Work

Anaphoric potential of cumulative dependencies

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: This paper discusses the anaphoric potential of non-quantificational plural arguments, inquiring whether cumulative readings introduce new 'quantificational dependencies'. I show that (i) 'quantificational subordination' against non-distributive readings is often quite degraded, but (ii) common knowledge inference sometimes improves its acceptability, and (iii) non-distributive plural anaphora against cumulative readings may induce a co-varying reading. This suggests that cumulative readings may indeed introduce new dependencies, but their availability is limited. I propose that non-distributive readings ‘underspecify’ dependencies, while distributive readings highlight specific dependencies, and its interaction with pronoun maximality blocks quantificational subordination against cumulative readings. I implement it with 'State-based Dynamic Plural Logic' which keeps track of 'quantificational alternatives'.

Source: Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung

DOI: 10.18148/sub/2024.v28.1155

Author: Nakamura, Takanobu

Language: English

Topic: Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

Award: A Sentence Uttered Makes a World Appear---Natural Language Interpretation as Abductive Model Generation

OpenAlex ID: W6888059231

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