1 st International Pragmatics Conference of the Americas (AMPRA) and the 5 th International Conference on Intercultural Pragmatics, October 2012, University of North Carolina, Charlotte Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

? ‘How much pragmatics’ is allowed in the semantic representation? 2

What is expressed in the lexicon in one language may be expressed by grammar in another. 3

What is expressed overtly in one language may be left to pragmatic inference or default interpretation in another. 4

Swahili: consecutive tense marker ka (1) a.…wa-Ingereza wa-li-wa-chukuawa-lemaiti, 3Pl-British 3Pl-Past-3Pl-take3Pl-Demcorpses ‘…then the British took the corpses, b.wa-ka-wa-tiakatika baomoja, 3Pl-Cons-3Pl-put.ononboardone put them on a flat board, c.wa-ka-ya-telemeshamaji-nikwautaratibu w-ote… 3Pl-Cons-3Pl-lower water-Locwithorder 3Pl-all and lowered them steadily into the water…’ adapted from Givón (2005: 154) 5

cf. rhetorical structure rules, Asher and Lascarides 2003 Narration: (2) Lidia played a sonata.The audience applauded. e 1  e 2 6

Central Pomo Future can be realis or irrealis 7

Thai (3) f 3 ont 1 ok rain fall (3a) It is raining. (default meaning) (3b) It was raining. (possible intended meaning) 8

Minimalism/contextualism debate ‘Is semantic interpretation a matter of holistic guesswork (like the interpretation of kicks under the table), rather than an algorithmic, grammar-driven process as formal semanticists have claimed? Contextualism: Yes. Literalism: No. (…) Like Stanley and the formal semanticists, I maintain that the semantic interpretation is grammar-driven.’ Recanati (2012: 148) 9

 K.M. Jaszczolt, 2005, Default Semantics: Foundations of a Compositional Theory of Acts of Communication, Oxford: Oxford University Press.  K. M. Jaszczolt, ‘Default Semantics’. In: B. Heine and H. Narrog (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press  K. M. Jaszczolt, in progress, Interactive Semantics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Assumptions The output of syntactic processing often leaves the meaning underdetermined. 11

Assumptions The output of syntactic processing often leaves the meaning underdetermined. The object of study of a theory of meaning is a pragmatically modified representation. (Interactive Semantics is a radical contextualist theory.) 12

Assumptions The output of syntactic processing often leaves the meaning underdetermined. The object of study of a theory of meaning is a pragmatically modified representation. (Interactive Semantics is a radical contextualist theory.) There is no syntactic constraint on the object of study. 13

(4) A: Shall we meet tomorrow? B: I’m in London. (4a) B is in London at the time of speaking. (4b) B will be in London the following day. (4c) B can’t meet A the following day. 14

Interlocutors frequently communicate their main intended content through a proposition which is not syntactically restricted. Experimental evidence: Pitts 2005 Schneider

Merger Representation  Primary meanings are modelled as merger representations. 16

Merger Representation  Primary meanings are modelled as merger representations. The outputs of sources of information about meaning merge and all the outputs are treated on an equal footing. 17

Merger Representation  Primary meanings are modelled as merger representations. The outputs of sources of information about meaning merge and all the outputs are treated on an equal footing. The syntactic constraint is abandoned. Merger representations have the status of mental representations. 18

Merger Representation  Primary meanings are modelled as merger representations. The outputs of sources of information about meaning merge and all the outputs are treated on an equal footing. The syntactic constraint is abandoned. Merger representations have the status of mental representations. They have a compositional structure. 19

Sources of information for  (i) world knowledge (WK) (ii) word meaning and sentence structure (WS) (iii) situation of discourse (SD) (iv) properties of the human inferential system (IS) (v) stereotypes and presumptions about society and culture (SC) 20

(iv)properties of the human inferential system IS (5) The author of The Catcher in the Rye still shocks the readership. (5a) J. D. Salinger still shocks the readership. 21

sources of information types of processes 23

Mapping between sources and processes WK  SCWD or CPI SC  SCWD or CPI WS  WS (logical form) SD  CPI IS  CD DS makes use of the processing model and it indexes the components of  with a subscript standing for the type of processing. 24

Compositionality of Primary Meanings DS, IS: compositionality of utterance meaning rather than sentence meaning. Fodor (2008) compositionality of Mentalese only? 26

Compositionality is a methodological principle: ‘…it is always possible to satisfy compositionality by simply adjusting the syntactic and/or semantic tools one uses, unless that is, the latter are constrained on independent grounds.’ Groenendijk and Stokhof (1991: 93) 27

Compositionality should be an empirical assumption about the nature of possible human languages. Szabó (2000) 28

Two examples of applications

Example 1 Representing Time: Pragmatic Compositionality

31

Jaszczolt, K. M. in press. ‘Temporality and epistemic commitment: An unresolved question’, in: K. Jaszczolt & L. de Saussure (eds). Time: Language, Cognition, and Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press (vol. 1 of Oxford Studies of Time in Language and Thought)

Main questions  Is the human concept of time a universal concept? Probably yes  Is it primitive or composed of simpler concepts? Supervenient on properties of modality  How do linguistic expressions of time reflect it? Representations in Default Semantics/Interactive Semantics 33

Time as Modality: Supervenience (i) supervenience of the concept of time on the concept of epistemic detachment (temporal properties on modal properties in semantics) (ii) supervenience of the concept of time on space-time (properties of the concept of time on properties of space- time). (i) + (ii): It is not just the construal of reality that requires modality; it is reality itself. 34

Supervenience A set of properties T supervenes on a set of properties M iff no two things can differ with respect to T properties without also differing with respect to M properties. ‘There cannot be a T-difference without an M-difference.’ adapted from McLaughlin & Bennett

Merger Representations for the Past (6) Lidia went to a concert yesterday. (regular past) (7) This is what happened yesterday. Lidia goes to a concert, meets her school friend and tells her… (past of narration) (8) Lidia would have gone to a concert (then). (epistemic necessity past) (9) Lidia must have gone to a concert (yesterday). (epistemic necessity past) (10) Lidia may have gone to a concert (yesterday). (epistemic possibility past) (11) Lidia might have gone to a concert (yesterday). (epistemic possibility past) 36

Fig. 3: Degree of epistemic commitment for selected expressions with past-time reference

Acc ├ p‘it is acceptable that it is the case that p’ Grice (2001) 38

ACC Δ ├ Σ ‘it is acceptable to the degree Δ that Σ is true’ 39

amended and extended language of DRSs (Kamp and Reyle 1993) 40

Fig. 4: Σ for ‘Lidia went to a concert yesterday.’ (regular past) Σ

(12) m 3 ae:r 3 i: I kh 2 iann 3 iy 3 ai: Marywritenovel Past-time reference in Thai (pragmatic) 42

Fig. 5:  for example (12) ‘Mary wrote a novel’ (regular past)  43

Realis/irrealis future (Central Pomo): ACC Δ ├ Σ Consecutive tense (Swahili): WS + CPI pm Capturing cross-linguistic differences 44

Mapping Question qualitative differences between P, N, F quantitative modal differences(  in ACC  ) 45

quantitative concept (ACC  ) qualitative concepts (P, N, F) (i) correlation or (ii) P, N, F as quantitative concepts 46

Two possible solutions: Direct-Quantitative (DQ) & Modal-Contextualist (MC) 47

Example 2 First-person reference in discourse

De se  Grammar/pragmatics interface in conveying the intended de se meaning  Representing de se reports in Default/Interactive Semantics 49

The scenario: (13) The person who agreed to organise the drinks is to blame. (14) I am to blame. I completely forgot I was put in charge. after Perry (1979: 3) 50

referential semantics conflates (13) with (14): (13) The person who agreed to organise the drinks is to blame. (14) I am to blame. x [to-blame(x)] (kasia jaszczolt) 51

? Grammar produces the self-referring function Chierchia (1989: 28): The cognitive access to oneself is ‘systematically excluded from the interpretation of (non- pronominal) referential expressions. It is systematically present in the interpretation of overt pronouns. It is systematically and unambiguously associated with the interpretation of PRO the null subject of infinitives and gerunds. It is associated with the interpretation of long- distance reflexives (at least in some languages)’. 52

? Grammar produces the self-referring function Chierchia (1989: 28): The cognitive access to oneself is ‘systematically excluded from the interpretation of (non- pronominal) referential expressions. It is systematically present in the interpretation of overt pronouns. It is systematically and unambiguously associated with the interpretation of PRO the null subject of infinitives and gerunds. It is associated with the interpretation of long- distance reflexives (at least in some languages)’. 53

The cognitive access to the self is present in the semantics (in some form or other). 54

An argument from non-pronominal expressions (but not the one you expect) x Pace Chierchia, cognitive access to oneself is not so ‘systematically’ excluded from the interpretation of non- pronominal expressions: (16) Sammy wants a biscuit. (17) Mummy will be with you in a moment. 55

Honorifics:  Japanese and Thai: the first-person marker has the characteristics of both a pronoun and a noun. Pronouns and nouns are not morphologically different: like nouns, pronouns do not form a closed class; like nouns, they form the plural by adding a plural morpheme;  also e.g. Burmese, Javanese, Khmer, Korean, Malay, or Vietnamese. Typically: ‘slave’, ‘servant’, royal slave’, ‘lord’s servant’, ‘Buddha’s servant’ are used for self-reference with self-denigration;  Thai: 27 forms of first person (cf. ‘mouse’) (Siewierska 2004: 228); Siewierska (2004) and Heine and Song (2011) 56

Conflation of the nominal with the pronominal:  Acoma (New Mexico), Wari’ (Brazil): no personal pronouns;  Generic one and arbitrary PRO: (18)One can hear the wolves from the veranda. (19)It is scary PRO to hear the wolves from the veranda. Generic one and arbitrary (non-controlled) PRO express ‘generalizing detached self-reference.’ Moltmann (2010: 440) 57

 Counterfactuals: ‘if I were you’ conveys second-person oriented advice: (Moltmann 2010: 453) (20) If I were you I would wait a couple of days before issuing a complaint. cf. (21) Wait a couple of days before issuing a complaint. 58

Spatial deixis:  Thai phŏm 1 nii 2 ( ‘one male this’);  Japanese kotira, Korean yeogi, and Vietnamese hây (‘here’) used for self-reference; 59

Degrees of cognitive access to oneself: (22) I think I put this book back on the shelf. (23) I think I remember PRO putting this book back on the shelf. (24) I put this book back on the shelf. (25) I remember PRO putting this book back on the shelf.  Conscious awareness is present to different degrees rather than as a binary, all-or-nothing characteristic. 60

An argument from conceptual shift (26) ‘I t1+t2 believe I should have prepared the drinks party. In a way I t1 also believed that I t1+t2 should have done it when I t1 walked into the room. The fact is, the person appointed by the Faculty Board should have done it and as I t1 later realised I t1+t2 was this person.’ 61

Wiem t1+t2, że to ja t1+t2 powinnam była t1+t2 know 1SgPres thatDemI Nom should 1SgFPast przygotować te drinki. W pewnym sensie, prepare Inf this AccPl drink PlMAcc In certain SgMInstr senseS gMInstr wtedy też wiedziałam t1, ponieważ miała je thenalsoknow 1SgFPast because be-to SgFPast they NMAcc przygotować osoba wybranaprzez Radę Wydziału, prepare Inf person SgFNom selectedby Board SgFAcc Faculty SgMGen a to ja t1+t2 byłam tą osobą. and DemI Nom be SgFPast Dem SgFInstr person SgFInstr 62

An argument from 1 st person pronoun Kratzer (2009): pronouns can be ambiguous between a referential and a bound-variable interpretation (27) I’m the only one around here who can take care of my children. (28) Only I admitted what I did wrong. (29) Only you can eat what you cook. 63

Restriction: Bound-variable uses are rare, restricted, and differ from language to language. Tylko ja jeden przyznałem się do błędu. only 1Sg soleSgMNom admit1SgPastM Refl to mistakeSgMGen Tylko ja jedna tutaj potrafięzajmowaćsię Only 1Sg soleSgFNom here can1SgPres careInf Refl swoimi dziećmi. ReflPronPl Instr childPl Instr 64

Kratzer:  bound variable pronouns are underlyingly referential pronouns whose meaning can be accounted for through context-shifting. or:  they are unspecified and obtain the meaning through feature transmission from their binders in functional heads. 65

 Grammatical foundation of self-reference cannot be excluded. 66

An argument from PRO (but not the one you expect) (31) Lidia wants to be a scientist. no underlying ‘I’-reference ‘I want to be a scientist.’ 67

(32)Alice wants what Lidia wants. underlying ‘I’-reference (  self-attribution of property) But: (33)Lidia’s mother wants what Lidia wants and that’s why she is buying her lots of scientific books. no underlying ‘I’-reference (  propositionalism) 68

Summary so far  Self-referring that involves cognitive access to oneself defies any attempt to fit it squarely into the mould of a single, systematic morphosyntactic device. 69

Summary so far  Self-referring that involves cognitive access to oneself defies any attempt to fit it squarely into the mould of a single, systematic morphosyntactic device.  Instead, the device standardly used for this purpose in English, the first- person singular pronoun, can have other uses as well, and devices that specialise for other uses, such as common nouns and proper names, can adopt the function of reference de se. 70

Summary so far  Self-referring that involves cognitive access to oneself defies any attempt to fit it squarely into the mould of a single, systematic morphosyntactic device.  Instead, the device standardly used for this purpose in English, the first- person singular pronoun, can have other uses as well, and devices that specialise for other uses, such as common nouns and proper names, can adopt the function of reference de se.  This suggests that formal semantics that relies on the rigid distinction between an indexical and non-indexical expression (Kaplan 1989) needs ‘pragmaticising’. (Jaszczolt 2012a, b; in press a, b) 71

Interim conclusion: The cognitive access to oneself is ? ‘systematically excluded from the interpretation of (non- pronominal) referential expressions’; ? ‘systematically present in the interpretation of overt pronouns’; x ‘systematically and unambiguously associated with the interpretation of PRO the null subject of infinitives and gerunds’;  ‘associated with the interpretation of long-distance reflexives (at least in some languages)’. 72

 lexicon/grammar/pragmatics trade-offs 73

Reports de se/de re about oneself (34) Kasia believes that she is to blame. quasi-indexical 74

Default De Se Maier’s (2009) default de se: (i) syntactic processing results in a de dicto reading; (ii) presuppositions added (‘equality first’), coreference is established as a default link; (iii) if  recognize (x,x), then no coreference and search continues.  Default Semantics (Jaszczolt 2005, 2010, forthcoming a, b) 75

A disclaimer: non-coreferential readings Kasia x believes that she x is to blame. a strong tendency for coreference, van der Sandt’s (1992) (presupposition as anaphora) grammar delivers contextualist default contents 76

Towards a (pragmatic) solution self-ascription (linguistic semantic) self-reference (linguistic pragmatic) self-attribution (epistemic) self-awareness (cognitive) 77

? Grammar conveys self-awareness Allocation of self-awareness to grammar is a matter of an agreement as to what we want the grammar to do: capture strong tendencies or capture patterns that underdetermine meaning.  minimalist or contextualist account 78

 Proposal: We should not ‘split’ the power of grammar into that pertaining to the system and that pertaining to how grammar functions in utterance processing.  De se belief ascription provides strong support for a contextualist, but grammar-triggered construal 79

De Se in Default Semantics Jaszczolt, forthcoming a, b Bel (x,  ’) the individual x has the cognitive state represented as an embedded representation  ’ 80

(i)CD  default status of de re (ii)coreference x=y (iii)  de se (= from CD, WS) 81

?/  In a sense, I t1 believed I t1+t2 was to blame. I t1 just didn’t know that the person I t1 referred to was I t1+t2. 82

Merger representation: coreference: condition [y=x] WS the lack of self-awareness: differentiation of indexing on x and y (CD vs CPI) and the non-default use of the belief operator (CPI) 83

‘I believed, in a sense, I was to blame.’ (marked reading) 84

‘Kasia believes she is to blame.’ (default reading) 85

Conclusions  Merger representations of Interactive Semantics can represent lexicon/grammar/pragmatics trade-offs in expressing different concepts (e.g. temporal reference, reference to objects) in discourse.  Compositionality is best understood as pragmatic compositionality, sought at the level of Σ s rather than WS.  Cross-linguistic differences in expressing time can be explained by a universal semantics of temporality in terms of the underlying concept of epistemic modality ACC Δ ├ Σ. 86

Conclusions  There is substantial cross-linguistic evidence that there is no reliable representation of self-awareness in the grammar or the lexicon. Instead, there is a lexicon/grammar/pragmatics trade-off, allowing for various degrees of salience of communicating cognitive access to oneself.  Self-awareness can be construed as conveyed by the grammar only when grammar is allowed to produce cancellable interpretations. This is best achieved on a contextualist account such as Default/Interactive Semantics.  When compositionality is shifted to the level of the merger of information (  ), as in DS/IS, the differences between syntactic and pragmatic solutions to de se are rendered unimportant. 87

‘Holistic guesswork’? ‘Is semantic interpretation a matter of holistic guesswork (like the interpretation of kicks under the table), rather than an algorithmic, grammar-driven process as formal semanticists have claimed?’ Recanati (2012: 148) 88

radical contextualism holistic (interactive semantics) compositional (pragmatic compositionality) ? algorithmic (merger representation)

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