1. Bare arguments Semantic Structures ‘09

2. Carlson (1977) Semantic Structures ‘09

3. Overview BP is not the plural counterpart of a is not an indefinite the generic and the existential reading of BPs are two sides of the same coin how to connect the sides of the coin?

4. Overview BP is not the plural counterpart of a is not an indefinite the generic and the existential reading of BPs are two sides of the same coin how to connect the sides of the coin?

5. The BP: a weird thing Minnie wishes to talk to a young psychiatrist. Minnie’s wish is to talk to a psychiatrist. There is a young psychiatrist such that it is Minnie’s wish to talk to him. ok OPACITY PHENOMENA

6. The BP: a weird thing Minnie wishes to talk to psychiatrists. Minnie’s wish is to talk to a psychiatrists. There are psychiatrists such that it is Minnie’s wish to talk to them. ok # OPACITY PHENOMENA

7. The BP: a weird thing Minnie wishes to talk to a few psychiatrists. Minnie’s wish is to talk to a few psychiatrists. There are a few psychiatrists such that it is Minnie’s wish to talk to them. ok # OPACITY PHENOMENA

8. The BP: a weird thing opacity phenomena = scope with respect to intensional verbs (such as believe verbs) whereas bare plurals can only take scope below the intensional verb, regular indefinites can take scope below and above it OPACITY PHENOMENA

9. The BP: a weird thing Everyone read a book on caterpillars. For everyone there is a book on caterpillars that is such that he/she read it. There is a book on caterpillars such that everyone read it. ok NARROW SCOPE

10. The BP: a weird thing Everyone read books on caterpillars. For everyone there are books on caterpillars that are such that he/she read them. There are books on caterpillars such that everyone read them. ok # NARROW SCOPE

11. The BP: a weird thing Everyone read two books on caterpillars. For everyone there are two books on caterpillars that is such that he/she read them. There are two books on caterpillars such that everyone read them. ok NARROW SCOPE

12. The BP: a weird thing whereas bare plurals can only take scope below other operators, regular indefinites can take scope below and above them NARROW SCOPE

13. The BP: a weird thing A dog was everywhere. The indefinite cannot scope below everywhere. Only reading: There is a dog such that it was in all places (at the same time). Not: In all places there was a dog (at the same time) DIFFERENTIATED SCOPE

14. The BP: a weird thing Dogs were everywhere. The BP can scope below everywhere. Only reading: In all places there were dogs. Not: There are dogs such that they were in all places (at the same time) DIFFERENTIATED SCOPE

15. The BP: a weird thing A flag was hanging in front of every building. There was a flag such that is was hanging in front of every building. In front of every building there was a flag hanging. DIFFERENTIATED SCOPE ok

16. The BP: a weird thing According to Carlson BPs can sometimes take scope below operators indefinites cannot take scope under. This might however be due to his choice of examples. What does seem to hold is that bare plurals can only take narrow scope. DIFFERENTIATED SCOPE

17. The BP: a weird thing Harriet caught a rabbit yesterday, and Ozzie caught it today. a rabbit and it have a different referent a rabbit and it have the same referent ANAPHORA # ok

18. The BP: a weird thing Harriet caught rabbits yesterday, and Ozzie caught them today. rabbits and them have a different referent rabbits and them have the same referent ANAPHORA ok

19. The BP: a weird thing Max killed very few rabbits, but Hiram killed them in great abundance. Ozzie bought a potato because they contain vitamin C. ANAPHORA

20. The BP: a weird thing According to Carlson BPs sometimes allow for anaphora indefinites don’t allow for. This might however be due to his choice of pronoun. (plurals can pick up both kinds and normal individuals whereas singulars cannot) DIFFERENTIATED SCOPE

21. Overview BP is not the plural counterpart of a is not an indefinite the generic and the existential reading of BPs are two sides of the same coin how to connect the sides of the coin? hold don’t clearly hold

22. Overview BP is not the plural counterpart of a is not an indefinite the generic and the existential reading of BPs are two sides of the same coin how to connect the sides of the coin?

23. Bare plurals and kinds “A unified analysis is not only desirable, but necessary, if we are to have a complete account of this construction.”

24. Bare plurals and kinds Two sides of the same coin... Argument #1: they are in complementary distribution Children are playing in the garden. Children are intelligent. Why is this not a very strong argument?

25. Bare plurals and kinds Two sides of the same coin... Argument #2: unambiguously kind-referring DPs behave in the same way: This kind of human being is playing in the garden. This kind of human being is intelligent. Why is this still not very strong?

26. Bare plurals and kinds Strongest point: Unambiguously kind-referring DPs behave scopally in the same way! ->If we assume that BPs are kind-referring we get the funny scope behaviour for free!

27. Bare plurals and kinds Max believes this kind of animal to have eaten his pet sponge. No specific instantiation of this kind of animal can be intended.

28. Bare plurals and kinds Everyone saw this kind of animal. A reading according to which there is a particular instantiation of this kind of animal that everyone saw is not available.

29. Overview BP is not the plural counterpart of a is not an indefinite the generic and the existential reading of BPs are two sides of the same coin how to connect the sides of the coin? case depends on scope-facts

30. Overview BP is not the plural counterpart of a is not an indefinite the generic and the existential reading of BPs are two sides of the same coin how to connect the sides of the coin?

31. Kinds and their instantiations Carlson doesn’t give an explicit semantics for the generic readings. For the existential readings he proposes that there are predicates that select kinds and existentially quantify over their instantiations. y  x[R(x,y)&P(x)]

32. Kinds and their instantiations y  x[R(x,y)&P(x)] To be here y  x[R(x,y)&Here(x)] Not to be here y  x[R(x,y)&Here(x)] Cats_kind y  x[R(x,y)&Here(x)](Cats_kind)  x[R(x,Cats_kind)&Here(x)]

34. Dayal (2009) Semantic Structures ‘09

35. Longobardi Il mio Gianni ha finalmente telefonato. the my John has finally called My Johnny finally called. *Mio Gianni ha finalmente telefonato. my John has finally called My Johnny has finally called. ITALIAN PROPER NAMES

36. Longobardi Il mio Gianni ha finalmente telefonato. the my John has finally called My Johnny finally called. *Mio Gianni ha finalmente telefonato. my John has finally called My Johnny has finally called. def + poss + name poss + name Proposal: il occupies a position that...... has to be filled... cannot be filled by mio... but can be filled by moving Gianni to it ITALIAN PROPER NAMES

37. Longobardi Il mio Gianni ha finalmente telefonato. the my John has finally called My Johnny finally called. *Mio Gianni ha finalmente telefonato. my John has finally called My Johnny has finally called. Gianni mio ha finalmente telefonato. Proposal: il occupies a position that...... has to be filled... cannot be filled by mio... but can be filled by moving Gianni to it ITALIAN PROPER NAMES

38. Longobardi *The my Johnny ha finalmente telefonato. has finally called My Johnny finally called. My Johnny ha finalmente telefonato. has finally called My Johnny has finally called. *Johnny my ha finalmente telefonato. Proposal: the occupies a position that...... hasn’t got to be filled... and therefore shouldn’t be filled... consequently the moving of Johnny to it is not allowed ENGLISH PROPER NAMES

39. Longobardi Proposal: il occupies a position that...... has to be filled... cannot be filled by mio... but can be filled by moving Gianni to it ITALIAN VS. ENGLISH PNs Proposal: the occupies a position that...... hasn’t got to be filled... and therefore shouldn’t be filled... consequently the moving of Johnny to it is not allowed ITALIANENGLISH parameter distinguishing between Italian and English type languages

40. Longobardi *The big dogs bark. the big dogs bark Big dogs bark. big dogs bark Big dogs bark. Dogs big bark. dogs big bark Big dogs bark. ENGLISH COMMON NOUNS Proposal: the occupies a position that...... hasn’t got to be filled... and therefore shouldn’t be filled... consequently the moving of dogs to it is not allowed

41. Longobardi I grandi cani abbaiano the big dogs bark Big dogs bark. *Grandi cani abbaiano big dogs bark Big dogs bark. *Cani grandi abbaiano dogs big bark Big dogs bark. Proposal: i occupies a position that...... has to be filled... cannot be filled by grandi... cannot be filled by cani ITALIAN COMMON NOUNS

42. Longobardi Proposal: i occupies a position that...... has to be filled... cannot be filled by grandi... cannot be filled by cani ITALIAN COMMON NOUNS Proposal: il occupies a position that...... has to be filled... cannot be filled by mio... but can be filled by moving Gianni to it Only proper names can raise to D.

43. Longobardi In order to refer (in argument position) NPs have to be associated with a D. The association with D can be made in syntax or at LF. This association can be made by adding an (overt or covert) D or by moving the noun to D. The latter option is only available for nouns that intrinsically refer to an individual (i.e. proper names). In Italian the association is made in syntax. In English the association is made at LF. UNIVERSAL PARAMETER SETTING

44. Longobardi ! Ho mangiato biscotti. I_have eaten biscuits I ate biscuits. ITALIAN COMMON NOUNS Proposal: In ‘properly governed positions’ a null determiner can be inserted into D. = everywhere except in preverbal subject position

45. Type-shifting ? Types ? Types... two basic types: - individuals(type e) - truth values(type t) Hu Jintao type e president(s) type Hu Jintao is president. e+ = t TRUE!

46. Type-shifting ? Types ? Types... two basic types: - individuals(type e) - truth values(type t) Hu Jintao type e smile type Hu Jintao [smile]. e+ = t TRUE!

47. Type-shifting ? Types ? Types... two basic types: - individuals(type e) - truth values(type t) president(s) type smile type Presidents [smile]. + = ? OOPS...

48. Type-shifting ? Types ? Type-shifting... president(s) type xPresident(x)  Q  x[President(x)&Q(x)] type,t> xPresident(x)  x[President(x)] type e xPresident(x)  KIND x[President(x)] type e

49. Type-shifting ? Types ? Type-shifting... smile type Presidents [smile].,t>+ = t Q  x[President(x)&Q(x)] type,t>  x[President(x)] type e KIND x[President(x)] type e e+ = t

50. Type-shifting ? Types ? Type-shifting... Can we do whatever we want? NO! Two constraints: THOU SHALT NOT shift unless needed. THOU SHALT NOT shift covertly if you have a determiner that makes the same shift overtly.

51. Type-shifting ? Types ? Type-shifting... smile type Presidents [smile].,t>+ = t Q  x[President(x)&Q(x)] type,t>  x[President(x)] type e KIND x[President(x)] type e e+ = t

52. Type-shifting ? Types ? Type-shifting... Hu Jintao type e the president type e Hu Jintao type e (is) the president type e +=?  xPresident(x)  y[y=  xPresident(x)] type Hu Jintao type e (is) the president type += t

53. Type-shifting ? Types ? Type-shifting... e,t>  KIND IDENT  Realization BE

54. Chierchia Longobardi: Italian common nouns need a D to be able to appear in argument position. English common nouns don’t need a D to be able to appear in argument position. Chierchia: Italian common nouns are of type and cannot be type-shifted (at least not without a covert D). [-arg; +pred] English common nouns are of type and can be type-shifted to type e or type,t>. [+arg; +pred] Chierchia & Longobardi

55. Chierchia Chierchia: Italian common nouns are of type and cannot be type-shifted (at least not without a covert D). [-arg; +pred] English common nouns are of type and can be type-shifted to type e or type,t>. [+arg; +pred] Why aren’t there bare singular arguments in Italian? Why aren’t there bare singular arguments in English? Chierchia Quiz

56. Chierchia How does he derive the narrow-scope behaviour of the English bare plural? e,t> KIND  Realization English bare plural

57. Chierchia How does he derive the narrow-scope behaviour of the Italian bare plural? Italian bare plural e,t> KIND  Realization

58. Chierchia Does he have anything to say about other languages? [-arg; +pred] [+arg; +pred] [-arg; -pred] [+arg; -pred] Italian English No language Chinese Typology

59. Chierchia Extra assumption about Chinese: all nouns start life as kind-referring expressions -> predicts narrow-scope behaviour Extra trivia about Chinese: - language that doesn’t have number marking on nouns - language that doesn’t have articles Chinese

60. Chierchia What are the possible English translations of xueshing (‘student’)? a student the student students (existential) students (kind) the students Can xueshing appear in a sentence like Hu shi xueshing (‘Hu is student’)? Chierchia Quiz

61. Chierchia What Chierchia adds to type-shifting: - typology (extra constraint on type-shifting) - all argumental uses of bare nominals across all languages pass through kinds (and therefore only take narrow scope) => NEO-CARLSONIAN ANALYSIS

62. Dayal There’s a small problem in Hindi: #caaro taraf bacca khel rahaa thaa four ways child play PROG PAST ‘A (same) child was playing everywhere.’ If bare nominals are always kind-referring and always take narrow-scope the above sentence should be fine...but it’s not... Does this endanger the generalization that bare nominals always refer to kinds and that they always take narrow scope? Dayal & Chierchia

63. Dayal NO! Hindi distinguishes between singular and plural kinds. Singular kinds do not allow access to their instantiations. two of these whales -> two of this type of whale two of this whale -> two of this type of whale The only way to derive a reading for bacca is through the  type-shift. The apparent indefinite reading arises because the covert  type-shift doesn’t carry any familiarity requirement. Dayal & Chierchia

64. Overview Longobardi -> syntax Italian, English Chierchia -> semantics Italian, English, Chinese languages vary along the pred and arg parameters all bare noun arguments refer to kinds and take narrow scope Dayal ->semantics Hindi all bare noun arguments refer to kinds but only plural kinds allow access to their instantiations

66. What about your language? a.Otokonoko-ga asonde-iru boy-Nomplay-Prog ‘A boy is / boys are playing.’ b.Itariazin-wa yooki-da Italian-Top cheerful-Cop ‘Italians are cheerful.’ c.Zyosei-tantei-wa mezurasii female-detective-Top rare ‘Female private detectives are rare.’ d.Sono byooin-wa kangohu-o sagasi-teiru that hospital-Top nurse-ACC look for-Prog ‘That hospital is looking for a nurse / nurses.’

67. What about your language? a.Jeg vet at det fins elger her. I know that there exist elk PL,INDEF here. 'I know there are elks here.' b.Elger har fire bein. Elks have four legs c.#Elger er ikke utrydningstruet. Elks are not threatened by extinction. d.Jon leser ikke bøker. 'John doesn't read books. e.Jon ønsker å møte filmstjerner. 'John wants to meet movie stars.'

68. What about your language? a.*Ballenas son mamíferos. whales are mammals b.Las ballenas son mamíferos. the whales are mammals ‘Whales are mammals.’ c.A la reunión no asistieron profesores. at the meeting not attended professors ‘No professors attended the meeting.’ d.Esta empresa busca secretarias. this company looks_for secretaries ‘This company is looking for secretaries.’

69. What about your language? a.Walvissen zijn zoogdieren. whales are mammals ‘Whales are mammals.’ b.Zij werkt niet samen met collega’s. she works not together with colleagues ‘She doesn’t collaborate with colleagues.’ c.Ik ben op zoek naar secretaresses. I am in search at secretaries ‘I’m looking for secretaries.’