In contrast to this, I account for a language change in the timespan from 1974 to 2013 in which the preterite becomes more frequent in relation to the perfect and is now part of the spoken Alemannic in south-western Germany. To account for this, I use a combination of a real time and an apparent time analysis. Additionally, all verbs forming a preterite have a specific semantic value, i. e. an inherent meaning of state. This means they are durative (=the situation lasts for a certain period of time), atelic (=the situation has no terminal point at which the situation is complete) and non-dynamic (=the situation involves no change). Perfect forms on the other hand do not have this specific semantic value.

Banned and Branded: The Mesopotamian Background of Šamata

The verb √šmt and noun šamata, attested in the dialects of Eastern Aramaic in the Sasanian period, would seem at first to be synonymous with the Palestinian term nidui, ‘excommunication’. However, a closer examination reveals that šamata has a different semantic value. It is not simply conceived as a social sanction of excommunication but is understood as a curse involving divine violence; is closely associated with binding; and is often perceived as the property of powerful agents. In this article I argue that √šmt is derived from the Akkadian šamātu, ‘to mark’, ‘to brand’, especially in its more restricted sense ‘to brand temple slaves’ and ‘to dedicate a person to a deity’. Understanding the Mesopotamian roots of šamata might help us better explain its unique regional features, shared by the Aramaic speaking groups in the Sasanian Empire.

Composti italiani “di moda”

In this article a series of Italian Fashion Language compounds is analyzed at the light of the cognitive perspective and the semantic value. The count of the compounds (present in the journalistic corpus FLaSC1 and collected into the most known fashion dictionaries) is the first problematic point presented here, because the bounds of the class can change in a relevant way on the base of the definition of the term ‘compound’, the exclusion/inclusion of the foreign elements, the possible presence of hybrid units that cannot be defined words, but are used as word (e.g. pseudo-prefixes, it. prefissoidi). The second focus is the classification of the different kinds of compounds and a presentation of two subcategory (simultaneous vs. sequential), that is useful for explaining the semantic differences between similar models and formats. Third, but not least, we show that the conceptual map, emerging by the Italian compounds, profiles an idea of garments and accessories very complex and inter-culturally and inter-linguistically marked.