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Quantification and (un)certainty.

Zaroukian, Erin.

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Quantification and (un)certainty.

紀錄類型:	書目-電子資源 : Monograph/item
正題名/作者:	Quantification and (un)certainty./
作者:	Zaroukian, Erin.
出版者:	Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, : 2013,
面頁冊數:	238 p.
附註:	Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 75-07, Section: A.
Contained By:	Dissertations Abstracts International75-07A.
標題:	Linguistics. -
電子資源:	https://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=3574938
ISBN:	9781303522215

Quantification and (un)certainty.
Zaroukian, Erin.

Quantification and (un)certainty. - Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2013 - 238 p.

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 75-07, Section: A.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Johns Hopkins University, 2013.

This item is not available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

In natural language, vagueness abounds. In the sentence John served approximately 50 sandwiches, for example, there is-potential indeterminacy in what counts as a sandwich, what counts as an event of serving, and what quantities qualify as approximately fifty. In this dissertation I explore sentences like these in the context of two questions: i) What is the nature of vagueness? and ii) How should quantifiers be analyzed? I address these questions through case studies of a variety of modifiers, focusing on approximately, maybe, and about, as in John served approximately/maybe/about 50 sandwiches. Comparing modal modifiers like maybe to non-modal modifiers like approximately, I argue that vagueness is a systematically heterogeneous phenomenon by identifying fundamental differences in the vague readings these two classes of modifiers produce. In particular, I highlight their differing felicity in contexts that do not allow certain intermediate-value interpretations, such as It's Susan's birthday today, and she's maybe/#approximately thirty (here Susan can be exactly 30, 31, etc., but not 30.5, etc.). I further use this contrast to identify modal content in modifiers like about and like that previously received non-modal accounts. The modal account I develop makes a range of predictions, and I investigate in depth the modal concord readings it predicts. In doing so, I uncover surprising concord readings between modal modifiers and rising intonation. To account for this, I provide a semantic account of rising intonation as an epistemic possibility operator. Finally, as a key issue in answering questions (i) and (ii) is understanding the compositional interaction between these modifiers and the items they modify, I investigate quantifier composition. I focus in particular on approximately and about, which I argue support a decompositional approach to quantifiers due to their distribution across different syntactic constructions and the different categories of items over which they quantify (e.g. What John served was approximately {50 sandwiches/beef stroganoff} vs. John served approximately {50 sandwiches/#beef stroganoff}). Taken together, the denotations of these modifiers I develop and the means I provide for their composition account for a range of behaviors support a heterogeneous view of vagueness and decompositional approach to quantifiers.

ISBN: 9781303522215Subjects--Topical Terms:

524476
Linguistics.
Subjects--Index Terms:

Modals

Quantification and (un)certainty.
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300 $a 238 p.
500 $a Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 75-07, Section: A.
500 $a Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
500 $a Advisor: Gross, Steven.
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506 $a This item is not available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
506 $a This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
520 $a In natural language, vagueness abounds. In the sentence John served approximately 50 sandwiches, for example, there is-potential indeterminacy in what counts as a sandwich, what counts as an event of serving, and what quantities qualify as approximately fifty. In this dissertation I explore sentences like these in the context of two questions: i) What is the nature of vagueness? and ii) How should quantifiers be analyzed? I address these questions through case studies of a variety of modifiers, focusing on approximately, maybe, and about, as in John served approximately/maybe/about 50 sandwiches. Comparing modal modifiers like maybe to non-modal modifiers like approximately, I argue that vagueness is a systematically heterogeneous phenomenon by identifying fundamental differences in the vague readings these two classes of modifiers produce. In particular, I highlight their differing felicity in contexts that do not allow certain intermediate-value interpretations, such as It's Susan's birthday today, and she's maybe/#approximately thirty (here Susan can be exactly 30, 31, etc., but not 30.5, etc.). I further use this contrast to identify modal content in modifiers like about and like that previously received non-modal accounts. The modal account I develop makes a range of predictions, and I investigate in depth the modal concord readings it predicts. In doing so, I uncover surprising concord readings between modal modifiers and rising intonation. To account for this, I provide a semantic account of rising intonation as an epistemic possibility operator. Finally, as a key issue in answering questions (i) and (ii) is understanding the compositional interaction between these modifiers and the items they modify, I investigate quantifier composition. I focus in particular on approximately and about, which I argue support a decompositional approach to quantifiers due to their distribution across different syntactic constructions and the different categories of items over which they quantify (e.g. What John served was approximately {50 sandwiches/beef stroganoff} vs. John served approximately {50 sandwiches/#beef stroganoff}). Taken together, the denotations of these modifiers I develop and the means I provide for their composition account for a range of behaviors support a heterogeneous view of vagueness and decompositional approach to quantifiers.
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650 4 $a Modern literature. $3 2122750
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653 $a Quantification
653 $a Semantics
653 $a Vagueness
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690 $a 0298
710 2 $a The Johns Hopkins University. $b Cognitive Science. $3 2104259
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