. Maximality and Domain Restriction: evidence from adjectival modification . Alan Munn 1 Karen Miller 2 Cristina Schmitt 1 1 Michigan State University 2 Calvin College BUCLD 34 .
The Definite Determiner Semantic properties Semantics of Definiteness . Definites have a uniqueness presupposition . A definite description is felicitous if there is a unique/maximal (singular or plural) object in the domain of discourse that satisfies the descriptive content of the NP. (1) a. A boy and a girl came in. The girl sat down. b. Two women came in. #The woman sat down. c. Three women came in. The women sat down. d. John climbed the highest mountain in Tibet. e. John bought a bicycle. The saddle was missing. f. John bought a bicycle. #The tire was flat. . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 2 / 33
The Definite Determiner Semantic properties Domain restriction . Picking the right domain . like other determiners, definites require a contextually determined domain relative to which maximality is defined. (2) a. Please pick up the kids from school. b. The students are waiting outside. c. The Americans cheered for the Americans. . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 3 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Children’s misuse of definites Children’s (mis)use of definites . . Child . Give me the red ball. . Give me the yellow ball. . . . Adult . . Give me the red ball. Give me one of the yellow . balls. . . (Karmiloff-Smith 1979; Maratsos 1972) . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 4 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Children’s misuse of definites Children’s (mis)use of definites . . Egocentrism is the problem . Children have an ‘egocentric’ interpretation of the definite. (Karmiloff-Smith and Maratsos) . . Maximality is the problem . Definite errors persist, even when no element is egocentrically ‘in focus.’ Children lack the Maximality Presupposition of the definite determiner. (Wexler in press) . . Domain Restriction is the problem . Children have problems with setting domain restrictions on determiners. (Drozd 2001; Drozd e Loosbroek 2004; Guerts 2003; Krämer 2002; Miller e Schmitt 2004; Munn et al. 2006) . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 5 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Munn et al. 2006 Testing Maximality vs. Domain Restriction . Experimental sentences . “Give me the frog next to the barn.” Singular “Give me the frogs next to the barn.” Plural . . Controls . “Give me a frog next to the barn.” Singular “Give me all the frogs next to the barn.” Plural . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 6 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Munn et al. 2006 Testing Maximality vs. Domain Restriction . Experimental sentences . “Give me the frog next to the barn.” Singular “Give me the frogs next to the barn.” Plural . . Controls . “Give me a frog next to the barn.” Singular “Give me all the frogs next to the barn.” Plural . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 6 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Munn et al. 2006 Testing Maximality vs. Domain Restriction . Experimental sentences . “Give me the frog next to the barn.” Singular “Give me the frogs next to the barn.” Plural . . Controls . “Give me a frog next to the barn.” Singular “Give me all the frogs next to the barn.” Plural . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 6 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Munn et al. 2006 Experimental setup . Toy house and barn . . . 6 toy figures of each type: . English: frogs, rabbits, cats, monkeys Spanish: gatas (‘cats’), vacas (‘cows’), muñecas (‘dolls’), arañas (‘spiders’) . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 7 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Munn et al. 2006 Results . . Controls Definites . . Children had adult-like Children differed in the performance on all controls singular but not the plural % Correct: Control Sentences % Correct Maximality (English and Spanish combined) 100.0 100.0 90.0 90.0 80.0 80.0 94.9 100.0 70.0 70.0 98.2 60.0 60.0 67.3 50.0 50.0 English Children 40.0 40.0 Spanish Adults 30.0 Adults 30.0 20.0 20.0 10.0 10.0 0.0 0.0 Singular Maximal Plural Maximal Maximal Indef Singular All Def Plural Def Singular . . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 8 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Munn et al. 2006 Explanation of the results . Explicit Restriction . Give me the frogs next to the barn. The maximal set of frogs next to the barn Explicit restriction on “the”: next to the barn . . Implicit Restriction . Give me the frog next to the barn. The maximal singleton frog next to the barn Implicit restriction on “the”: the frog closest to the barn . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 9 / 33
Previous Work: Maximality and Plurality Maximality vs. Domain Restriction Conclusions . Maximality . The “no Maximality Hypothesis” is not supported by this experiment. Children only made maximality errors in the singular condition, and not in the plural condition. . . Domain Restriction . The Domain Restriction Hypothesis is supported. Children had problems with implicit but not explicit restrictors on the definite. . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 10 / 33
Manipulating restrictors Research Questions Understanding domain restrictions . Research questions . What underlies children’s different choices in the singular condition in Munn et al. 2006? Are children sensitive to different sorts of restrictors? Can manipulating restrictors provide evidence for children’s knowledge of the Maximality presupposition? . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 11 / 33
Manipulating restrictors Research Questions Understanding domain restrictions . Scalar and colour adjectives . 1 2 3 4 (3) a. Point to the green penguin next to the igloo. b. Point to the tall penguin next to the igloo. . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 12 / 33
Manipulating restrictors Maximality and scale structure Maximality and scale structure . Size adjectives . Size adjectives like tall are open scale adjectives (Kennedy 2001) In a given context, objects can be ordered on this scale Size adjectives can be used to satisfy the Maximality presupposition of the definite . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 13 / 33
Manipulating restrictors Maximality and scale structure Maximality and scale structure . Colour adjectives . Colour adjectives are ambiguous between a ‘classificatory’ and a scalar interpretation (Kennedy e McNally 2010) (see also Rothschild e Segal 2009; Szabó 2001) When interpreted as individual level properties, they are non-gradable Non-gradable adjectives cannot provide a scale with a contextually determined endpoint Classificatory colour adjectives cannot be used to satisfy the Maximality presupposition . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 14 / 33
Manipulating restrictors Maximality and scale structure Hypotheses . Point to the tall/green penguin next to the igloo. 1 2 3 4 Size adjectives provide an extra restrictor which can be used to satisfy Maximality Colour adjectives do not provide an extra restrictor . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 15 / 33
Testing domain restriction Experimental setup Experimental Setup . . Picture Sentences . . (4) a. Point to the penguin 1 2 3 4 that is next to the igloo. b. Point to the tall penguin that is next to the igloo. c. Point to the green LIGHT GREEN DARK GREEN RED LIGHT GREEN penguin that is next 5 6 7 8 to the igloo. d. Point to the red/small penguin next to the . igloo. . LIGHT GREEN RED DARK GREEN LIGHT GREEN . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 16 / 33
Testing domain restriction Experimental setup Predictions . . Sentences . (4) a. Point to the penguin that is next to the igloo. 1 2 3 4 b. Point to the tall . penguin that is next Both adults and children will to the igloo. behave differently on implicit c. Point to the green restrictions with scalar penguin that is next adjectives compared to to the igloo. colour adjectives d. Point to the red/small penguin next to the Subjects should choose either . igloo. the tallest penguin or the closest penguin for (4b) but only the closest penguin for (4c) . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 17 / 33
Methods and Materials Subjects Subjects . Adults . Adults Exp. 1 N=19 Adults Exp. 2 N=20 . . Children . Size Exp. 3 N=10; mean age 4;7 Colour Exp. 4 N=11; mean age 4;4 . . Munn, Miller, Schmitt (MSU and Calvin College) Maximality Restrictions BUCLD 34 18 / 33
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