Event pluralities - Day 4

Transcription

1 Event pluralities - Day 4 Adverbial event pluralities Patricia Cabredo Hofherr 1 Lucia M. Tovena 2 1 UMR 7023 CNRS & Université Paris 8 2 Université Sorbonne Paris Cité Paris VII ESSLLI 2015 Barcelona

2 Outline 1 Introduction 2 Cardinality adverbs 3 Quantification adverbs Quantification variability effect Quantification at a distance 4 Frequency adverbs Properties Distinguishing frequency adverbs 5 Pluractional adverbials Some data Some proposals Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

3 Introduction Outline 1 Introduction 2 Cardinality adverbs 3 Quantification adverbs Quantification variability effect Quantification at a distance 4 Frequency adverbs Properties Distinguishing frequency adverbs 5 Pluractional adverbials Some data Some proposals Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

4 Introduction Event plurality and adverbs Multiple occurrences of eventualities of a certain type can be described by sentences containing adverbials, among other options. Some examples are provided in (1). (1) a. Louise ran twice b. Louise yawned frequently c. Louise always smiles d. Louise bowed again and again Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

5 Introduction Multiple occurrences of one situation The multiplicity of the occurrences of one situation making up a plurality may be overtly marked, e.g. via the adverb often as in (2) covertly marked, e.g. in a habitual sentence as in (3) (Day 3). (2) Daniel has often drunk (3) Daniel drinks Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

6 Events and individuals Introduction In many cases, a plurality of events is associated with a plurality of values for a participant role or an event parameter. The event variable can often covary with a participant variable (Day 2,5). The value of the participant role may uniquely identify the event Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

7 Introduction Types of adverbs Several types of temporal adverbs are used to express forms of quantity (Csirmaz, 2009; Johannsdottir, 2011). CARDINALITY ADVERBS specify the (precise or vague) cardinality of occurrences of a specific type of eventuality. (4) once, twice, two times FREQUENCY ADVERBS specify the frequency of multiple situations of the same type within a larger time interval (Stump, 1981, and ff.). (5) occasionally, regularly, frequently Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

8 Introduction Types of adverbs QUANTIFICATIONAL ADVERBS quantify over situations (6) always, seldom, never PLURACTIONAL ADVERBS specify forms of iteration of situations that originate in asserting the plurality of a participant, time or space. (7) one by one, again and again Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

9 Introduction Plurality of events and individuals Event plurality adverbs may enter forms of equivalence with sentences containing quantificational adjectives, e.g. frequency adjectives in (8) (Stump, 1981; Schäfer, 2007; Gehrke and McNally, 2009) sentences containing certain DPs, e.g. the quantification variability effect exemplified in (9) (Lewis, 1975; Berman, 1987). (8) a. Occasionally, a sailor strolled by b. An occasional sailor strolled by (9) a. A horse is always elegant. b. All horses are elegant. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

10 Introduction Tense Semantic tense outscopes temporal adverbs (Cresswell, 1979). This is illustrated in (10) with a quantification adverb. (10) Louise called every Sunday. There is a past time that is in every Sunday and Louise called at that time. For every Sunday there is a past time at which Louise called. = There is a past time such that Louise called on every Sunday of that time. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

11 Cardinality adverbs Outline 1 Introduction 2 Cardinality adverbs 3 Quantification adverbs Quantification variability effect Quantification at a distance 4 Frequency adverbs Properties Distinguishing frequency adverbs 5 Pluractional adverbials Some data Some proposals Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

12 Cardinality adverbs Cardinality adverbs Cardinality adverbs specify the (precise or vague) number of occurrences of a specific type of eventuality. (11) Daniel kissed the puppet three times They define absolute quantities. They count events and occasions, not phases. (12) Daniele ha saltellato tre volte (It.) Daniel hopped three times # Daniel made three little jumps Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

13 Cardinality adverbs Cardinality adverbs Vague cardinality allows relativisation to a standard, e.g. the interpretation of many times varies depending on the interval considered and the nature of the event. (13) Daniel kissed the puppet many times Precise cardinality adverbs can form ratio expressions, where the measure applies to the sh-unit. (Day 2) (14) Daniel kissed the puppet three times per hour Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

14 Cardinality adverbs Scoping Cardinality adverbs enter scope relations. Sentence (15) has interpretations where distinct golf balls are shot into the lake (sentential scope) the same golf ball is multiply shot into the lake (VP scope) (15) Daniel hit a golf ball into the lake three times Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

15 Cardinality adverbs times Interpreting time in an indefinite time-phrase such as three times: time is used to count moments (16) There were few times she did not go time is used to count bounded occurrences of eventualities (17) She answered three times/ every time Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

16 Cardinality adverbs times According to Landman (2006), time is semantically a measure. Indefinite time-phrases have the usual double semantic type of modifiers. This semantic type explains their occurrence in adverbial positions. time-phrases are not intersective modifiers, as they do not have scopeless interpretations. Sentence (18) does not mean there is a sum of [Daniel-kissing-puppet events] which consists of two atomic events and which consists of two atomic events (Landman, 2006) (18) Twice, Daniel kissed the puppet twice Recall Cusic s interpretation as two occasions of two events each. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

17 Cardinality adverbs times Landman (2006) treats time-phrases as intensional modifiers, in the sense that they induce an operation called gridding on pluralities of events by shifting them to group entities that can be counted. Counting is semantically counting of singularities, atoms. Here we want to count a set of pluralities. Formally, time denotes the identity function of type << v,t>,< v,t>> given in (19), i.e. is a modifier of event predicates, where < v,t> is an expression of the store type that denotes a set of atoms (19) time λp[p] where P is a variable of type < v,t> Three times takes as input a set of group events and outputs the set of all group events that correspond to a sum of three input group events. (lift omitted) Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

18 Cardinality adverbs times Doetjes (2008) has argued that exact cardinal modification cannot combine directly with a VP in languages such as English, French and Dutch. Classifying expressions like times, fois in French and keer in Dutch must be inserted. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

19 Cardinality adverbs Verbal classifier and aspect Verbal classifiers, e.g. ci in Mandarin Chinese, can function like time-phrases. Both time and ci combine with all aspectual classes and yield bounded occurrences of eventualities. (20) a. Daniel was happy two times state b. Daniel ran in the park three times activity c. He visited the Louvre two times accomplishment d. Daniel left the house four times achievement Apparently there is no issue with the atomicity of the domain. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

20 Cardinality adverbs Verbal classifier and aspect Bounded occurrences of semelfactives are carved out of the two interpretations (21). (21) Daniel coughed four times semelfactive four one-cough four coughing fits Bounded occurrences of event-internal pluractionals are carved out in one way only (22) (22) Daniele ha mordicchiato tre volte (It.) ev-internal plu Daniel nibbled three times Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

21 Cardinality adverbs The event and occasion distinction Cusic (1981) introduced the distinction between event and occasion mainly as a scoping effect (Day 1) Example (18) shows that time can be used for events and for occasions. The French expression reprise is specialised for occasions (Tovena, 2010, 2012). (23) a. Daniel a sonné deux fois (Fr.) Daniel rang the bell two times b. Daniel a sonné à deux reprises (Fr.) Twice Daniel (went to the door and) rang the bell Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

22 Cardinality adverbs The event and occasion distinction The noun re-prise (re-taken) is made up of an iterative prefix and a nominalised past participle. The plurality of events is not mixed, as in (24) where there are three departures in total.(day 1). (24) Il est reparti deux fois. In (23b), there are two events in total, not two asserted + one presupposed. The number can be small, but there are differences in the minimal possible number of events. (25) a. Daniel a sonné une fois (Fr.) Daniel rang the bell once b.??daniel a sonné à une reprise (Fr.) Daniel rang the bell one time Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

23 Cardinality adverbs The event and occasion distinction The different options available in French do not get integrated straighforwardly in Landman s proposal. The variety is compatible with the idea that these nominals are like classifiers. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

24 Cardinality adverbs The event and occasion distinction We can take reprise as evidence for an enriched ontology (Tovena, 2012). Alternatively, we can conceive occasions as events that cannot be cumulated, i.e. there is more than a scoping effect and less than a new entity in the ontology. Occasions require agentivity. Reprise does not combine with states. (26)?? Il a été content à deux reprises (Fr.) He was happy two times Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

25 Quantification adverbs Outline 1 Introduction 2 Cardinality adverbs 3 Quantification adverbs Quantification variability effect Quantification at a distance 4 Frequency adverbs Properties Distinguishing frequency adverbs 5 Pluractional adverbials Some data Some proposals Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

26 Contextual restriction Quantification adverbs Quantification adverbs (Q-advs), such as always and often, quantify over occasions or times of occurrence, following the view of Lewis (1975); Heim (1982). (27) Daniel always/often/seldom eats dinner The adverbs in (27) express a quantity of occasions or times at which Daniel eats dinner. The times they apply to are contextually restricted, e.g. the times around 7-8pm when it is usual that most people eat their dinner. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

27 Quantification adverbs Aspect The quantificational adverb toujours (always) is ambiguous with a stative predicate in present tense in (28). (28) Il est toujours enervé (Fr.) i. he is always angry ii. he is still angry The eventuality does not have to be ongoing at speech time for reading i. to be possible, one of the exceptions to habituals can be taking place at that moment. This is not so for reading ii., which is not habitual. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

28 Quantification adverbs Temporal adjunct clauses Quantification adverbs have been viewed as the main operators in a sentence, and take two propositional arguments. The first one is the restrictor and the second one is the scope. (29) Q-adv (φ, ψ) Consider the examples in (30). (30) a. Daniel is always eating when I see him. b. Always, when I see Daniel, Daniel is eating. when I see Daniel is the restrictive clause φ Daniel is eating is the nuclear scope ψ. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

29 Quantification adverbs Temporal adjunct clauses The quantifier unselectively binds all free variables, one in (31) and two in (32b). (31) (= 30a) x ([x is a moment I see Daniel], [Daniel eats at x]) (32) a. Always, when a farmer owns a donkey, he beats it b. x,y ([farmer(x) & donkey(y) & owns(x,y)], [beats(x,y)]) Lewis (1975) has argued that quantification adverbs quantify over cases, understood as tuples of participants in sentences. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

30 Quantification adverbs Temporal adjunct clauses In a tripartite view of quantification, the when-clause acts as the semantic restrictior, see (33). (33) a. Often it rains when I go running b. Q restrictor scope often when I go running it rains Alternatively, Q-advs are assumed to contain a hidden domain anaphor that is the target of pragmatic anaphora resolution, i.e. it is filled in by the context (von Fintel, 1994). (34) a. Q restrictor scope often domain anaphor it rains b. anaphor identified by when I go running Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

31 Quantification adverbs Quantificational effects Quantification adverbs enter two interesting quantificational effects Quantificational variability effect (QVE) Quantification at a distance (QAD) Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

32 Quantification adverbs Quantification variability effect Quantificational variability effect (QVE) The phenomenon is usually discussed in connection with adverbially quantified sentences that contain singular indefinites or bare plurals. (35) a. A lion is usually brave b. Most lions are brave If adverbs of frequency are treated as unselective binders, they are capable of binding free variables of any type in their scope, this can result in quantification over individuals. This type of explanation assumes that singular indefinites as well as bare plurals are open expressions that introduce free variables whose values have to satisfy the respective NP-predicate, cf. (Kamp, 1981; Heim, 1982). Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

33 Quantification adverbs Quantification variability effect Quantificational variability effect Alternatively, QVE is the indirect result of a quantification over (minimal) situations that each contain precisely one individual satisfying their NP-predicate. The value of the individual variable is bound by an existential quantifier in the restrictor of the adverb and must vary with the value of the event variable bound by the adverb. The situations/events get exclusively individuated via the value of the DP. As a result, the adverb seems to quantify over individuals directly, cf. (Berman, 1987; de Swart, 1993; von Fintel, 1994). Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

34 Quantification adverbs Quantification at a distance Quantification at a distance (QAD) When beaucoup (Fr.) appears next to its restriction, the sentence is called CANONICAL QUANTIFICATION, cf. (36a). When it is placed in an adverbial position, the sentence is a case of QUANTIFICATION AT A DISTANCE, cf. (36b). (36) a. J ai lu beaucoup de livres I read a lot of books b. J ai beaucoup lu de livres I read a lot of books Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

35 Quantification adverbs Quantification at a distance Quantification at a distance Obenauer (1983) has noted that QAD sentences are only true if beaucoup holds of the set of events denoted by the VP. QAD is impossible in stative contexts. (37) * Luise a beaucoup possédé de chevaux Louise owned a lot of horses Burnett (2009) has analysed beaucoup as an unreducible binary adverbial quantifier over the verb s event argument and the direct object argument Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

36 Quantification adverbs Quantification at a distance Temporal adverbs vs degree adverbs Degree adverbs such as beaucoup can be used as degree modifiers of nominal expressions (38), but also be synonymous of temporal adverbs and interchangeable with them in sentences with count predicates, cf. (39) (Doetjes, 2007). (38) beaucoup de livres/de soupe a lot of books/of soup (39) a. Sylvie va beaucoup au cinéma Sylvie goes to the movies a lot b. Sylvie va souvent au cinéma Sylvie goes often to the movies Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

37 Quantification adverbs Quantification at a distance Temporal adverbs vs degree adverbs Contra souvent, beaucoup cannot take scope over an indefinite (40) (Doetjes, 2007). (40) a. *Pierre a beaucoup acheté trois kilos d olives Pierre has bought three kilos of olives a lot b. Pierre a souvent acheté trois kilos d olives Pierre has often bought three kilos of olive Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

38 Quantification adverbs Quantification at a distance Temporal adverbs vs degree adverbs Contra souvent, beaucoup cannot outscope a temporal adjunct clause, cf. (41). (41) a. Quand il est à Paris, Pierre va beaucoup au Louvre Whenever he is in Paris, Pierre visits the Louvre a lot b. Quand il est à Paris, Pierre va souvent au Louvre i. Whenever he is in Paris, Pierre often visits the Louvre ii. Often when he is in Paris, Pierre visits the Louvre Doetjes follows von Fintel s (1994) proposal of a hidden domain anaphor, and uses it to distinguish souvent which has an anaphoric element and beaucoup which hasn t. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

39 Quantification adverbs Quantification at a distance Temporal adverbs vs degree adverbs A degree adverb is not intrinsically iterative, as shown in (42) with a mass predicate. (42) a. Il a plu beaucoup It rained a lot b. Il a plu souvent It rained often Doetjes (2007) concludes that beaucoup and souvent create readings with pluralities of events in different ways beaucoup is a degree modifier, sensitive to the presence of a scale, which can be either quantitative or qualitative in nature. souvent is always adverbial and quantifies over times. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

40 Frequency adverbs Outline 1 Introduction 2 Cardinality adverbs 3 Quantification adverbs Quantification variability effect Quantification at a distance 4 Frequency adverbs Properties Distinguishing frequency adverbs 5 Pluractional adverbials Some data Some proposals Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

41 Frequency adverbs Properties Frequency adverbs Frequency is an intensive quantity, i.e. a scale invariant property of a system, like speed. Frequency adverbs specify the quantity of multiple situations of the same type within a larger time interval. They are relative quantity expressions. They can be interpreted as ratio expressions n times per time unit (sh-unit per k-unit) (Day 2). The even distribution of the events is implied. They can have a degree interpretation, e.g. rarely a little number of times. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

42 Frequency adverbs Properties Frequency adverbs Frequency adverbs characterise a form of distributivity The events of the same type are the sh-units The quantity of occurrences (size of the sh-unit) is set by the adverb The whole interval is the key. The span associated with an(/a set of) event is the k-unit Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

43 Frequency adverbs Properties Frequency adverbs One strategy of analysis for frequency adverbs is to globalise the information of frequency by establishing a dependency between a variable whose value is the whole and stay fix and a variable whose value is a part and must vary. The dependency on the interval can be expressed in a time interval argument. This strategy is reminiscent of a DISTRIBUTIVE CONFIGURATION where the interval is the key and the event is a sh-unit. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

44 Frequency adverbs Properties Frequency adverbs Another strategy is to focus on the even distribution of events and localise this piece of information by associating each event with a span. This strategy is reminiscent of a RATIO CONFIGURATION where the span is a k-unit and the event is a sh-unit. No whole interval is assumed to be known. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

45 Types of adverbs Frequency adverbs Properties Types of adverbs: fixed frequency: daily, hourly variant/relative frequency: high frequency: frequently low frequency: occasionally, sporadically neutral frequency (usually not discussed) : periodically, regularly Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

46 Frequency adverbs Properties Components The salient components for a variant period adverb are length of total interval number of events (the total number seems never definable precisely) length of single periods and the event description The focus is on the length of the period, compared to an implied standard Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

47 Frequency adverbs Properties The period There seems to be room for variation on what counts as a period The repeated intervals that host the events and whose sum adds up to the total interval The interval separating two events (43) Daniel ate a pizza every four hours Suppose that Daniel started at noon, 5 pizzas were eaten and eating one pizza took 15 minutes. What is the total running time of the situation? i. 4h 5 ii. (4h +15m) 5 Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

48 Frequency adverbs Distinguishing frequency adverbs Frequency adverbs vs quantification adverbs Possible criteria for distinguishing quantification adverbs and frequency adverbs (Csirmaz, 2008). quantification adverbs result in descriptions that are independent of the time at which the values are determined. (44) a.?? The value of this variable in the equation is frequently / rarely / regularly negative (frequency) b. The value of this variable in the equation is often / seldom / generally / usually negative (quantification) Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

49 Frequency adverbs Distinguishing frequency adverbs Distinguishing: once-only events quantification adverbs are compatible with once-only events such as being born (Csirmaz, 2008) (45) a.?? A baby was frequently born in the hospital (frequency) b. A baby was often born in the hospital (quantification) Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

50 Frequency adverbs Distinguishing: once-only events Distinguishing frequency adverbs Assume that frequency adverbs must take scope over the default existential quantifier that binds the time interval variable. The impossibility of determining frequency for a single occurrence of a situation in (45a) follows. (Csirmaz, 2008) Quantification adverbs specify that the event of a child being born in the hospital occurred often in (45b). Because it is the (atomic) situation that is being quantified over, the non-repeatability of a situation does not lead to unacceptability and the quantifier can bind a non-temporal variable. (Csirmaz, 2008) Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

51 Frequency adverbs Distinguishing frequency adverbs Distinguishing: binding an indefinite Frequency adverbs do not bind the indefinite and do not enforce a proportional reading in donkey sentences (46) a. If a farmer owns a donkey, he constantly beats it b. x,y ([farmer(x) & donkey(y) & owns(x,y)], [constantly beats(x,y)]) Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

52 Frequency adverbs Distinguishing frequency adverbs Distinguishing: scope of for-phrase Only frequency adverbs can occur in the scope of a for phrase (47) a. Daniel was constantly discovering a flea on his dog for a whole month b. * Daniel was often discovering a flea on his dog for a whole month Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

53 Pluractional adverbials Outline 1 Introduction 2 Cardinality adverbs 3 Quantification adverbs Quantification variability effect Quantification at a distance 4 Frequency adverbs Properties Distinguishing frequency adverbs 5 Pluractional adverbials Some data Some proposals Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

54 Pluractional adverbials Some data Some forms On Day 2, expressions such as two by two were described as modifying/setting the granularity in a distributivity relation. (48) a. Num by Num b. N by N c. N after N, l uno dopo/dietro l altro (one after/behind) the other) d. again and again Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

55 Some data Pluractional adverbials Some data The adverbial is an event modifier and targets a participant in the event Plurality is not always overtly expressed in the plural participant that is the antecedent/target. one by one requires a semantically plural target (49a) N by N targets an entity that can be subdivided (49b) (49) a. * He ate the cake one by one b. He ate the cake slice by slice Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

56 Pluractional adverbials Some data Some data The target is clausemate Target participants can be expressed by nominals in various syntactic positions. (50) a. The boys left one by one b. The girl read the signs one by one c. The girls read the poems one by one Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

57 Pluractional adverbials Some data Temporal and other dimensions Information on the temporal or spatial sequence can be enriched, e.g. speed is implied when the telic adverbial is added (51b). (51) a. I giardinieri hanno piantato gli alberi uno dietro l altro (It.) the gardeners planted the trees one after the other b. I giardinieri hanno messo giù i vasi uno dietro l altro (It.) the gardeners put down the vases one right after the other Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

58 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Beck and von Stechow (2007) The analysis of one N after the other in English as a pluractional adverbial proposed by Beck and von Stechow (2007) amounts to distributing over events The ordering of individuals is derived from the ordering of events Plural operators are applied to the event and an argument of the predicate that describes it. The adverbial contributes a semantics of pseudo reciprocals. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

59 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Beck and von Stechow (2007) Beck and von Stechow consider (52) to be a simpler example of (53) (52) Sally ate the cake piece by piece (53) These three dogs entered the room one after the other In (52), the truth conditions of the sentence imply a division of the overall event of eating the cake into subevents depending on a division of the cake into pieces. In (53), the context provides an ordering relation used for sequencing the parts of the plurality of dogs and the subevents of entering. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

60 Pluractional adverbials Beck and von Stechow (2007) Some proposals The pluractional adverbials are just modifiers that indicate the presence of a pluralisation operator and constrain the cover. The pluralisation operator PL, with its contextually provided cover restriction, is inserted at the level of LF. It is adjoined to the predicate created by QR. (54) [[PL]] = λcov.λr <e,<v,t>>.λx.λe: PART(Cov, e x). **[λx.λe.cov(e ) Cov(x ) R(x )(e )](x)(e) where ** is the operator for pluralising relations between individuals and events The operator applies to a cover, a relation R between individuals and events, a plural individual x and a plural event e. The cover has to be a partition of the sum of the plural event and the plural individual. Each pair of parts in the cover must satisfy the relation R. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

61 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Beck and von Stechow (2007) The operator PL accounts for the requirement of plurality of events associated with sentences such as (52) through explicit pluralization of the event-argument slot. N by N adds to PL the restriction of the predicate provided by the N on the members of the cover of x. λp <e,t>... Cov(x ) P(x )... one after the other requires a sequence pluralisation operator (55) [[PL seq ]] = λcovλrλxλe [ Cov[e] is a sequence and Cov[x] is a sequence **[λx λe Cov(e ) Cov(x ) R(x )(e )]] Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

62 Pluractional adverbials Beck and von Stechow (2007) Some proposals The contribution of after B is the information that A entered the room in e and B entered the room in pred(e), where pred(e) is the relevant predecessor of e. (56) pred(e) = ιe : τ(e ) < τ(e) e [τ(e ) < τ(e) e = e or τ(e ) < τ(e )] The ordering relation on events is based on temporal precedence. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

63 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals N by N vs. Num by Num Beck and von Stechow (2007) claim that their analysis for N by N extends to Num by Num. Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) insist on keeping the two expressions apart. They note that one by one expressions do not require each subevent of the main event to satisfy the property contributed by the VP. This accounts for the fact that the type of distributivity of one by one expressions is compatible with collective predicates, see (57). (57) The students gathered one by one Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

64 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Collective verbal predicates Note that not all collective predicates have sub-entailments (Dowty, 1986; Brisson, 2003), e.g. elect does not. one by one expressions are not compatible with collective predicates such as elect. It seems that one by one expressions require incremental predicates. In other words, it is true that each subevent of the main event is not required to satisfy the property contributed by the VP, but it is also true that intermediate sums in the linear progression do satisfy it. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

65 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) distinguish two ways of establishing distributive quantificational dependencies and assume they are exemplified by the sentences in (58) and (59). (58) The boys each recited a poem (59) The boys recited a poem one by one Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

66 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) One way is to decompose the distributive quantification into sets of assignments. Each n-tuple of quantificationally dependent entities is stored in a variable assignment Quantifiers are interpreted over such sets of assignments and operate over them collectively A pair k-unit,sh-unit is stored in an assignment function g The set of pairs k-unit,sh-unit corresponding to a boy and a poem in (58) is stored in a set of assignments G The distributive dependency between k-unit and sh-unit is stored in assignmentwise fashion. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

67 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) Another way is to store quantificational dependencies as a whole The dependency is encapsulated into a function The function maps each entity to the (possibly non-atomic) entity that depends on it. A function f that establishes a dependency between k-units and sh-units is stored in its entirety by a single assignment function g, hence encapsulating the dependency between the key and the sum-shares that correspond to the boys and the recited poems in (59). Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

68 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) The first way gives access to the individuals. Sentence-internal different in (60a) is licensed because we are able to compare variable assignments in a pairwise way. The distinctness of the two poems stored in those assignments is warranted. (60) a. The boys each recited a different poem. b. The boys recited a different poem one by one. In the second way, the distributivity-based dependencies are encapsulated in only one variable assignment. Comparison of referents across pairs of assignments is not possible. This formalisation is suitable for one by one, that does not license sentence-internal readings cf (60b). The facts in (60) confirm tha the possibility of accessing the individuals is a relevant parameter in classifying distributive dependencies, cf. Day 2. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

69 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) analyse one by one along the second way. one by one is an event modifier that targets a plural participant in the event it modifies. It requires the atomic subevents of the event it modifies to be temporally sequenced. It targets only participants in the event that are semantically plural. It ensures that each atomic subevent is mapped to an atomic individual by the theta role function that it targets, in the one by one case, or a bigger number of participants in other cases, e.g. two by two etc. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

70 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) one by one combines with a predicate of events. The atomic subevents of the event must be temporally sequenced. Only plural participants in such an event are targeted. The targeted θ-role maps each atomic subevent to an atomic individual. (61) one by one θ λe <v,t> λe v [E(e) linear.order({e e atom(e )}) {θ(e ) e e atom(e )} >1 e e (atom(e ) atom(θ(e )))] E is a predicate of events, e is an event, atom is a predicate that identifies atomic events (and individuals), the theta role function θ is a function from events to individuals Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

71 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Statives Brasoveanu and Henderson rule out statives as in (62) by invoking their nonatomic domain. (62) *The students knew French one by one Note that statives do not induce temporal progression. Beck and von Stechow (2007) and Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) assume that the subevents are temporally sequenced. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

72 Statives Pluractional adverbials Some proposals An example of stative with N par N is provided in (63). The patient is associated with the intrinsically ordered temporal dimension, rather than the subevents of knowing. (63) [...] je crois que ces trois jours j en connais minute par minute les détails. (Frantext) (Fr.) these three days, I think I know their details minute by minute An example of stative with Num par Num is provided in (64). No order on patients, but full individuation. (64) Je connais un par un les enfants de cette école. (Fr.) I know the pupils of this school one by one ( I know each and every child in this school) Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

73 No target participant Pluractional adverbials Some proposals The intransitive verb has no (plural) participant to be targeted in sentence (65), hence the modifier cannot target a θ-role whose syntactic sister is indexed with that θ-role, as Brasoveanu and Henderson (2009) propose for Num by Num. (65) [...] je rampais. Centimètre par centimètre, au hasard des secousses (Frantext) (Fr.) I crawled. Centimetre by centimetre, at the mercy of the jolts Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

74 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Iteration We can add again and again, wieder und wieder, ancora e ancora (It.), etc, to the group of pluractional adverbials. These expressions do not depend on a plurality somewhere in the sentence, nor imply covariation. They add up events, rather than referring to subevents members of a plural superevent. The number of events is definitely >2. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

75 Iteration Pluractional adverbials Some proposals again and German wieder have been classified as repetitive adverbs. Italian ancora (again/still/yet) is an aspectual adverb. They share ADDITIVE uses where the events in the plurality denoted by sentences have mixed status (Tovena and Donazzan, 2008) (Day 1). One event is asserted in (66) and other(s) are presupposed (66) Louise has gone to the library again The asserted event in (66) is temporally preceded by a presupposed one Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

76 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Iteration (67) a. Luisa ha lavato ancora la camicia Repetitive Louise washed the shirt again b. Luisa sta ancora lavando camicie Continuative Louise is still washing shirts c. Luisa ha lavato ancora una camicia Incremental Louise washed one more shirt d. Louise washed the shirt clean again Restitutive Repetitive Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

77 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Iteration Repetitive adverbs such as again iterate telic events. Readings may require different positioning Aspectual ancora and still can combine with stative verbs and progressive forms and yield continuative readings Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

78 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Iteration again can repeat a stative eventuality (68) Louise is angry again The difference between repetitive and restitutive readings can appeal to the ability to iterate a state. von Stechow (1996) has proposed that repetitive again takes an event as an argument restitutive again takes as argument the resultant state of an accomplishment Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

79 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Iteration The event plurality denoted by a sentence containing adverbials such as again and again seems not have mixed status. The status is difficult to test, because the number of events cannot be small, and it is not precise. As a frozen form, it may not trigger the same presupposition as the simple form. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

80 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals General summary The multiplicity of the occurrences of one situation making up a plurality may be overtly marked via an adverb. Quantity adverbs differ in the information they convey, e.g. absolute vs relative quantity, and in their scoping possibilities. We discussed the role of times in cardinality adverbials. We recalled cases of domain variation with quantification adverbials. Frequency adverbs characterise forms of distributivity. Pluractional adverbs such as N by N and Num by Num specify the size of the k-unit in a distributive dependency. In this sense they are divisive. On the contrary, again and again is multiplicative. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

81 References Beck, S. and A. von Stechow (2007). Pluractional adverbials. Journal of Semantics 24, Berman, S. (1987). Situation-based semantics for adverbs of quantification. In Proceedings of the 6th WCCFL, pp Brasoveanu, A. and R. Henderson (2009). Varieties of distributivity: One by One vs each. In Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory XIX, pp Brisson, C. (2003). Plurals, all, and the nonuniformity of collective predication. Linguistics and Philosophy 26, Burnett, H. (2009). Adverbial quantification and (un)reducibility: The quantification at a distance construction in French. In Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung, pp Cresswell, M. (1979). Interval semantics for some event expressions. In R. Bäuerle, U. Egli, and A. von Stechow (Eds.), Semantics from different points of view, pp Csirmaz, A. (2008). Flexibility and rigidity: Multiplicatives, frequency and quantification adverbs. In Proceedings of the 34th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society. Csirmaz, A. (2009). Adverbs of quantity: Entities of different kinds. In Proceedings of the 32nd annual Penn Linguistic Colloquium, pp University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics Vol 15. Cusic, D. (1981). Verbal Plurality and Aspect. Ph. D. thesis, Stanford University. de Swart, H. (1993). Adverbs of quantification. A generalized quantifier approach. New York, London: Garland. Doetjes, J. (2007). Adverbs of quantification: degrees vs frequency. Lingua 117, Doetjes, J. (2008). Counting and degree modification. Recherches Linguistiques de Vincennes 37, Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

82 References Dowty, D. (1986). Collective predicates, distributive predicates and all. In Proceedings of ESCOL 86, Volume 3, pp Gehrke, B. and L. McNally (2009). Frequency adjectives and assertions about event types. In Semantics and linguistic theory XIX, Ithaca. Heim, I. R. (1982). The semantics of definite and indefinite noun phrases. Ph. D. thesis, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Johannsdottir, K. M. (2011). Aspects of the progressive in English and Icelandic. Ph. D. thesis, University of British Columbia. Kamp, J. (1981). A theory of truth and semantic representation. In J. Groenendijk, T. Janssen, and M. Stokhof (Eds.), Formal methods in the study of language. Amsterdam: Mathematical Centre Tracts. Landman, F. (2006). Indefinite time-phrase, in situ-scope, and dual-perspective intensionality. In S. Vogeleer and L. Tasmowski (Eds.), Non-definiteness and Plurality. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Lewis, D. (1975). Adverbs of quantification. In E. Keenan (Ed.), Formal Semantics of Natural Language, pp Cambridge University Press. Obenauer, H. (1983). Une quantification non canonique: La quantification à distance. Langue française 58, Schäfer, R. (2007). On frequency adjectives. In Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 11, pp Stechow, A. v. (1996). The different meanings of wieder again : A structural account. Journal of Semantics 13, Stump, G. (1981). The interpretation of frequency adjectives. Linguistics and Philosophy 4(2), Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80

83 Pluractional adverbials Some proposals Tovena, L. and M. Donazzan (2008). On ways of repeating. Recherches Linguistiques de Vincennes 37, Tovena, L. M. (2010). When small is many in the event domain. Lexis 6, Tovena, L. M. (2012). Elements for a linguistic ontology in the verbal domain. In M. Donnelly and G. Guizzardi (Eds.), Formal Ontology in Information Systems, pp IOS Press. von Fintel, K. (1994). Restrictions on quantifier domains. Ph. D. thesis, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Cabredo Hofherr/Tovena (CNRS/Paris 7) Event pluralities ESSLLI / 80