
Alternatives as sources of semantic dependency
Author(s) -
Anamaria Fălăuș
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
proceedings from semantics and linguistic theory
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2163-5951
pISSN - 2163-5943
DOI - 10.3765/salt.v0i20.2546
Subject(s) - generalization , typology , constraint (computer aided design) , computer science , dependency (uml) , variation (astronomy) , linguistics , epistemology , meaning (existential) , natural language processing , mathematics , artificial intelligence , sociology , philosophy , anthropology , astrophysics , physics , geometry
This paper focuses on the properties of the Romanian determiner 'vreun', and has two objectives. First, it seeks to provide an adequate description of its restricted distribution. Refining previous observations in the literature (Farkas 2002, 2006), I argue that the occurrence of 'vreun' in intensional contexts is sensitive to epistemic alternatives, and put forward a generalization that captures its use (‘the epistemic constraint’). Second, we aim to provide an explanation for the observed pattern, in a way that situates 'vreun' in a broader typology of dependent indefinites. The proposed account is couched in a unified, alternative-based approach to polarity-sensitivity, due to Chierchia (2006 et seq). In line with this theory, we reduce the differences between 'vreun' and other dependent indefinites to essentially two factors: (i) the types of alternatives these items activate and (ii) the way these alternatives are factored into meaning by alternative-sensitive operators. The present paper can be regarded as part of a more general research program which aims to understand the parameters of variation among dependent indefinites and to seek a principled explanation for the attested diversity.