LINGUIST List 18.1162: Syntax: Brasoveanu: 'Structured Nominal and Modal Reference'

LINGUIST List 18.1162

Mon Apr 16 2007

Diss: Syntax: Brasoveanu: 'Structured Nominal and Modal Reference'

Editor for this issue: Hunter Lockwood <hunterlinguistlist.org>

Directory 1. Adrian Brasoveanu, Structured Nominal and Modal Reference

Message 1: Structured Nominal and Modal Reference
Date: 15-Apr-2007
From: Adrian Brasoveanu <abrsvngmail.com>
Subject: Structured Nominal and Modal Reference

Institution: Rutgers University Program: Department of Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2007

Author: Adrian Brasoveanu

Dissertation Title: Structured Nominal and Modal Reference

Dissertation URL: http://abrsvn.googlepages.com/diss.html

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics
Dissertation Director:
Maria Bittner Hans Kamp Roger Schwarzschild Matthew Stone
Dissertation Abstract:

The dissertation argues that discourse reference in natural languageinvolves two equally important components with essentially the sameinterpretive dynamics, namely reference to values, i.e. non-singleton setsof objects (individuals and possible worlds), and reference to structure,i.e. the correlation / dependency between such sets, which is introducedand incrementally elaborated upon in discourse.

To define and investigate structured discourse reference, a new dynamicsystem couched in classical (many-sorted) type logic is introduced whichextends Compositional DRT (CDRT, Muskens 1996) with plural informationstates, i.e. information states are modeled as sets of variable assignments(following van den Berg 1996a), which can be can be represented as matriceswith assignments (sequences) as rows. A plural info state encodes bothvalues (the columns of the matrix store sets of objects) and structure(each row of the matrix encodes a correlation / dependency between theobjects stored in it). Given the underlying type logic, compositionality atsub-clausal level follows automatically and standard techniques fromMontague semantics (e.g. type shifting) become available.

The idea that plural info states are semantically necessary is motivated byexamples with morphologically singular anaphors, in contrast to theprevious literature that argues for plural info states based on pluralanaphora. Plural Compositional DRT (PCDRT) enables us compositionallyaccount for a variety of phenomena, including: (i) mixed weak & strongdonkey anaphora, e.g. Every person who buys a computer and has a creditcard uses it to pay for it, (ii) quantificational subordination, e.g.Harvey courts a girl at every convention. She always comes to the banquetwith him (Karttunen 1976), (iii) modal anaphora and modal subordination,e.g. A wolf might come in. It would eat Harvey first (based on Roberts1989) and (iv) naturally-occurring discourses exhibiting complexinteractions between modalized conditionals, donkey anaphora, modalsubordination and the entailment particle therefore, e.g. [A] man cannotlive without joy. Therefore, when he is deprived of true spiritual joys, itis necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures (Thomas Aquinas).

The PCDRT account of these phenomena explicitly and systematically capturesthe anaphoric and quantificational parallels between the individual andmodal domains.