Scope, scalarity, and polarity in aspectual marking : the case of English 'until' and Spanish 'hasta'

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dc.contributor.advisorBeavers, John T.
dc.contributor.advisorChierchia, Gennaro
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBeaver, David
dc.contributor.committeeMemberKamp, Hans
dc.contributor.committeeMemberWechsler, Stephen
dc.creatorBassa Vanrell, Maria Del Mar
dc.date.accessioned2017-10-12T14:13:00Z
dc.date.available2017-10-12T14:13:00Z
dc.date.created2017-08
dc.date.issued2017-08
dc.date.submittedAugust 2017
dc.date.updated2017-10-12T14:13:01Z
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation explores how languages express durations of time and the significant cross-linguistic variation displayed in words describing temporal duration with otherwise quite similar meanings. Specially, I examine 'until'-like phrases that bound events in time. These phrases are puzzling because across languages they typically only modify atelic predicates and not telic predicates. Yet they are acceptable with telic predicates if the predicate is negated, and in that case they furthermore generate a factive inference that the event described by the predicate must come about at a future time. Additionally, some languages, like Greek, use two distinct lexical words, one for atelic predicates and one for telic predicates. Three major prior proposals have been posited: (i) a lexical ambiguity account wherein there is a positive 'until' and a negative 'until', (ii) a monosemy account wherein 'until' is a type of universal quantifier over times that interacts scopally with negation, and (iii) a monosemy account wherein 'until' is a type of measure phrase over an existentially-quantified event. However, each approach fails to generalize appropriately. I revisit these three theories by examining the behavior of English "until"-phrases vis-à-vis durative "for"-adverbials, as well as 'until' counterparts in languages that acquire a superset or a subset of the interpretations of English "until", such as Spanish "hasta" and Greek "mehri". I propose a monosemy account that draws on insights from all three prior analyses. The key insight is that there is parameterization in the quantification that 'until' words in different languages exhibit. English "until" is universal in nature subject to a scope economy constraint. Spanish "hasta" is existential in nature subject to a plurality constraint in positive environments. Both universal and existential 'until' allow for negated telic predicates but the latter admits a wider set of readings and also permits lexical specialization of 'until' under negation, as found in Greek. Ultimately, irrespective of their quantification, English "until" and Spanish "hasta" activate temporal scalar alternatives that I argue derive factive inferences as an epiphenomenon of independent scopal interactions between the alternatives, polarity, and covert exhaustification-based operators of the inferential mechanism.
dc.description.departmentLinguistics
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T2K64B871
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/62094
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectSemantics
dc.subjectAspectual marking
dc.subjectScope
dc.subjectPragmatics
dc.subjectSyntax
dc.subjectPolarity
dc.subjectScalar implicatures
dc.subjectLogical strength
dc.subjectDurative adverbials
dc.subjectMeasure phrases
dc.subjectTypology
dc.subjectExistential
dc.subjectUniversal
dc.subjectQuantification
dc.subjectKinds
dc.subjectFor-adverbials
dc.subjectUntil-phrases
dc.subjectPunctual until
dc.subjectDurative until
dc.subjectAtelicity
dc.subjectTelicity
dc.subjectAspect
dc.subjectPerfective
dc.subjectFactivity
dc.subjectInterruption implicature
dc.subjectEntailment
dc.subjectObligatory implicature
dc.subjectInference
dc.subjectEvent semantics
dc.subjectQuantification
dc.subjectExhaustification
dc.subjectCovert exhaustification operators
dc.subjectNarrow scope
dc.subjectWide scope
dc.subjectInferential system
dc.subjectEven
dc.subjectLikelihood
dc.subjectSpatial until
dc.subjectTemporal expressions
dc.subjectTemporal and spatial domains
dc.subjectCross-linguistic variation
dc.subjectCross-linguistic semantics
dc.subjectTemporal alternatives
dc.subjectActive vs. optional alternatives
dc.subjectOnly exhaustification and even exhaustification
dc.subjectRepresentations of time
dc.subjectMeaning
dc.subjectLogic in language
dc.subjectUntil puzzle
dc.subjectNPI
dc.subjectPPI
dc.subjectLexicalization
dc.subjectNegative polarity items
dc.subjectQuantificational event semantics
dc.subjectIndefinites
dc.subjectDefiniteness and indefiniteness
dc.subjectCumulativity
dc.subjectDistributivity
dc.subjectNegation
dc.subjectDownward-entailing contexts
dc.subjectDownward monotonicity
dc.subjectReversal of entailment patterns
dc.subjectQuantified DPs
dc.titleScope, scalarity, and polarity in aspectual marking : the case of English 'until' and Spanish 'hasta'
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialtext
thesis.degree.departmentLinguistics
thesis.degree.disciplineLinguistics
thesis.degree.grantorThe University of Texas at Austin
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy

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