On the semantics of Czech free relatives

Vol.64,No.1(2016)

Radek Šimík

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/135453

PDF
Abstract
This paper offers a semantic analysis of Czech free relatives and pays particular attention to so called ever free relatives, i.e. free relatives whose wh-word is modified by the ever morpheme (the postfix -koli(v) in Czech). I argue that Czech free relatives should be uniformly analyzed as definite descriptions, denoting the maximal (plural) entity that satisfies the description provided by the free relative. I show that the analysis can be extended to Czech ever free relatives, despite the fact that they only exhibit the universal-like reading and not the identity reading, the latter of which has always figured prominently as an argument for the definiteness of ever free relatives. I argue that the reason for the lack of the identity reading is the stricter variation requirement imposed the denotation of ever free relatives in Czech (compared to, say, English). In particular, I argue that the denotation of an ever free relative in Czech must covary with a variable bound by a clausemate quantifier. This, in effect, makes Czech ever free relatives instances of "dependent definites" – a correlate of the better known "dependent indefinites".

Keywords:
ever free relatives; dependent definites; semantics; Czech

Pages:
109–129
References

Alonso-Ovalle, Luis – Menéndez-Benito, Paula. 2010. Modal indefinites. Natural Language Semantics. 18(1), pp. 1–31. | DOI 10.1007/s11050-009-9048-4

Barwise, Jon – Cooper, Robin. 1981. Generalized quantifiers and natural language. Linguistics and Philosophy. 4, pp. 159–219. | DOI 10.1007/BF00350139

Berman, Stephen. 1991. On the semantics and logical form of wh-clauses. Ph.D. thesis. University of Massachusetts.

Berman, Stephen. 1994. On the semantics of wh-clauses. New York: Garland.

Bresnan, Joan – Grimshaw, Jane. 1978. The syntax of free relatives in English. Linguistic Inquiry. 9(3), pp. 331–391.

Caponigro, Ivano. 2002. Free relatives as DPs with a silent D and a CP complement. In: Proceedings of WECOL 2000. Fresno, CA: California State University, pp. 140–150.

Caponigro, Ivano. 2003. Free not to ask: On the semantics of free relatives and wh-words crosslinguistically. Ph.D. thesis. University of California.

Carlson, Greg N. – Pelletier, Francis, eds. 1995. The generic book. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Citko, Barbara. 2004. On headed, headless, and light-headed relatives. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 22(1), pp. 95 –126. | DOI 10.1023/B:NALA.0000005564.33961.e0

Citko, Barbara. 2010. On the distribution of -kolwiek 'ever' in Polish free relatives. Journal of Slavic Linguistics. 18(2), pp. 221–258. | DOI 10.1353/jsl.2010.0001

Condoravdi, Cleo. 2008. Whatever: Free choice and uncertainty. Presented in the Informal Formal Semantics Group, Stanford University, November 2008.

Copley, Bridget Lynn. 2002. The semantics of the future. Ph.D. thesis. MIT.

Dayal, Veneeta. 1997. Free relatives and ever: identity and free choice readings. In: SALT 7: Proceedings from the 7th Conference on Semantics and Linguistic Theory. Ithaca, NY: CLC Publications, pp. 99–116.

Elbourne, Paul D. 2005. Situations and individuals. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Elbourne, Paul D. 2013. Definite descriptions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Elliott, Dale. 1971. The grammar of emotive and exclamatory sentences in English. Ph.D. thesis. Ohio State University.

Enҫ, Mürvet. 1996. Tense and modality. In: Lappin, Shalom, ed. Handbook of contemporary semantic theory. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 345–358.

Farkas, Donka. 2002. Specificity distinctions. Journal of Semantics. 19, pp. 1–31.

Farkas, Donka F. 1997. Dependent indefinites. In: Corblin, Francis et al., eds. Empirical issues in syntax and semantics. Bern: Peter Lang, pp. 243–267.

von Fintel, Kai. 1994. Restrictions on quantifier domains. Ph.D. thesis. University of Massachusetts.

von Fintel, Kai. 2000. Whatever. In: SALT 10: Proceedings from the 10th Conference on Semantics and Linguistic Theory. NY: CLC Publications, pp. 27–39.

Frege, Gottlob. 1892. Über Sinn und Bedeutung. Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik. 100, pp. 25–50.

Giannakidou, Anastasia – Cheng, Lisa Lai-Shen. 2006. (In)definiteness, polarity, and the role of wh-morphology in free choice. Journal of Semantics. 23(2), pp. 135–183. | DOI 10.1093/jos/ffl001

Grosu, Alexander. 1996. The proper analysis of "missing-p" free relative constructions. Linguistic Inquiry. 27, pp. 257–293.

Grosu, Alexander – Landman, Fred. 1998. Strange relatives of the third kind. Natural Language Semantics. 6(2), pp. 125–170. | DOI 10.1023/A:1008268401837

Heller, Daphna – Wolter, Lynsey. 2008. Identity and indeterminacy in -ever free relatives. In: SALT 18: Proceedings from the 18th Conference on Semantics and Linguistic Theory. Ithaca, NY: CLC Publications, pp. 394–410.

Heller, Daphna – Wolter, Lynsey. 2011. On identification and transworld identity in natural language: The case of -ever free relatives. Linguistics and Philosophy. 34(2), pp. 169–199. | DOI 10.1007/s10988-011-9095-4

Hinterwimmer, Stefan. 2008. Q-adverbs as selective binders: The quantificational variability of free relatives and definite DPs. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Iatridou, Sabine – Varlokosta, Spyridoula. 1998. Pseudoclefts crosslinguistically. Natural Language Semantics. 6(1), pp. 3–28. | DOI 10.1023/A:1008272704531

Jacobson, Pauline. 1988. The syntax and semantics of free relatives in English. Presented at the LSA Winter Meeting.

Jacobson, Pauline. 1995. On the quantificational force of English free relatives. In: Bach, Emmon et al., eds. Quantification in natural languages. Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 451–486.

Karlík, Petr. 2013. K vztažným větám bez hlavy. In Faltýnek, Dan – Gvoždiak, Vít, eds. Tygramatika: Soubor studií věnovaných prof. Janu Kořenskému k 75. narozeninám, Praha: Dokořán, pp. 91–106.

Kratzer, Angelika. 1989. An investigation of the lumps of thought. Linguistics and Philosophy. 12(5), pp. 607–653. | DOI 10.1007/BF00627775

Kratzer, Angelika. 2008. Situations in natural language semantics. In: Zalta, Edward, ed. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy [online]. [29.10.2015]. Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/.

Larson, Richard. 1987. "Missing prepositions" and English free relative clauses. Linguistic Inquiry. 18(2), pp. 239–266.

Lauer, Sven. 2009. Free relatives with -ever: Meaning and use. Qualifying paper, Stanford University.

Link, Godehard. 1983. The logical analysis of plural and mass terms: A lattice theoretical approach. In: Bäuerle, Rainer et al., eds. Meaning, use, and interpretation of language. Berlin: de Gruyter, pp. 302–323.

Partee, Barbara. 1987. Noun phrase interpretation and type-shifting principles. In: Groenendijk, Jeroen et al., eds. Studies in discourse representation and the theory of generalized quantifiers. Dordrecht: Foris, pp. 115–143.

Percus, Orin. 2000. Constraints on some other variables in syntax. Natural Language Semantics. 8, pp. 173–229.

Pereltsvaig, Asya. 2008. Russian -nibud' items as dependent indefinites. In: WCCFL 27: Proceedings of the 27th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, pp. 370–378.

Rawlins, Kyle. 2008. (Un)conditionals: An investigation in the syntax and semantics of conditional structures. Ph.D. thesis. University of California, Santa Cruz.

Rawlins, Kyle. 2013. (Un)conditionals. Natural Language Semantics. 40(2), pp. 111–178. | DOI 10.1007/s11050-012-9087-0

Rullmann, Hotze. 1995. Maximality in the semantics of wh-constructions. Ph.D. thesis. University of Massahussetts.

Schwarz, Florian. 2009. Two types of definites in natural language. Ph.D. thesis. University of Massachusetts.

Šimík, Radek. 2010. Free relatives at the interface. In: Zwart, Jan-Wouter – de Vries, Mark, eds. Structure preserved: Studies in syntax for Jan Koster. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 321–328.

Sternefeld, Wolfgang. 2006. Do free relative clauses have quantificational force? In: Gärtner, Hans Martin et al., eds. Between 40 and 60 puzzles for Krifka [online]. [29.10.2015]. Available at: http://www.zas.gwz-berlin.de/publications/40-60-puzzlesfor-krifka/pdf/sternefeld.pdf.

Tredinnick, Victoria. 1994. On the interpretation and distribution of the suffix -ever in English free relatives. In: Proceedings of ConSOLE II, Tübingen 1993. The Hague: Holland Academic Graphics.

Tredinnick, Victoria. 2005. On the semantics of free relatives with -ever. Ph.D. thesis. University of Pennsylvania.

Wiltschko, Martina. 1998. The syntax and semantics of free relatives. In: WCCFL 17: Proceedings of the 17th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.

Metrics

7

Views

0

PDF views

PDF