[lingtalks] Friday: Gennaro Chierchia (Linguistics Colloquium)

[Klinton Bicknell]

On FRIDAY 14 November at 2pm, Gennaro Chierchia (Harvard; http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~lingdept/f_chierchia.html 
  ) will give a colloquium in the UCSD Linguistics Department, in AP&M  
4301.

*Please note that this is a FRIDAY, not our usual Monday time slot.*

:: Abstract ::

Polarity Sensitivity and Semantic Variation

Gennaro Chierchia
Harvard University

Much recent work seems to be leading in the direction of an  
interesting (if controversial) reassessment of the semantics/ 
pragmatics interface. This can be seen, in particular, from the debate  
on Scalar Implicatures (SIs) and the proposal that these fall squarely  
within the realm of the computational system of grammar as focus and  
focus sensitive operators are (Fox 06, Chierchia 06, Spector 07, among  
others). This provides us with a framework to approach polarity  
sensitivity, which has proven to be quite effective. Polarity  
Sensitive Items (PSIs) are associated with SIs that turn out to be  
responsible for their distribution. Unlike what happens with ordinary  
SIs, the implicatures associated with PSIs are obligatory. In the  
present framework, this is to be imputed to the fact that alternatives  
of PSIs are always active and hence they must be factored into via the  
relevant alternative sensitive operators (an analogue of even or  
only). In other terms, while the some’s scalar alternatives may or may  
not be active, any’s alternatives always are, which in positive  
contexts gives rise to a contradiction. This is the key to  
understanding the distribution of NPIs.

In the present work, I will try to illustrate how this framework lends  
itself to an account of typological variations in the distribution of  
PSIs. I will concentrate, in particular, on two phenomena. The first  
concerns the difference between PSIs of the Germanic type (English  
any, German irgendein) that play the double role of NPIs and Free  
Choice Items, vs. PSIs of the Romance type that use distinct morphemes  
for NPIs (Italian nessuno, alcuno) and FCIs (qualsiasi, qualunque).  
The second phenomenon concerns the difference between PSIs that are  
basically indefinites, like English any or Italian alcuno, and PSIs  
that cannot be so analyzed, like at all or affatto.

-- 

For further information about the Linguistics department colloquia
series, including the schedule of future events, please visit http://ling.ucsd.edu/events/colloquia.html 
  .