LINGUIST List 14.3431

Thu Dec 11 2003

Diss: Syntax/Semantics: Schulz: 'Factivity...'

Editor for this issue: Takako Matsui <takolinguistlist.org>

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  • schulzpetra, Factivity: Its Nature and Acquisition

    Message 1: Factivity: Its Nature and Acquisition

     Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 11:54:33 -0500 (EST)
    From: schulzpetra <schulzpetraaol.com>
    Subject: Factivity: Its Nature and Acquisition


    Institution: University of T�bingen Program: Neuphilologische Fakultaet Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2000

    Author: Petra Schulz

    Dissertation Title: Factivity: Its Nature and Acquisition

    Linguistic Field: Syntax, Semantics, Psycholinguistics, Language Acquisition

    Subject Language: German, Standard (code: GER), English (code: ENG)

    Dissertation Director 1: Rosemarie Tracy Dissertation Director 2: Marga Reis Dissertation Director 3: Veronika Ehrich Dissertation Director 4: Tom Roeper

    Dissertation Abstract:

    Challenging existing lexical-semantic accounts, this book presents a compositional approach to the concept of factivity and its acquisition. Factive sentences such as John forgot that he bought wine presuppose the truth of the embedded complement. The author argues that a satisfactory characterization of factivity can only be accomplished if its multiple dimensions are acknowledged. A thorough examination of the empirical data demonstrates that factivity, rather than being a property of the matrix predicate, results from the complex interaction of lexical-semantic, syntactic, and discourse-semantic factors.

    Focusing on English, the predictions of this compositional approach to factivity are tested with production and comprehension data covering children's acquisitional patterns between the ages of 2 and 8. After a comprehensive review of previous studies, the author presents two rigorously designed comprehension experiments and a detailed analysis of two longitudinal corpora. The child data provides convincing evidence that the multidimensionality of factivity is mirrored in the acquisition process by a stepwise mastery of its different components. Children produce and correctly interpret factive structures around age 4, but certain syntactic and discourse-semantic properties are not learned before age 7.

    Linguistische Arbeiten (Band 480). T�bingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag