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Bare and non-bare predication Bert Le Bruyn ESSLLI-StuS 2008
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Introduction
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I am linguist.a
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Standard observations another set of nouns usually takes the indefinite article one set of nouns usually doesn’t take the indefinite article = non-capacity nouns = capacity nouns ProfessionsReligionsNationalities lawyer dictator … jew christian … Belgian American … The rest ex. Hitler was dictator. H was dictator ex. White Fang is een wolf. WF is a wolf
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Advanced observations capacity nouns can occur with the indefinite article Marie is een dictator. M is a dictator “Mary has characteristics that we associate with dictators” non-capacity nouns can occur without the indefinite article Ik ben wolf. I am wolve “I play the part of wolve” MARKED USES “non-capacity use” “capacity use”
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CAPACITY NOUNSNON-CAPACITY NOUNS NO INDEFINITE ART INDEFINITE ART Hitler was dictator. Hitler was dictator Marie is een dictator. Marie is a dictator Ik ben wolf. I am wolf White Fang is een wolf. WF is a wolf
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Overview Goal Improve on the analysis proposed by de Swart, Winter en Zwarts (2007) ● Presentation of de Swart et al. (2007) ● Problem I and its solution ● Problem II and its solution (setup) (role of the Indef. Art.)
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de Swart et al. (2007)
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I. In the lexicon there are two kinds of nouns capacity nouns non-capacity nouns type e, subtype ‘capacities’ Advocaat is een mooi beroep. Lawyer is a nice profession type
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e Capacities capacity nouns non-capacity nouns
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II. When occurring in predicate position capacity nouns have to shift to type To do this they have a special type-shift: CAP profession set of people performing the profession religion set of followers nationality set of citizens Sometimes this shift is made explicit: Hij is advocaat van beroep. He is lawyer of profession
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e capacity nouns Capacities CAP
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III. In presence of a NumP CAP is blocked This is the case when there is an indefinite article (=assumption) How is it then possible for capacity nouns to appear in predicate position ? they are coerced into another e-subtype: KINDS kinds are different from capacities in that they not only group the individuals that perform a certain profession but also those that have the characteristics associated with the profession which can be shifted to type in presence of a NumP: via REL (Realization Operator)
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e capacity nouns Capacities CAP [presence of NumP] Kinds REL
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Facts central in de Swart et al. (2007) ● Special status of capacity nouns. ● Unmarked reading of capacity nouns. Hitler was dictator. Hitler was dictator (Application of CAP that maps professions to the people that perform it) ● Marked reading of capacity nouns. Marie is een dictator. Mary is a dictator (Coercion into kind + application of REL)
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Problem I and its solution
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Observation De Swart et al. (2007) treat the “non-capacity” reading of capacity nouns but don’t treat the “capacity” reading of non-capacity nouns.
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Question Can it be incorporated into their account ? NO! Reason Non-capacity nouns being of type have no reason to shift when they occur in predicate position. No coercion mechanism can be exploited.
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e Capacities non-capacity nouns Kinds ? CAP
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e Capacities non-capacity nouns Kinds CAP (operator creating Kinds)
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Solving the problem ● The problem the analysis faces is that it does not foresee a type clash for non-capacity nouns in predicate position. ● Solution: create one. Proposal Non-capacity nouns are generated as type e, subtype ‘kinds’. + (temporary assumption) REL is in some way connected to the presence of NumP
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e Capacities non-capacity nouns Kinds
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e Capacities Kinds
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e Capacities non-capacity nouns Kinds
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e Capacities non-capacity nouns Kinds REL [with NumP]
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e Capacities non-capacity nouns Kinds REL [without NumP] CAP
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‘Tiny’ objection Unlike capacity nouns non-capacity nouns cannot be used bare in argument position. How can they then be of type e ? Advocaat is een mooi beroep. Lawyer is a nice profession *Wolf is een bedreigde diersoort. Wolf is an endangered species
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‘Tiny’ objection Advocaat is een mooi beroep. Lawyer is a nice profession *Wolf is een bedreigde diersoort. Wolf is an endangered species *De advocaat is een mooi beroep. The lawyer is a nice profession De wolf is een bedreigde diersoort. The wolf is an endangered species Gist of my reply: the bare form of non-capacity nouns is blocked by DPs headed by the definite article. Fair question: why is this not also the case for capacity nouns ?
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‘Tiny’ objection Advocaat is een mooi beroep. Lawyer is a nice profession *Wolf is een bedreigde diersoort. Wolf is an endangered species *De advocaat is een mooi beroep. The lawyer is a nice profession De wolf is een bedreigde diersoort. The wolf is an endangered species Gist of my reply: the bare form of non-capacity nouns is blocked by DPs headed by the definite article. Fair question: why is this not also the case for capacity nouns ? Answer: the combination of the definite article with the version of a capacity doesn’t give us a capacity.
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e Capacities non-capacity nouns Kinds REL non-capacity nouns with NumP (intensional version of iota)
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e Capacities capacity nouns with NumP Kinds REL (intensional version of iota) capacity nouns
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e capacity nouns Capacities capacity nouns with NumP Kinds REL iota
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Summary In order to derive the ‘capacity’ reading of non-capacity nouns I claimed that non-capacity nouns are generated as expressions of type e, subtype kinds. The analysis, as it stands, can explain both the unmarked and the marked readings of both capacity and non-capacity nouns.
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Problem II and its solution
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Question Where does this constraint come from ? It doesn’t seem to have a semantic motivation... Recall
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Drifting (apparently) further away from semantics... Proposal Non-capacity nouns have a feature that has to be checked. The role of the indefinite article in predicate position is to check it. Question I: Why the indefinite article ? Question II: Why (apparently) only in predicate position ? Wanneer een dictator een land bezoekt zijn er altijd betogingen. When a dictator visits a country there are always manifestations Question III: What happens in other positions ?
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Question I: Why the indefinite article ? -> background on articles -> background on kinds
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Background on articles (1) Marking argumenthood In languages that have articles they are obligatory in argument position (in as far as they render the same semantics as the bare form) *I have cat. *Man came to see me. Marking uniqueness In languages that distinguish between a definite and an indefinite article the definite article (in the singular) is marked for uniqueness whereas the indefinite article is unmarked. I saw the teacher. I saw a teacher. !!! By not using the definite article the speaker does trigger an implicature of non-uniqueness.
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Background on articles (2) both constructions are unmarked for uniqueness both pragmatically imply non-uniqueness wherever both are possible (i.e. in predicate position) the construction with the indefinite article marks non-uniqueness (marked form linked to marked meaning) indefinite article vs. bare form
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Background on kinds Kinds are regularities that occur in nature. (Chierchia 1998) Two corollaries: ● their members have to show a sufficiently regular behaviour ● they should – in potential – have more than one member
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Question I: Why the indefinite article ? -> background on articles -> background on kinds ● their members have to show a sufficiently regular behaviour ● they should – in potential – have more than one member In predicate position the indefinite article marks non-uniqueness.
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Question I: Why the indefinite article ? -> background on articles In predicate position the indefinite article marks non-uniqueness. -> background on kinds Their members should in principle be non-unique. Answer If we assume that the feature present on non-capacity nouns is [-unique] there is a straightforward reason to choose the indefinite article as a checker.
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Question II: Why only in predicate position ? Recall Answer Given that the ind. article can only mark non-uniqueness when it’s in competition with the bare form and given that this competition only surfaces in predicate position it can only check [-unique] in predicate position.
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Question III: What happens in other positions ? ● The capacity vs. non-capacity distinction is linguistically fully exploited in the domain. ● In the e domain no trace remains (singular kinds are always marked with the definite) ● In the,t> domain there is no grammaticalized way to express the distinction between the two. -> neutralization -> neutralization presupposes the use of kinds (given that they are ‘bigger’ than capacities) -> checking of the [-unique] feature by determiners (linked to the D- projection)
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Summary In an attempt to make the appearance of the indefinite article more insightful I explored the possibility to link its presence to the marking of non-uniqueness. Interesting aspects: ● link with standard semantics/pragmatics of the indefinite article ● analysis derives why it’s only in the domain that the indefinite article marks the distinction between capacity and non-capacity nouns (only domain in which the indefinite competes with the bare form) ● analysis derives why the distinction is neutralized in the,t> domain (no grammaticalized way of marking non-uniqueness)
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Recap
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Overview Goal Improve on the analysis proposed by de Swart, Winter en Zwarts (2007) ● non-capacity nouns are generated as type e, subtype kinds ● non-capacity nouns come with a [-unique] feature that has to be checked -> in the domain: indefinite article -> in the,t> domain: vacuously by any determiner
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