Date: 03-Mar-2011
From: Rachel Nye <rachel.nye gmail.com>
Subject: Short Course: Questions of/and identity
 E-mail this message to a friend
Short Course: Questions of/and identity
Date: 23-Mar-2011 - 25-Mar-2011
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Contact: Rachel Nye
Contact Email: rachel.nyeugent.be
Meeting URL: http://www.gist.ugent.be
Linguistic Field(s): Semantics; Syntax
Meeting Description:
The research group GIST (Generative Initiatives in Syntactic Theory) is
pleased to announce that Professor Caroline Heycock (University of
Edinburgh) will teach a short course entitled 'Questions of/and Identity' at
the University of Ghent (Blandijnberg 2), from March 23rd-25th 2011. The
course will deal with the following 3 topics: (1) The strangeness of
specificational sentences (2)Predication and movement (3) Questions and
answers. A more detailed description of the course can be found below.
The classes will take place from 2pm-5pm on Wednesday 23rd March and
Thursday 24th March, and from 9.30am-12.30pm on Friday 25th March.
Participation if free, but if you are planning to attend the course, please
register by sending an email to rachel.nyeATugent.be.
Questions of/and identity
(Professor Caroline Heycock, University of Edinburgh)
The strangeness of specificational sentences
Ever since Higgins' work from the early 70s, the syntax and semantics of the
type of copular sentence in (1) have proved a challenge for linguists,
despite its apparent simplicity:
1. The real loser is democracy.
These simple specificational sentences have much in common with the
specificational pseudoclefts, illustrated in (2):
2. What they are demanding is a change of government.
In this class I will set out the peculiar properties of these types of copular
clause, focusing on their characteristics in terms of information structure,
connectivity, and agreement, and attempt to demonstrate how they continue
to pose problems for our understanding of the syntax/semantics interface.
Predication and movement
In this class I will explore the claims that some of the puzzles that we have
considered (and perhaps even more) can be solved by invoking the
possibility of leftward movement of a predicative noun phrase, reviewing in
particular proposals by Birner, Moro, den Dikken, and Mikkelsen. We will
tease apart what turn out to be significant syntactic (and semantic)
differences within triples such as the following:
3a. The chameleon is an amazing animal. The lizard in this next video is
also an amazing animal. /Also an amazing animal is the lizard in this next
video.
b. The chameleon is an amazing animal. But the lizard in this next video is
the most amazing animal I know. / But the most amazing animal I know is the
lizard in this next video.
c. The chameleon is an amazing colour. But the lizard in this next video is
the oddest colour I have ever seen. / *But the oddest colour I have ever
seen is the lizard in this next video.
Questions and answers
Early attempts to treat cases like (2) as question/answer pairs faced
problems in providing a coherent semantics. However, more recent work by
Romero has shown that it is possible to provide a plausible semantics, and it
has been argued by Romero, Shlenker, den Dikken that such an account
provides a ready explanation for the connectivity effects that such examples
display. It has further been suggested that the same approach can extend
to simple specificational sentences such as those in (1), given the existence
of concealed questions:
4. They announced the loser before they announced the winner.
In this class we will explore the connection between questions and
specificational subjects, and examine whether a phonological deletion
approach will finally allow us to solve the mysteries of the connectivity
effects that have been identified in these cases.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $67,000. This money will go to
help keep the List running by supporting all of our Student Editors for the
coming year.
See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out Fund
Drive 2011 site!
http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2011/
There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST!
You can donate right now using our secure credit card form at
https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm
Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later. To do so, go to:
https://linguistlist.org/donation/pledge/pledge1.cfm
For all information on donating and pledging, including information on how
to donate by check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit:
http://linguistlist.org/donation/
The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and
as such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a
registered 501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-
6005986. These donations can be offset against your federal and
sometimes your state tax return (U.S. tax payers only). For more information
visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact your financial advisor.
Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will
match any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails
your contacting your human resources department and sending us a form
that the EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your employer. This is
generally a simple administrative procedure that doubles the value of your
gift to LINGUIST, without costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment
to check if your company operates such a program.
Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST!
This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $67,000. This money will go to help
keep the List running by supporting all of our Student Editors for the coming year.
See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out Fund
Drive 2011 site!
http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2011/
There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST!
You can donate right now using our secure credit card form at
https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm
Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later. To do so, go to:
https://linguistlist.org/donation/pledge/pledge1.cfm
For all information on donating and pledging, including information on how to
donate by check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit:
http://linguistlist.org/donation/
The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and as
such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a registered
501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-6005986. These
donations can be offset against your federal and sometimes your state tax return
(U.S. tax payers only). For more information visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact
your financial advisor.
Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will match
any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails your
contacting your human resources department and sending us a form that the
EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your employer. This is generally a simple
administrative procedure that doubles the value of your gift to LINGUIST, without
costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment to check if your company
operates such a program.
Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST!
Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
|
