Generalized Free Choice and Missing Alternatives

Meyer, Marie-Christine

doi:10.1093/jos/ffv010

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…We find the answer from the variance in the formation of an alternative set. The inventory of an eligible alternative varies according to Singh et al (2016) and Meyer (2015). There are two types of alternatives in the strengthening process.…”

Section: A Puzzling Case Of -(I)na Disjunctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An -(i)na Disjunction Phrase and a Limited Access to a Scalar Alternative

Kim¹

2018

Lang. Res.

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This paper investigates how conjunctive meaning is derived from a disjunctive phrase, marked by-(i)na, in Korean. Previous studies on English disjunction phrases (Allonso-Ovalle 2005; Simons 2005; Saurland 2004; Fox 2007; Klinedinst 2007) have found that the contexts with possibility modals or plural domains provide environments for conjunctive inferences to be evoked via scalar implicatures. What is interesting in Korean-(i)na phrases is that the contexts where conjunctive meaning is derived from-(i)na appear to be more prevalent than it would have been expected under the system based on English disjunction phrases. I propose that the basic mechanism amounts to that of Fox 2007; Crnic, Chelma, and Fox 2015, among many others. In Korean, however, a lexical scalar alternative of a disjunction phrase, the conjunction phrase, is missing. When a strengthening process applies recursively in the given condition, a conjunctive inference, instead of an exclusive disjunction reading, is derived from a disjunction phrase.

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Section: A Puzzling Case Of -(I)na Disjunctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An -(i)na Disjunction Phrase and a Limited Access to a Scalar Alternative

Kim¹

2018

Lang. Res.

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“…Without application of L at the first disjunct the sentence would actually violate 'Hurford's Constraint' (Hurford 1974), which bans disjunctions when one of the disjuncts entails the other (Fox 2006, Spector 2006, Fox 2007b, Chierchia et al 2008; see also Gazdar 1979 andSimons 2000, and see Chemla 2009, Singh 2012, Meyer 2013, Katzir and Singh 2014 for attempts to derive the constraint from more general principles): 5…”

Section: Local Strengtheningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training and Timing Local Scalar Enrichments under Global Pragmatic Pressures

Chemla¹,

Cummins²,

Singh³

2016

J Semantics

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Elementary sentences containing the quantificational determiner some seem to be ambiguous between a 'weak' existential meaning ∃ and a 'strengthened' some but not all meaning ∃ +. The strengthened meaning is commonly assumed to be the output of a general enrichment mechanism, call it G (for 'global'), that applies to the weak meaning of the sentence: G(∃) = ∃ +. The application of G has been shown to come with a processing cost (e.g., Bott and Noveck 2004). We used a self-paced reading task together with offline comprehension questions to investigate the interpretation of sentences containing some when embedded inside a disjunction, a position that G cannot access. Our findings suggest (i) that the strengthened meaning ∃ + is available in embedded positions, suggesting that a mechanism of local strengthening L must be available: L(∃) = ∃ + , (ii) that local enrichment can be facilitated by global pragmatic pressures (Chierchia et al. 2008, Mayr and Romoli 2014), (iii) that subjects can be quickly trained to systematically prefer one of G or L to the other, (iv) that application of L, like the application of G, comes with a processing cost. We highlight consequences of our findings for debates about the characterization of enrichment mechanisms, focussing on the relation between G and L.

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“…On the grammatical approach to SIs, if one were allowed to freely prune conjunctive alternatives, one would predict that plain disjunction may have a conjunctive meaning, contrary to fact (see Chierchia 2010;Fox and Katzir 2011;Meyer 2012;Ivlieva 2013, and, in particular, Katzir 2013. We illustrate this in the following: if sentence (33a) had a recursively exhaustified structure, as given in (33b), where the domains of the exhaustification operators contain the disjunct alternatives but not the conjunctive alternative, the sentence would entail that both disjuncts are true.…”

Section: A Constraint On Pruningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scalar implicatures of embedded disjunction

2015

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Sentences with disjunction in the scope of a universal quantifier, Every A is P or Q, tend to give rise to distributive inferences that each of the disjuncts holds of at least one individual in the domain of the quantifier, Some A is P & Some A is Q. These inferences are standardly derived as an entailment of the meaning of the sentence together with the scalar implicature that it is not the case that either disjunct holds of every individual in the domain of the quantifier, ¬Every A is P & ¬Every A is Q (plain negated inferences). As we show, this derivation faces a challenge in that distributive inferences may obtain in the absence of plain negated inferences. We address this challenge by showing that on particular assumptions about alternatives, a derivation of distributive inferences as scalar implicatures can be maintained without in fact necessitating plain negated inferences. These assumptions accord naturally with the grammatical approach to scalar implicatures. We also present experimental data that suggest that plain negated inferences are not only unnecessary for deriving distributive inferences, but might in fact be unavailable.

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Generalized Free Choice and Missing Alternatives

Cited by 13 publications

References 46 publications

An -(i)na Disjunction Phrase and a Limited Access to a Scalar Alternative

An -(i)na Disjunction Phrase and a Limited Access to a Scalar Alternative

Training and Timing Local Scalar Enrichments under Global Pragmatic Pressures

Scalar implicatures of embedded disjunction

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