Journal Issue: Proceedings of the 40th Annual Penn Linguistics Conference
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Publication “I didn’t drink and drove a car” Neg Expresses Eccentric Triplets(2017-01-01) Yoda, Yusuke; Kobayashi, RyoichiroThis paper aims to propose an account of the scope between negation and VP-coordination in Japanese. We investigate a scope puzzle between negation and VP-coordination, which has been unexplained. We claim that VP-coordination and negation have three readings: (i) Suspended Affixation Reading (neg > VP1 > VP2); (ii) non-Suspended Affixation Reading (VP1 > neg > VP2); and (iii) the third reading (VP2 > neg > VP1), which has been unnoticed. This reading is yielded via the phase-based interpretation system, as well as De Morgan’s Law, which only applies to negation.Publication The Semantic Ontology of Agent and Theme: A Case Study with Event Partitioning Quantifiers in Japanese(2017-01-01) Nakamura, TakanobuThe primary aim of this paper is a description of a previously unanalyzed kind of numeral quantifiers in Japanese. While the purpose is modest, I believe that it might shed light on the Neo-Davidsonian semantic architecture (see Parsons 1990, Schein 1993 and Kratzer 1996 among others). Specifically, I will introduce Event Partitioning Quantifiers (EPQs), which have not been analyzed in literature and show that with an EPQ, agents of events and themes of events are quantified independently of both an event expressed by a lexical verb and host nominals in the subject or in the object. Based on this observation, I discuss the semantic independence of thematic roles Agent and Theme from their corresponding verb.Publication The Particle Mo in Japanese and its Roles in Numeral Indeterminate Phrases(2017-01-01) Mohri, FumioThe main purpose of this paper is to provide an appropriate explanation for the so-called numeral indeterminate (NI) constructions, in which mo is accompanied by an indeterminate pronoun+ Cl(assifier). The quirky character of this construction is that apparently mo is applied to the denotation of a numeral indeterminate nan-nin as a syntactic binder and at the same it invokes a scalar reading. The assumption that mo should be a syntactic binder can be corroborated from the fact that the NI construction is degraded without the particle mo. Also mo as a scalar particle attributes an implicit large reading. This large reading can also be observed in cases where the indeterminate is replaced by a specific numeral, e,g, yo-nin-mo ‘four-Cl-mo’. To the best of my knowledge, Kobuchi-Philip (2010) and Oda (2012) are the only works that deal with this construction. Especially Oda extensively discusses every possible means to explain this construction and works out a solution by assuming that the suffix mo functions multiply as an existential quantifier and a scalar particle. Through this paper, I will support her claim for its double functions, but I will clarify that the functions are both derived from a core semantic property of mo, namely, maximality. In other words, these functions work individually, but the component of maximality is placed in the center of the semantics of both usages.Publication Multi-Value Asymmetry in Number Agreement and Concord(2017-01-01) Shen, ZhengIn this paper I present cross-linguistic data of NRNR, TP RNR, and composed plurality to argue for the multi-value asymmetry between the N and the T domain. I propose that the asymmetry can be accounted for by assuming that T heads have multiple unvalued number features while N heads have only one. The proposal is compatible with the unified Agree analysis of concord and agreement and it is further supported by the mismatch cases of multi-valuation.Publication Speech Act Phrase, Conjectural Questions, and Hearer(2017-01-01) Oguro, TakeshiSpeech Act Phrase is proposed by Speas and Tenny (2003) as a projection hosting discourse roles such as Speaker and Hearer. Miyagawa (2012) argues for its existence by looking at Japanese WH-questions. His proposal is that the politeness marker motivates the presence of Hearer, which is necessary in information-seeking questions. In this paper, I deal with conjectural questions, which do not require the presence of Hearer, and argue for the relevance of Speaker to them. In particular, I examine the behavior of yara-conjectural questions and daroo ka-conjectural questions. I suggest that they contain a modal projection, whose Spec hosts a Point-of-View operator, whose value is determined by the closest c-commanding sentient element. In conjectural questions, Speaker is the only relevant c-commander, since they are typically uttered in soliloquy. I also consider polite versions of such questions, which involve Hearer. Despite the presence of Hearer, which is due to the presence of a politeness marker, the conjectural question interpretation is allowed in these questions. This is, I argue, because in these questions, unlike in information-seeking questions, Hearer is positioned lower than CP, which makes Speaker the only sentient c-commander of the Point-of-View operator. This analysis can be applied to cover the pattern of Jussive clauses as well.Publication Preface(2017-01-01) Djärv, Kajsa; Goodwin Davies, AmyThe University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics (PWPL) is an occasional series published by the Penn Graduate Linguistics Society. The series has included volumes of previously unpublished work, or work in progress, by linguists with an ongoing affiliation with the Department, as well as volumes of papers from NWAV and the Penn Linguistics Colloquium/Conference. This volume contains selected papers from the 40th Penn Linguistics Conference, held from March 18-20, 2016 in Philadelphia, PA, at the University of Pennsylvania. Thanks go to Luke Adamson, Faruk Akkuş, Hezekiah Akiva Bacovcin, Ryan Budnick, Spencer Caplan, Andrea Ceolin, Nattanun Chanchaochai, Mao-Hsu Chen, Sunghye Cho, Ava Creemers, Aletheia Cui, Sabriya Fisher, Duna Gylfadottir, Ava Irani, Helen Jeoung, Jordan Kodner, Wei Lai, Ruaridh Purse, Nari Rhee, Caitlin Richter, Milena Šereikaitė, Einar Freyr Sigurðsson, Betsy Sneller, Lacey Arnold Wade, and Robert J. Wilder for their help in editing. Since Vol. 14.2, PWPL has been an internet-only publication. As of September 2014, the entire back catalog has been digitized and made available on ScholarlyCommons@Penn. Please continue citing PWPL papers or issues as you would a print journal article, though you may also provide the URL of the manuscript. An example is below: Akkuş, Faruk and Balkız Öztürk. 2017. On Cognate Objects in Sason Arabic. In University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 23.1, ed. Djärv, Kajsa and Amy Goodwin Davies, 1-10. Available at: http://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol23/iss1/2 Publication in the University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics (PWPL) does not preclude submission of papers elsewhere; copyright is retained by the author(s) of individual papers. The PWPL editors can be contacted at: U. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, 3401-C Walnut Street, Suite 300, C Wing, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228 and working-papers@ling.upenn.edu. Kajsa Djärv and Amy Goodwin Davies, Issue EditorsPublication On Cognate Objects in Sason Arabic(2017-01-01) Akkuş, Faruk; Öztürk, BalkızThis paper investigates the patterns of cognate objects (COs) associated with unergatives and unaccusatives in Sason Arabic. We propose that COs of both unergatives and unaccusatives are not true arguments, as evinced by their highly productive and unrestricted use, but constitute rhematic complements in the sense of Ramchand (2008), therefore cannot be used as diagnostics for unergative-unaccusative distinction in the language.Publication Variants of Indonesian Prepositions as Intra-speaker Variability at PF(2017-01-01) Jeoung, Helen; Biggs, AlisonThis paper discusses the formal representation of morphosyntactic intra-speaker variability in a modular grammar. It presents novel data from Indonesian functional prepositions that exhibit unusual variability in form. It is shown that oleh ‘by’ and dengan ‘with’ may either (i) be phonologically unrealized (Preposition-drop), a process sensitive to syntactic structure, or (ii) may be realized as sama ‘by/with,’ a variant speakers use in an informal style. We establish that it is necessary to invoke distinct processes to formally introduce these outputs: Indonesian preposition-drop is argued to reflect a morphophonological variable deletion rule, while style-shifting is modeled as competition in use of lexical inventories. The variable realization of Indonesian prepositions indicates that it is possible to identify distinct variable processes (competition and variable rules), here operating over a single morphosyntactic item. The appeal to two variable processes follows in part from the nature of the factors (internal or external to the grammar) that condition variability, but we argue that it also follows if implementation additionally obeys constraints imposed by the grammatical architecture. Finally, we find that, in order to maintain modularity, variable processes may have distinct loci in the post-syntactic derivation.Publication Pseudo-gapping: Evidence for Overt Quantifier Raising(2017-01-01) Tanaka, HideharuThis paper explores the grammatical process of pseudo-gapping. In the literature, pseudo-gapping has been analyzed as a series of two operations: the syntactic movement of a remnant out of a VP (Move-R) and the phonological deletion of the VP (VP-deletion). Given this movement + deletion theory, I address what type of movement Move-R is. This paper makes a new argument against Takahashi’s (2004) approach, and for Johnson’s (2008) approach; the former identifies Move-R with the combination of Heavy NP Shift and Object Shift, while the latter identifies it with Quantifier Raising (QR), whose output is covert in general cases. Specifically, it is shown that the latter, but not the former, can predict two facts: that the object of a preposition in an NP-PP argument construction can be a remnant and that no predicate NP can be a remnant. The QR approach is then extended by adopting the single output model of syntax (e.g., Bobaljik 1995). In particular, a new phonological theory of QR is proposed, which provides four possible ways to reduce the chain of QR, depending on whether VP-deletion applies and whether the moved element is focused. This new theory is shown to explain why the output of QR can be overt in pseudo-gapping. Considering the possibility of overt QR, this paper concludes by arguing against the traditional T model of grammar, or the dual output model of syntax (e.g., Chomsky and Lasnik 1977).Publication Case in Polish Predication and Control(2017-01-01) Lindert, PatrickIn this paper, a unification of case markings in Polish predication and control is proposed. It is argued that adjectives with instrumental case marking in control environments are actually modifiers of DPs, and not bare APs, therefore following the predictable case assignment mechanism of Polish predication. This paper discusses cases of subject control and non-obligatory control.