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160244 PS PS Syntax theory (2010W)
hell is indefinite: the representation of indefiniteness
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
DO 28.10.2010, 12:30-14:00, Ort: Seminarraum 8, Sensengasse 3a, 5. OG
FR 29.10.2010, 14:00-16:00, Ort: Seminarraum 3, Sensengasse 3a, 5. OG
FR 29.10.2010, 17:00-19:00, Ort: Seminarraum 3, Sensengasse 3a, 5. OGWeitere Termine können voraussichtlich zwischen 5. und 17. Dezember 2010 stattfinden, während Referate auch in den letzten Semesterwoche (d.h. letzte Jänner Woche) stattfinden können.Students must have successfully completed "Einführung in die Grammatiktheorie" (or an analogous course at a different university).
Unbedingt Online-Anmeldung (wenn möglich begleitet durch eine persönliche Email-Anmeldung an: dalina.kallulli@univie.ac.at )
FR 29.10.2010, 14:00-16:00, Ort: Seminarraum 3, Sensengasse 3a, 5. OG
FR 29.10.2010, 17:00-19:00, Ort: Seminarraum 3, Sensengasse 3a, 5. OGWeitere Termine können voraussichtlich zwischen 5. und 17. Dezember 2010 stattfinden, während Referate auch in den letzten Semesterwoche (d.h. letzte Jänner Woche) stattfinden können.Students must have successfully completed "Einführung in die Grammatiktheorie" (or an analogous course at a different university).
Unbedingt Online-Anmeldung (wenn möglich begleitet durch eine persönliche Email-Anmeldung an: dalina.kallulli@univie.ac.at )
Details
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Few topics have been as hotly debated both in modern linguistics and in philosophy of language as indefinites, whose representation has truly been a perennial. Thus for instance, Russell (1905, 1919) analyzes indefinites as existential quantifiers (cf. also Quine 1960, Kaplan 1970, Ludlow & Neale 1991 a.o.), Strawson (1950, 1952) treats them as ambiguous between existential quantifiers and referential expressions (cf. also Fodor & Sag 1982), Heim (1982) treats them uniformly as variables devoid of any quantificational force, van Geenhoven (1998) construes them as ambiguous between contributing either a variable or having the role of a (predicate-modifier) restrictor, and various other scholars analyze them as choice functions. Similarly, the syntactic representation of indefinites is far from straightforward or uniform (cf. Reuland & ter Meulen 1987, Borer 2005, a.o.). This course will review the major issues arising from the morpho-syntactic, semantico-pragmatic and prosodic properties of indefinites that have prompted some of the aforementioned analyses, and introduce some prominent recent lines of research on them (e.g. Enç 1991, Diesing 1992, Ruys 1992, Reinhart 1995, Krifka 2001, a.o.). The core arguments that will be discussed involve scope properties, anaphoric reference, specificity, presuppositionality, event reference, (non-) novelty/givenness/deaccentuation, as well as cross-linguistic distributional evidence for or against associating indefinite articles with certain functional categories.
Assessment and permitted materials
Students will have to make a presentation with a handout on material provided with the literature list, or to write a (review) paper of their own.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
To deepen, consolidate and advance students' knowledge on syntactic and semantic analysis, in particular on issues such as as scope, reference, information structure and their (lack of) interaction; as well as to encourage students to engage in and carry out independent research.
Examination topics
Handouts
Reading list
Borer, Hagit. 2005. Structuring Sense. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Büring, Daniel. 2001. (2001) What do definites do that indefinites definitely don't? In C. Féry & W. Sternefeld (eds) Audiatur Vox Sapentiae - A Festschrift for Arnim von Stechow. Berlin: Akademie Verlag. 70-100.
Diesing, Molly. 1992. Indefinites. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Enç, Mürvet. 1991. The semantics of specificity. Linguistic Inquiry 22: 1-25.
Fodor, Janet Dean & Ivan A. Sag. 1982. Referential and quantificational indefinites. Linguistics and Philosophy 5 (3).
Heim, Irene. 1982. The Semantics of Definite and Indefinite Noun Phrases. GLSA Publication: Amherst, MA.
Kratzer, Angelika. 1998. Scope or pseudo-scope: are there wide-scope indefinites? In Susan Rothstein (ed.) Events in Grammar. Kluwer: Dordrecht.
Krifka, Manfred. 2001. Non-novel indefinites in adverbial quantification. In C. Condoravdi & G. Renardel de
Lavalette (eds.) Logical Perspectives on Language and Information 1-40. Stanford: CSLI Publications.
Ludlow, Peter & Stephen Neale. 1991. Indefinite descriptions: In defence of Russell. Linguistics & Philosophy 14.
Milsark, Gary. 1974. Existential Sentences in English. Ph.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Milsark, Gary. 1977. Toward an explanation of certain peculiarities of the existential construction in English. Linguistic Analysis 3(1): 1-29.
Reinhart, Tanya. 1995. Interface Strategies. Manuscript. OTS, Utrecht University.
Ruys, Eddy. 1992. The Scope of Indefinites. OTS doctoral dissertation.
Russell, Bertrand. 1905. On denoting. Mind 14: 479-493.
Russell, Bertrand. 1919. Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy. London: Allen and Unwin.
Strawson, Peter. 1950 On referring. Mind 59(235):320-344. [Reprinted in his 1971 Logico-Linguistic Papers, London: Methuen: 1-27]
Strawson, Peter. 1952. Introduction to Logical Theory. London: Methuen.
Van Geenhoven, Veerle. 1998. Semantic Incorporation and Indefinite Descriptions. University of Chicago Press: CSLI.
Zimmermann, Thomas Ede. 1993. On the proper treatment of opacity in certain verbs. Natural Language Semantics 1:149-179.
Büring, Daniel. 2001. (2001) What do definites do that indefinites definitely don't? In C. Féry & W. Sternefeld (eds) Audiatur Vox Sapentiae - A Festschrift for Arnim von Stechow. Berlin: Akademie Verlag. 70-100.
Diesing, Molly. 1992. Indefinites. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Enç, Mürvet. 1991. The semantics of specificity. Linguistic Inquiry 22: 1-25.
Fodor, Janet Dean & Ivan A. Sag. 1982. Referential and quantificational indefinites. Linguistics and Philosophy 5 (3).
Heim, Irene. 1982. The Semantics of Definite and Indefinite Noun Phrases. GLSA Publication: Amherst, MA.
Kratzer, Angelika. 1998. Scope or pseudo-scope: are there wide-scope indefinites? In Susan Rothstein (ed.) Events in Grammar. Kluwer: Dordrecht.
Krifka, Manfred. 2001. Non-novel indefinites in adverbial quantification. In C. Condoravdi & G. Renardel de
Lavalette (eds.) Logical Perspectives on Language and Information 1-40. Stanford: CSLI Publications.
Ludlow, Peter & Stephen Neale. 1991. Indefinite descriptions: In defence of Russell. Linguistics & Philosophy 14.
Milsark, Gary. 1974. Existential Sentences in English. Ph.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Milsark, Gary. 1977. Toward an explanation of certain peculiarities of the existential construction in English. Linguistic Analysis 3(1): 1-29.
Reinhart, Tanya. 1995. Interface Strategies. Manuscript. OTS, Utrecht University.
Ruys, Eddy. 1992. The Scope of Indefinites. OTS doctoral dissertation.
Russell, Bertrand. 1905. On denoting. Mind 14: 479-493.
Russell, Bertrand. 1919. Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy. London: Allen and Unwin.
Strawson, Peter. 1950 On referring. Mind 59(235):320-344. [Reprinted in his 1971 Logico-Linguistic Papers, London: Methuen: 1-27]
Strawson, Peter. 1952. Introduction to Logical Theory. London: Methuen.
Van Geenhoven, Veerle. 1998. Semantic Incorporation and Indefinite Descriptions. University of Chicago Press: CSLI.
Zimmermann, Thomas Ede. 1993. On the proper treatment of opacity in certain verbs. Natural Language Semantics 1:149-179.
Association in the course directory
Codes Diplomstudium: 214, 216
Last modified: Fr 31.08.2018 08:52