Universality and the evolution of aspectual adverbials Benjamin - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Universality and the evolution of aspectual adverbials Benjamin Slade & Aniko Csirmaz Dept. of Linguistics University of Utah Formal Diachronic Semantics 4 The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA 16 November 2019 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 1 / 40

Template Aspectual adverbials including still , yet , already , anymore , as well as again , then (and perhaps other linguistic elements) form a network These adverbials are best described as deriving from a basic underlying templatic defjnition A templatic approach allows variation in linguistic realisations and accounts for patterns of polysemy, as well as being consistent with patterns of diachronic change Realisations can be derived from a variety of items historically and, crucially, the earlier forms lack any templatic component (“grammaticalisation”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 2 / 40

Templatic meaning for aspectual adverbials. There are a variety of items which are amenable to a templatic treatment, including aspectual adverbials Löbner 1989 and Krifka 2000 propose a system of aspectual adverbials that are related by inner and outer negation outer negation already/schon/kvar not yet/noch nicht/‘adayin lo ← → ↑ ↖ ↗ ↑ inner negation duals ↓ ↙ ↘ ↓ not anymore/nicht mehr/kvar lo still/noch/‘adayin ← → still ( t , Φ) notyet ( t , Φ) already ( t , Φ) : notanymore ( t , Φ) assert: Φ( t ) assert: ¬ Φ( t ) assert: Φ( t ) assert: ¬ Φ( t ) prsp: ∃ t ′ ∝ t [Φ( t ′ )] prsp: ∃ t ′ ∝ t [ ¬ Φ( t ′ )] prsp: ∃ t ′ ∝ t [ ¬ Φ( t ′ )] prsp: ∃ t ′ ∝ t [Φ( t ′ )] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 3 / 40

Löbner/Krifka defjnition of already Consider the Löbner/Krifka defjnition of already Still( ( t , Φ) : Assert: Φ( t ) ; Presuppose: ∃ t ′ ∝ t [Φ( t ′ )] (1) a. b. Already( ( t , Φ) : Assert: Φ( t ) ; Presuppose: ∃ t ′ ∝ t [ ¬ Φ( t ′ )] Note that unlike not yet , already does not involve negation. In addition, the presupposition that P was false at a time immediately preceding the assertion time is problematic (Krifka 2001, Mittwoch 1993): (2) Kim is already a citizen because she was born here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 4 / 40

Still etc. The proposal above addresses temporal interpretation ( Fred is still / already sleeping ) Several adverbials, most notably still and its equivalents have usages that go beyond temporal interpretation. German noch ‘still’ and its equivalents permit a variable range of other readings (Beck 2018 a.o.) (3) a. Cincinnati is still in Ohio (spatial) b. He felt sick, but he still decided to stay (concessive) c. This dress is still expensive (marginal) Some readings, including (3-a), merely involve a scale distinct from the temporal scale Others (e.g. (3-b), (3-c) involve a more signifjcant difgerence (see Beck 2018, a.o.). Thus still, noch can be said to involve polysemy. Extended uses of still , including the comparative below, are potentially problematic on the Krifka/Löbner approach (This ball is big, that is bigger, and that one over there is still bigger / bigger yet) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 5 / 40

Already Already also allows interpretations other than the temporal one. (4) a. Cincinnati is already in Ohio (spatial) b. This dress is already expensive (marginal) c. #He felt sick, but he already decided to stay (concessive) some type of readings possible with still , e.g. comparative, concessive, are not found with already . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 6 / 40

Polysemy Polysemy is not restricted to still . The aspectual adverbials below include repetitives, ordering then ( And then he left ) and its inverse. A number of items that are distinct in English have identical realizations: ‘before ordering temp. ‘(not) ‘(not) that’ ‘then’ ‘again’ ‘still’ ‘already’ yet’ anymore’ Hindi ab tak , X (X) X Nepali ahile samma Hindi phir , Nepali pheri X X Romanian mai X X X X Italian ancora X X X X Jamaican patois aredi X X Old English giet X X X Spanish ya X X Spanish todavia X X Hungarian még X X X Hungarian már X X German noch X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 7 / 40

Underlying defjnition ‘before ordering temp. ‘(not) ‘(not) that’ ‘then’ ‘again’ ‘still’ ‘already’ yet’ anymore’ Hindi ab tak , X (X) X Nepali ahile samma Hindi phir , Nepali pheri X X Romanian mai X X X X Italian ancora X X X X Jamaican patois aredi X X Old English giet X X X Spanish ya X X Spanish todavia X X Hungarian még X X X Hungarian már X X German noch X X X The polysemy of the various aspectual adverbs suggests a single underlying defjnition; the shared defjnition allows difgerent meanings to be realized by the same element. At the same time, there is no expectation that there is a common element for all uses, as shown by the empty cells. Darker coloured cells indicate patterns which are unexpected on a Krifka/Löbner-style approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 8 / 40

Inherent instability of aspectual adverbials Even within English varieties, there is polysemy: (5) Jamaican Patwa aredi / already (=“yet”) a. You been eat lunch already ? [1934 Amer. Speech 9 123/2] b. I want you to pass and see if it drop already . [M. Collins Walk in S. Brown & J. Wickham Oxf. Bk. Caribbean Short Stories (1999) 367] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 9 / 40

Template We propose a general defjnition for aspectual adverbials The defjnition abstracts away from the specifjc scale and elements of the scale Ordering relations can also vary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 10 / 40

Template In the template, x , x ′ are scalar entities (times, degrees, etc) such that x ′ stands in relation R to x on scale S P , Q are saturated predicates except for the arguments indicated FA is a set of focus alternatives to P ( x , . . . ) which difger in the elements under focus (times, degrees, or subconstituents) (6) � aspectual adverb � = ∃ x ′  Q ( e ′ , x ′ , . . . ) &  S ∃ e ′ Q ( e ′ , x ′ , . . . ) ∈ FA ( P ( e , x , ... )) &  . P ( e , x , . . . ) λ x S λ e λ P :  ∃ Q x ′ Rx The aspectual adverbials can difger in the identity of the scale; the type of argument; whether P and Q are identical; the identity of the focused element (e.g. for repetitives ( again ) the time argument must be focused); and the relation (e.g. immediate precedence for still and already , simple precedence for again , ordering then and before that ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 11 / 40

Still as a manifestation of the template (7) � still � = ∃ t ′ Q ( e ′ , t ′ , . . . ) &   T λ t T λ e λ P : ∃ e ′ Q ( e ′ , t ′ , . . . ) ∈ FA ( P ( e , t , ... )) &  . P ( e , t , . . . )  t ′ ≺ t ∃ Q The template ofgers a unique underlying defjnition Whenever a surface form has difgerent aspectual interpretations, that form is more general (the unmarked form), and other aspectual adverbs are more specifjc realizations of the template Various interpretations of still and its equivalents (e.g. marginal and concessive readings) also fjt the template, with the scale changed appropriately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slade & Csirmaz (Uni. of Utah) Universality & Evolution of Asp. Adverbials FoDS-04 12 / 40