Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga | University of Cambridge (original) (raw)
Thesis Chapters by Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga
ii nouns to nouns wan wan too nons too and and nuns two nuns w an d ering in sin g ular untheknow... more ii nouns to nouns wan wan too nons too and and nuns two nuns w an d ering in sin g ular untheknowndulous s pring E.E.Cummings
Talks by Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga
Paper presented at the WORKSHOP (CO)-DISTRIBUTIVITY 2015 held on 26 February 2015 at CNRS Pouchet
Publications by Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 2024
Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruit and vegetables and objects) and formal fluency (... more Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruit and vegetables and objects) and formal fluency (X [Chi], Σ [Sigma] Α [Alpha]) were collected from 32 L1Greek-L2English late bilingual speakers and 32 Greek monolinguals. The verbal fluency task has been used in both language attrition and bilingualism studies. Language attrition studies, which mostly employ only the semantic task, show that bilinguals perform worse than monolinguals. In bilingualism studies, which employ both the semantic and formal tasks, we find greater variance and the results are mixed (bilinguals perform similarly, better or poorly compared to monolinguals). In our study, we investigated quantitative measures (number of correct responses) and strategic processes (clustering, switching). In the quantitative measures, monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in both tasks with the difference being more pronounced in the semantic task. In clustering, both groups behaved similarly, while in switching monolinguals performed better than bilinguals. The implications of these results are discussed. Highlights • We collected verbal fluency data from Greek monolinguals and bilinguals (L1Greek/L2 English). • Verbal fluency included semantic (three categories) and formal fluency (three letters). • Greek monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in number of correct responses. • Both groups behaved similarly in clustering. • Monolinguals performed better than bilinguals in switching.
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 2024
Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruit and vegetables and objects) and formal fluency (... more Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruit and vegetables and objects) and formal fluency (X [Chi], Σ [Sigma] Α [Alpha]) were collected from 32 L1Greek-L2English late bilingual speakers and 32 Greek monolinguals. The verbal fluency task has been used in both language attrition and bilingualism studies. Language attrition studies, which mostly employ only the semantic task, show that bilinguals perform worse than monolinguals. In bilingualism studies, which employ both the semantic and formal tasks, we find greater variance and the results are mixed (bilinguals perform similarly, better or poorly compared to monolinguals). In our study, we investigated quantitative measures (number of correct responses) and strategic processes (clustering, switching). In the quantitative measures, monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in both tasks with the difference being more pronounced in the semantic task. In clustering, both groups behaved similarly, while in switching monolinguals performed better than bilinguals. The implications of these results are discussed. Highlights • We collected verbal fluency data from Greek monolinguals and bilinguals (L1Greek/L2 English). • Verbal fluency included semantic (three categories) and formal fluency (three letters). • Greek monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in number of correct responses. • Both groups behaved similarly in clustering. • Monolinguals performed better than bilinguals in switching.
Second Language Research, 2019
Spanish native speakers are known to pronounce onset /sC/ clusters in English with a prothetic vo... more Spanish native speakers are known to pronounce onset /sC/ clusters in English with a prothetic vowel, as in esport for sport, due to their native language phonotactic constraints. We assessed whether accurate production of e.g. spi instead of espi was related to accurate perceptual discrimination of this contrast in second language (L2) speech of Spanish-English sequential bilinguals. A same-different discrimination task in stimulus pairs such as spi-espi assessed speech perception and a phonemic verbal fluency task elicited speech production. Logistic mixed model regressions revealed significant differences in accuracy between the bilinguals and the English monolinguals, although some bilinguals performed within the monolingual range. For the production task, but not for the perception task, bilinguals with more exposure to English and greater grammatical
Language Learning and Development
This paper reports an experiment that investigates interpretive distinctions between two differen... more This paper reports an experiment that investigates interpretive distinctions between two different expressions of generalization in Spanish. In particular, our aim was to find out when the distinction between generic statements (GS) such as Tigers have stripes and universally quantified statements (UQS) such as All tigers have stripes was acquired in Spanish-speaking children of two different age groups (4/5-year-olds and 8/9-year-olds), and then compare these results with those of adults. The starting point of this research was the semantic distinction between GS and UQS in that the former admit exceptions, unlike the latter. On the other hand, several authors have observed a Generic overgeneralization effect (GOG) consisting in allowing for UQS to be felicitous in the face of exceptions, thus proposing that this "error" stems from GS being defaults (simpler, more easily learned and processed). In the current paper we aimed to test the "Generics as Default" (GaD) hypothesis by comparing GS and UQS in three different age ranges. Our data show that, overall, the accuracy of GS is greater than the accuracy of UQS. Moreover, we also confirm a hypothesized interaction between age and NP type (GS vs UQS). Further, we present several data points that are not predicted by the GaD, including an observed decline in the accuracy of GS in the older group of children as well as in adults, and that children fail at rejecting statements that are not considered to be true generalizations.
Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Greek Linguistics, 2019
Οι γενικευτικές προτάσεις (π.χ. «οι τίγρεις έχουν ρίγες», «οι πάπιες γεννούν αυγά») εκφράζουν γεν... more Οι γενικευτικές προτάσεις (π.χ. «οι τίγρεις έχουν ρίγες», «οι πάπιες γεννούν αυγά») εκφράζουν γενικεύσεις που μοιάζουν παραπλήσιες με αυτές που εκφράζονται μέσω προτάσεων με καθολικούς ποσοδείκτες (π.χ. «όλες οι τίγρεις έχουν ρίγες», «όλες οι πάπιες γεννούν αυγά»), αλλά διαφέρουν από αυτές στο ότι οι γενικευτικές προτάσεις επιτρέπουν εξαιρέσεις (π.χ. τίγρεις με αλφισμό ή αρσενικές πάπιες που δεν γεννούν αυγά) και στο ότι αφορούν κατά κύριο λόγο χαρακτηριστικές και ουσιώδεις ιδιότητες του εν λόγω είδους. Πρόσφατα, ψυχολογικές ερευνητικές εργασίες που προτείνουν την θεωρία του generic-as-default παρουσίασαν δεδομένα, με βάση τα οποία περιέγραψαν μία τάση των ομιλητών να παρερμηνεύουν προτάσεις με καθολικούς ποσοδείκτες και να τις ερμηνεύουν σαν να ήταν γενικευτικές. Σύμφωνα με αυτή τη θεωρία, αυτή η τάση οδηγεί τους ομιλητές στο να δέχονται αυτές τις προτάσεις ως αληθινές ενώ θα έπρεπε να τις απορρίπτουν γιατί είναι εσφαλμένες. Σε πρόσφατη εργασία μας (Lazaridou-Chatzigoga, Stockall, & Katsos, to appear) παρουσιάσαμε τα αποτελέσματα δύο πειραμάτων στα Αγγλικά και τα Ελληνικά, στα οποία μελετήσαμε τη σχέση των συμφραζoμένων (context) και του περιορισμού πεδίου των ποσοδεικτών (quantifier domain restriction) ως πιθανών εξηγήσεων αυτής της τάσης. Τα αποτελέσματά μας έδειξαν ότι ο περιορισμός πεδίου των ποσοδεικτών είναι μία σημαντική εναλλακτική εξήγηση μεγάλου μέρους της εν λόγω συμπεριφοράς. Εδώ παρουσιάζουμε κάποια δεδομένα που δεν έχουν δημοσιευτεί προηγουμένως, τα οποία αφορούν σε επιπλέον πειραματικές συνθήκες στα Ελληνικά με τους ποσοδείκτες κάθε και ο κάθε. Ενώ η μεγαλύτερη έρευνα εστίασε στη σύγκριση γενικευτικών και καθολικών γενικεύσεων σε διαφορετικά συμφραζόμενα, εδώ μας ενδιαφέρει περισσότερο το πώς διαφαίνεται η διαφορά του κάθε και του ο κάθε στα δεδομένα μας.
Proceedings of Linguistic Evidence 2018: Experimental Data Drives Linguistic Theory, 2019
In this paper we present results from a context-acceptability judgment task that addressed generi... more In this paper we present results from a context-acceptability judgment task that addressed genericity in Greek following a design used by Ionin et al. (2011). The task investigates two sources of genericity: (a) sentence-level genericity with a non-Well-Defined Kind (e.g. a green lamp) and (b) NP-level genericity with a WDK (e.g., a dodo bird) followed by a kind predicate (e.g., be extinct). Our results largely confirm the predictions and support Dayal’s (2004) theoretical account of genericity: definite singulars were rated higher with NP-level than with sentence-level genericity, definite plurals were rated equally high with both types of genericity, and modified indefinite singulars were rated higher with sentence-level than with NP-level genericity. With respect to the WDK restriction on definite singulars, even though the difference between the two conditions was significant, definite singulars with sentence-level genericity were rated higher than expected. This casts doubts on the universality WDK restriction, which would have to be addressed in future work.
Handbook of experimental semantics and pragmatics, 2019
'Birds fly', 'The fox is a sly animal', and 'A cat lands on its feet' are all generic generaliza ... more 'Birds fly', 'The fox is a sly animal', and 'A cat lands on its feet' are all generic generaliza tions that allow speakers to talk about kinds of entities rather than individuals and to re fer to their characteristic or essential properties. Their complex yet fundamental nature has attracted the interest of linguists and philosophers of language since the 1970s while they have also recently become the focus of concentrated interest by cognitive and devel opmental psychologists. The two main approaches to genericity in two different fields, formal semantics and cognitive psychology, are discussed. The review of the experimental research on the topic reveals that while the experimental study of generics is still in its early stages, interdisciplinary work that integrates the tools and perspectives of both strands of investigation can substantially advance our understanding of the topic.
Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 11, E. Puig-Waldmueller (ed.), Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 403-417, 2007
In this paper I defend an indefinite analysis for Greek Free Choice opjosdhipote ‘any’ and I illu... more In this paper I defend an indefinite analysis for Greek Free Choice opjosdhipote ‘any’ and I illustrate three different constructions where this item is used: (i) opjosdhipote + Noun, (ii) indefinite article + opjosdhipote + Noun and (iii) definite article + opjosdhipote + Noun. I argue that bare opjosdhipote or opjosdhipote co-appearing with the definite article is a determiner, while opjosdhipote co-appearing with the indefinite article is an adjective and that the definite article in the construction in question does not contribute definiteness, as would be expected, but acts as a slack regulator in the sense of Lasersohn (1999).
Proceedings of the 2007 Workshop in Greek Syntax and Semantics at MIT, MITWPL 57 (MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 57), Halpert, Claire, Jeremy Hartman and David Hill (eds.), 123-137, 2009
In this paper I study the Greek construction [definite article + F(ree) C(hoice) I(tem) opjosdhip... more In this paper I study the Greek construction [definite article + F(ree) C(hoice) I(tem) opjosdhipote + Noun] in generic contexts and on the basis of its distribution and characteristics, I make the following claims: The NP as a whole contributes a variable that must be assigned quantificational force as in Heim’s theory of indefinites, opjosdhipote is a domain widener and the definite article involved in this construction acts as a slack regulator in the sense of Lasersohn (1999) operating on the GEN operator.
![Research paper thumbnail of Ο καθολικός επιμεριστικός δείκτης κάθε με το οριστικό άρθρο [The universal distributive quantifier kathe with the definite article]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/31113160/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Department of Linguistics, School of Philology, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, May 6-8 2011, Thessaloniki, 235-246, 2012
This paper investigates the co-occurrence of the universal distributive quantifier kathe with th... more This paper investigates the co-occurrence of the universal distributive quantifier kathe with the definite article in Greek. Following the terminology of Beghelli & Stowell (1997) and
Tunstall (1998), I argue that while both bare kathe-phrases and
kathe-phrases with the definite article exhibit strong distributivity, kathe-phrases with the definite article are linked to obligatory and total distributivity, while bare kathe-phrases are linked to optional and partial distributivity. As far as genericity is concerned, kathe can be interpreted generically, while o kathe cannot, because it is presuppositional. The contribution of the definite article in this construction is claimed to be associated to the conditions of weak familiarity (Roberts 2003) and count-as-unique.
Major Trends in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Selected Papers, from the 20th ISTAL, by Lavidas, Nikolaos, Alexiou, Thomaï and Sougari, Areti Maria, p.369-384, London: Versita de Gruyter., 2014
kathe o, i, to) in Greek. Following and Tunstall (1998) I argue that while both bare kathe-phrase... more kathe o, i, to) in Greek. Following and Tunstall (1998) I argue that while both bare kathe-phrases and phrases phrases) exhibit strong distributivity, o kathe-phrases are linked to obligatory and total distribution, while bare kathe-phrases are linked to optional and partial distribution. As far as genericity is concerned, kathe can be generic, while o kathe cannot, because it is associated with weak familiarity and the condition.
Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 17, E. Chemla, V.Homer and G. Winterstein (eds.), ENS Paris, 325-343., 2013
Generic statements are characteristically associated with two features that distinguish them fro... more Generic statements are characteristically associated with two
features that distinguish them from universally quantified statements: first, they are tolerant of exceptions, and, second, they are not associated with any overt quantifier or determiner. We present data from a timed Truth Value Judgement Task (TVJT) that investigates the consequences of these two features for processing. We discuss these results in the context of recent proposals that generic interpretations are a more 'default' or 'basic' kind of interpretation than universal quantification and
argue that our results do not support these proposals.
Neste artigo apresentamos os resultados de um estudo de corpus sobre o singular nu no grego. Este... more Neste artigo apresentamos os resultados de um estudo de corpus sobre o singular nu no grego. Este estudo disponibiliza pela primeira vez dados de corpus que inclui todo o conjunto de verbos que têm sido apontados como permitindo o nominal singular contável nu (BSCNs) em grego. Primeiro, discutimos duas das classes de verbo que permitem o BSCNs, verbos de criação e construções existenciais. Em seguida, argumentamos que BSCNs não são neutros para número e que eles parecem ter um estatuto argumental, nos levando então a argumentar que uma análise de pseudoincorporação "estrita" à La Espinal & McNally (2011), por exemplo, não encontra apoio no grego. Nossos dados e análise parecem indicar que um tipo de pseudoincorporação "liberal" no sentido de Dayal (2011) poderia fornecer uma análise para o grego.
In this paper, we compare the formal semantics approach to genericity, within which genericity is... more In this paper, we compare the formal semantics approach to genericity, within which genericity is viewed as a species of quantification, and a growing body of experimental and developmental work on the topic, mainly by psychologists rather than linguists, proposing that genericity is categorically different from (and significantly simpler than) quantification. We argue that this generics-as-default hypothesis is much less well supported by evidence than its supporters contend, and that a research program combining theoretical and experimental research methods and considerations in the same studies is required to make progress.
While generic generalisations have been studied by linguists and philosophers for decades, they h... more While generic generalisations have been studied by linguists and philosophers for decades, they have only recently become the focus of concentrated interest by cognitive and developmental psychologists, who propose the generics-as- default view. In this paper we focus on the ‘Generic Overgeneralisation’ (GOG) effect proposed by Leslie and colleagues and the native speaker judgments that have been used to support it, and by extension, the generics-as-default view. We take a step back to look at the history of the GOG effect in order to contextualise it. We review existing experimental evidence and discuss four non-mutually exclusive explanations for the GOG effect: ignorance, subkind interpretation, atypical behaviour of all and quantifier domain restriction. We conclude that a closer look at the semantics and pragmatics of generics and universal quantifiers may provide a more nuanced explanation for the pattern of judgment data than that proposed by the generics-as-default view.
In this study, we focused on the Generic Overgeneralisation (GOG) effect (Leslie, Khemlani, and G... more In this study, we focused on the Generic Overgeneralisation (GOG) effect (Leslie, Khemlani, and Glucksberg 2011) and tested the relevance of context and an explanation based on quantifier domain restriction for the pattern of judgement data observed. Participants judged generic majority characteristic statements like tigers have stripes or statements with universal quantifiers that have different sensitivity to context ('all', 'all the', 'each') preceded by one of three levels of context: a) neutral, where the information in the context does not interact with the truth value of the critical statement, b) contradictory, where it presents an exception which should rule out a universally quantified statement, and c) supportive. Our results suggest that proponents of the generics-as-default view ruled out context prematurely and that in fact context is a viable alternative explanation for much of the so-called GOG effect.
Journal of Semantics
Generic generalisations (e.g. 'tigers have stripes', 'ducks lay eggs') refer to a characteristic ... more Generic generalisations (e.g. 'tigers have stripes', 'ducks lay eggs') refer to a characteristic property of a kind. Recently, the generics-as-default view has posited that we have a bias towards interpreting universally quantified statements as generic. Evidence offered for this view is the Generic Overgeneralisation (GOG) effect, which refers to the documented tendency of participants to misinterpret a quantificational statement like 'all ducks lay eggs' as if it were a generic and thus accept it as true, even though they know it is false. Across two experiments in English and Greek we systematically addressed the relevance of context and quantifier domain restriction for this kind of behaviour. Participants judged generic majority characteristic statements like 'tigers have stripes' or statements with universal quantifiers with different sensitivity to quantifier domain restriction preceded by one of three levels of context (neutral, contradictory and supportive). We found that context significantly affected the rates at which participants accepted universally quantified statements. Our results demonstrate that quantifier domain restriction is a viable alternative explanation for a significant proportion of the judgements of universally quantified statements that have been called GOG errors.
Paper presented at the WORKSHOP (CO)-DISTRIBUTIVITY 2015 held on 26 February 2015 at CNRS Pouchet
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 2024
Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruit and vegetables and objects) and formal fluency (... more Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruit and vegetables and objects) and formal fluency (X [Chi], Σ [Sigma] Α [Alpha]) were collected from 32 L1Greek-L2English late bilingual speakers and 32 Greek monolinguals. The verbal fluency task has been used in both language attrition and bilingualism studies. Language attrition studies, which mostly employ only the semantic task, show that bilinguals perform worse than monolinguals. In bilingualism studies, which employ both the semantic and formal tasks, we find greater variance and the results are mixed (bilinguals perform similarly, better or poorly compared to monolinguals). In our study, we investigated quantitative measures (number of correct responses) and strategic processes (clustering, switching). In the quantitative measures, monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in both tasks with the difference being more pronounced in the semantic task. In clustering, both groups behaved similarly, while in switching monolinguals performed better than bilinguals. The implications of these results are discussed. Highlights • We collected verbal fluency data from Greek monolinguals and bilinguals (L1Greek/L2 English). • Verbal fluency included semantic (three categories) and formal fluency (three letters). • Greek monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in number of correct responses. • Both groups behaved similarly in clustering. • Monolinguals performed better than bilinguals in switching.
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 2024
Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruit and vegetables and objects) and formal fluency (... more Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruit and vegetables and objects) and formal fluency (X [Chi], Σ [Sigma] Α [Alpha]) were collected from 32 L1Greek-L2English late bilingual speakers and 32 Greek monolinguals. The verbal fluency task has been used in both language attrition and bilingualism studies. Language attrition studies, which mostly employ only the semantic task, show that bilinguals perform worse than monolinguals. In bilingualism studies, which employ both the semantic and formal tasks, we find greater variance and the results are mixed (bilinguals perform similarly, better or poorly compared to monolinguals). In our study, we investigated quantitative measures (number of correct responses) and strategic processes (clustering, switching). In the quantitative measures, monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in both tasks with the difference being more pronounced in the semantic task. In clustering, both groups behaved similarly, while in switching monolinguals performed better than bilinguals. The implications of these results are discussed. Highlights • We collected verbal fluency data from Greek monolinguals and bilinguals (L1Greek/L2 English). • Verbal fluency included semantic (three categories) and formal fluency (three letters). • Greek monolinguals outperformed bilinguals in number of correct responses. • Both groups behaved similarly in clustering. • Monolinguals performed better than bilinguals in switching.
Second Language Research, 2019
Spanish native speakers are known to pronounce onset /sC/ clusters in English with a prothetic vo... more Spanish native speakers are known to pronounce onset /sC/ clusters in English with a prothetic vowel, as in esport for sport, due to their native language phonotactic constraints. We assessed whether accurate production of e.g. spi instead of espi was related to accurate perceptual discrimination of this contrast in second language (L2) speech of Spanish-English sequential bilinguals. A same-different discrimination task in stimulus pairs such as spi-espi assessed speech perception and a phonemic verbal fluency task elicited speech production. Logistic mixed model regressions revealed significant differences in accuracy between the bilinguals and the English monolinguals, although some bilinguals performed within the monolingual range. For the production task, but not for the perception task, bilinguals with more exposure to English and greater grammatical
Language Learning and Development
This paper reports an experiment that investigates interpretive distinctions between two differen... more This paper reports an experiment that investigates interpretive distinctions between two different expressions of generalization in Spanish. In particular, our aim was to find out when the distinction between generic statements (GS) such as Tigers have stripes and universally quantified statements (UQS) such as All tigers have stripes was acquired in Spanish-speaking children of two different age groups (4/5-year-olds and 8/9-year-olds), and then compare these results with those of adults. The starting point of this research was the semantic distinction between GS and UQS in that the former admit exceptions, unlike the latter. On the other hand, several authors have observed a Generic overgeneralization effect (GOG) consisting in allowing for UQS to be felicitous in the face of exceptions, thus proposing that this "error" stems from GS being defaults (simpler, more easily learned and processed). In the current paper we aimed to test the "Generics as Default" (GaD) hypothesis by comparing GS and UQS in three different age ranges. Our data show that, overall, the accuracy of GS is greater than the accuracy of UQS. Moreover, we also confirm a hypothesized interaction between age and NP type (GS vs UQS). Further, we present several data points that are not predicted by the GaD, including an observed decline in the accuracy of GS in the older group of children as well as in adults, and that children fail at rejecting statements that are not considered to be true generalizations.
Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Greek Linguistics, 2019
Οι γενικευτικές προτάσεις (π.χ. «οι τίγρεις έχουν ρίγες», «οι πάπιες γεννούν αυγά») εκφράζουν γεν... more Οι γενικευτικές προτάσεις (π.χ. «οι τίγρεις έχουν ρίγες», «οι πάπιες γεννούν αυγά») εκφράζουν γενικεύσεις που μοιάζουν παραπλήσιες με αυτές που εκφράζονται μέσω προτάσεων με καθολικούς ποσοδείκτες (π.χ. «όλες οι τίγρεις έχουν ρίγες», «όλες οι πάπιες γεννούν αυγά»), αλλά διαφέρουν από αυτές στο ότι οι γενικευτικές προτάσεις επιτρέπουν εξαιρέσεις (π.χ. τίγρεις με αλφισμό ή αρσενικές πάπιες που δεν γεννούν αυγά) και στο ότι αφορούν κατά κύριο λόγο χαρακτηριστικές και ουσιώδεις ιδιότητες του εν λόγω είδους. Πρόσφατα, ψυχολογικές ερευνητικές εργασίες που προτείνουν την θεωρία του generic-as-default παρουσίασαν δεδομένα, με βάση τα οποία περιέγραψαν μία τάση των ομιλητών να παρερμηνεύουν προτάσεις με καθολικούς ποσοδείκτες και να τις ερμηνεύουν σαν να ήταν γενικευτικές. Σύμφωνα με αυτή τη θεωρία, αυτή η τάση οδηγεί τους ομιλητές στο να δέχονται αυτές τις προτάσεις ως αληθινές ενώ θα έπρεπε να τις απορρίπτουν γιατί είναι εσφαλμένες. Σε πρόσφατη εργασία μας (Lazaridou-Chatzigoga, Stockall, & Katsos, to appear) παρουσιάσαμε τα αποτελέσματα δύο πειραμάτων στα Αγγλικά και τα Ελληνικά, στα οποία μελετήσαμε τη σχέση των συμφραζoμένων (context) και του περιορισμού πεδίου των ποσοδεικτών (quantifier domain restriction) ως πιθανών εξηγήσεων αυτής της τάσης. Τα αποτελέσματά μας έδειξαν ότι ο περιορισμός πεδίου των ποσοδεικτών είναι μία σημαντική εναλλακτική εξήγηση μεγάλου μέρους της εν λόγω συμπεριφοράς. Εδώ παρουσιάζουμε κάποια δεδομένα που δεν έχουν δημοσιευτεί προηγουμένως, τα οποία αφορούν σε επιπλέον πειραματικές συνθήκες στα Ελληνικά με τους ποσοδείκτες κάθε και ο κάθε. Ενώ η μεγαλύτερη έρευνα εστίασε στη σύγκριση γενικευτικών και καθολικών γενικεύσεων σε διαφορετικά συμφραζόμενα, εδώ μας ενδιαφέρει περισσότερο το πώς διαφαίνεται η διαφορά του κάθε και του ο κάθε στα δεδομένα μας.
Proceedings of Linguistic Evidence 2018: Experimental Data Drives Linguistic Theory, 2019
In this paper we present results from a context-acceptability judgment task that addressed generi... more In this paper we present results from a context-acceptability judgment task that addressed genericity in Greek following a design used by Ionin et al. (2011). The task investigates two sources of genericity: (a) sentence-level genericity with a non-Well-Defined Kind (e.g. a green lamp) and (b) NP-level genericity with a WDK (e.g., a dodo bird) followed by a kind predicate (e.g., be extinct). Our results largely confirm the predictions and support Dayal’s (2004) theoretical account of genericity: definite singulars were rated higher with NP-level than with sentence-level genericity, definite plurals were rated equally high with both types of genericity, and modified indefinite singulars were rated higher with sentence-level than with NP-level genericity. With respect to the WDK restriction on definite singulars, even though the difference between the two conditions was significant, definite singulars with sentence-level genericity were rated higher than expected. This casts doubts on the universality WDK restriction, which would have to be addressed in future work.
Handbook of experimental semantics and pragmatics, 2019
'Birds fly', 'The fox is a sly animal', and 'A cat lands on its feet' are all generic generaliza ... more 'Birds fly', 'The fox is a sly animal', and 'A cat lands on its feet' are all generic generaliza tions that allow speakers to talk about kinds of entities rather than individuals and to re fer to their characteristic or essential properties. Their complex yet fundamental nature has attracted the interest of linguists and philosophers of language since the 1970s while they have also recently become the focus of concentrated interest by cognitive and devel opmental psychologists. The two main approaches to genericity in two different fields, formal semantics and cognitive psychology, are discussed. The review of the experimental research on the topic reveals that while the experimental study of generics is still in its early stages, interdisciplinary work that integrates the tools and perspectives of both strands of investigation can substantially advance our understanding of the topic.
Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 11, E. Puig-Waldmueller (ed.), Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 403-417, 2007
In this paper I defend an indefinite analysis for Greek Free Choice opjosdhipote ‘any’ and I illu... more In this paper I defend an indefinite analysis for Greek Free Choice opjosdhipote ‘any’ and I illustrate three different constructions where this item is used: (i) opjosdhipote + Noun, (ii) indefinite article + opjosdhipote + Noun and (iii) definite article + opjosdhipote + Noun. I argue that bare opjosdhipote or opjosdhipote co-appearing with the definite article is a determiner, while opjosdhipote co-appearing with the indefinite article is an adjective and that the definite article in the construction in question does not contribute definiteness, as would be expected, but acts as a slack regulator in the sense of Lasersohn (1999).
Proceedings of the 2007 Workshop in Greek Syntax and Semantics at MIT, MITWPL 57 (MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 57), Halpert, Claire, Jeremy Hartman and David Hill (eds.), 123-137, 2009
In this paper I study the Greek construction [definite article + F(ree) C(hoice) I(tem) opjosdhip... more In this paper I study the Greek construction [definite article + F(ree) C(hoice) I(tem) opjosdhipote + Noun] in generic contexts and on the basis of its distribution and characteristics, I make the following claims: The NP as a whole contributes a variable that must be assigned quantificational force as in Heim’s theory of indefinites, opjosdhipote is a domain widener and the definite article involved in this construction acts as a slack regulator in the sense of Lasersohn (1999) operating on the GEN operator.
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Department of Linguistics, School of Philology, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, May 6-8 2011, Thessaloniki, 235-246, 2012
This paper investigates the co-occurrence of the universal distributive quantifier kathe with th... more This paper investigates the co-occurrence of the universal distributive quantifier kathe with the definite article in Greek. Following the terminology of Beghelli & Stowell (1997) and
Tunstall (1998), I argue that while both bare kathe-phrases and
kathe-phrases with the definite article exhibit strong distributivity, kathe-phrases with the definite article are linked to obligatory and total distributivity, while bare kathe-phrases are linked to optional and partial distributivity. As far as genericity is concerned, kathe can be interpreted generically, while o kathe cannot, because it is presuppositional. The contribution of the definite article in this construction is claimed to be associated to the conditions of weak familiarity (Roberts 2003) and count-as-unique.
Major Trends in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Selected Papers, from the 20th ISTAL, by Lavidas, Nikolaos, Alexiou, Thomaï and Sougari, Areti Maria, p.369-384, London: Versita de Gruyter., 2014
kathe o, i, to) in Greek. Following and Tunstall (1998) I argue that while both bare kathe-phrase... more kathe o, i, to) in Greek. Following and Tunstall (1998) I argue that while both bare kathe-phrases and phrases phrases) exhibit strong distributivity, o kathe-phrases are linked to obligatory and total distribution, while bare kathe-phrases are linked to optional and partial distribution. As far as genericity is concerned, kathe can be generic, while o kathe cannot, because it is associated with weak familiarity and the condition.
Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 17, E. Chemla, V.Homer and G. Winterstein (eds.), ENS Paris, 325-343., 2013
Generic statements are characteristically associated with two features that distinguish them fro... more Generic statements are characteristically associated with two
features that distinguish them from universally quantified statements: first, they are tolerant of exceptions, and, second, they are not associated with any overt quantifier or determiner. We present data from a timed Truth Value Judgement Task (TVJT) that investigates the consequences of these two features for processing. We discuss these results in the context of recent proposals that generic interpretations are a more 'default' or 'basic' kind of interpretation than universal quantification and
argue that our results do not support these proposals.
Neste artigo apresentamos os resultados de um estudo de corpus sobre o singular nu no grego. Este... more Neste artigo apresentamos os resultados de um estudo de corpus sobre o singular nu no grego. Este estudo disponibiliza pela primeira vez dados de corpus que inclui todo o conjunto de verbos que têm sido apontados como permitindo o nominal singular contável nu (BSCNs) em grego. Primeiro, discutimos duas das classes de verbo que permitem o BSCNs, verbos de criação e construções existenciais. Em seguida, argumentamos que BSCNs não são neutros para número e que eles parecem ter um estatuto argumental, nos levando então a argumentar que uma análise de pseudoincorporação "estrita" à La Espinal & McNally (2011), por exemplo, não encontra apoio no grego. Nossos dados e análise parecem indicar que um tipo de pseudoincorporação "liberal" no sentido de Dayal (2011) poderia fornecer uma análise para o grego.
In this paper, we compare the formal semantics approach to genericity, within which genericity is... more In this paper, we compare the formal semantics approach to genericity, within which genericity is viewed as a species of quantification, and a growing body of experimental and developmental work on the topic, mainly by psychologists rather than linguists, proposing that genericity is categorically different from (and significantly simpler than) quantification. We argue that this generics-as-default hypothesis is much less well supported by evidence than its supporters contend, and that a research program combining theoretical and experimental research methods and considerations in the same studies is required to make progress.
While generic generalisations have been studied by linguists and philosophers for decades, they h... more While generic generalisations have been studied by linguists and philosophers for decades, they have only recently become the focus of concentrated interest by cognitive and developmental psychologists, who propose the generics-as- default view. In this paper we focus on the ‘Generic Overgeneralisation’ (GOG) effect proposed by Leslie and colleagues and the native speaker judgments that have been used to support it, and by extension, the generics-as-default view. We take a step back to look at the history of the GOG effect in order to contextualise it. We review existing experimental evidence and discuss four non-mutually exclusive explanations for the GOG effect: ignorance, subkind interpretation, atypical behaviour of all and quantifier domain restriction. We conclude that a closer look at the semantics and pragmatics of generics and universal quantifiers may provide a more nuanced explanation for the pattern of judgment data than that proposed by the generics-as-default view.
In this study, we focused on the Generic Overgeneralisation (GOG) effect (Leslie, Khemlani, and G... more In this study, we focused on the Generic Overgeneralisation (GOG) effect (Leslie, Khemlani, and Glucksberg 2011) and tested the relevance of context and an explanation based on quantifier domain restriction for the pattern of judgement data observed. Participants judged generic majority characteristic statements like tigers have stripes or statements with universal quantifiers that have different sensitivity to context ('all', 'all the', 'each') preceded by one of three levels of context: a) neutral, where the information in the context does not interact with the truth value of the critical statement, b) contradictory, where it presents an exception which should rule out a universally quantified statement, and c) supportive. Our results suggest that proponents of the generics-as-default view ruled out context prematurely and that in fact context is a viable alternative explanation for much of the so-called GOG effect.
Journal of Semantics
Generic generalisations (e.g. 'tigers have stripes', 'ducks lay eggs') refer to a characteristic ... more Generic generalisations (e.g. 'tigers have stripes', 'ducks lay eggs') refer to a characteristic property of a kind. Recently, the generics-as-default view has posited that we have a bias towards interpreting universally quantified statements as generic. Evidence offered for this view is the Generic Overgeneralisation (GOG) effect, which refers to the documented tendency of participants to misinterpret a quantificational statement like 'all ducks lay eggs' as if it were a generic and thus accept it as true, even though they know it is false. Across two experiments in English and Greek we systematically addressed the relevance of context and quantifier domain restriction for this kind of behaviour. Participants judged generic majority characteristic statements like 'tigers have stripes' or statements with universal quantifiers with different sensitivity to quantifier domain restriction preceded by one of three levels of context (neutral, contradictory and supportive). We found that context significantly affected the rates at which participants accepted universally quantified statements. Our results demonstrate that quantifier domain restriction is a viable alternative explanation for a significant proportion of the judgements of universally quantified statements that have been called GOG errors.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2019
Two experiments investigated whether 4-and 5-year-old children are sensitive to whether the conte... more Two experiments investigated whether 4-and 5-year-old children are sensitive to whether the content of a generalization is about a salient or noteworthy property (henceforth "striking") and whether varying the number of exceptions has any effect on children's willingness to extend a property after having heard a generalization. Moreover, they investigated how the content of a generalization interacts with exception tolerance. Adult data were collected for comparison. We used generalizations to describe novel kinds (e.g., "glippets") that had either a neutral (e.g., "play with toys") or a striking property (e.g., "play with fire") and measured how willing participants were to extend the property to a new instance of the novel kind. Experiment 1 demonstrated that both adults and children show sensitivity to strikingness in that striking properties were extended less than neutral ones, although children extended less than adults overall. The responses of both age groups were significantly different from chance. Experiment 2 introduced varying numbers of exceptions to the generalization made (minimal: 1 exception; maximal: 3 exceptions). Both adults and children extended both types of properties even in the face of exceptions, but to a lower degree than in Experiment 1. Striking properties were extended less than neutral ones, as in Experiment 1. We observed that the greater the number of exceptions, the lower the rates of extension we obtained, for both types of properties in adults, but only with striking properties in children. Children seemed to keep track of varying numbers of exceptions for striking properties, but their performance did not differ from chance. The findings underscore that 4-and 5-year-old children are sensitive to strikingness and to exception tolerance for generalizations and are developing toward an adult-like behavior with respect to the interplay between strikingness and exception tolerance when they learn about novel kinds. We discuss the implications of these results with regards to how children make generalizations.
Experiments in Linguistic Meaning
This paper reports an experiment that investigates interpretive distinctionsbetween two different... more This paper reports an experiment that investigates interpretive distinctionsbetween two different expressions of generalization in Spanish. In particular, our aimwas to find out when the distinction between generic statements (GS) such as Tigershave stripes and universal quantified statements (UQS) such as All tigers have stripeswas acquired in Spanish-speaking children of two different age groups (4/5-year-oldsand 8/9-year-olds), and then compare these results with adults. The starting point ofthis research was the semantic distinction between GS and UQS in that the formeradmits exceptions, unlike the latter. On the other hand, cognitive psychologists haveobserved a Generic overgeneralization effect (GOG) consisting in allowing for UQSto be felicitous in the face of exceptions, thus proposing that this “error†stems frompeople misinterpreting UQS as GS and from GS being defaults (simpler, more easilylearned and processed) instead of involving quasi-universal quantification, whi...
The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Semantics and Pragmatics, 2019
‘Birds fly’, ‘The fox is a sly animal’, and ‘A cat lands on its feet’ are all generic generalizat... more ‘Birds fly’, ‘The fox is a sly animal’, and ‘A cat lands on its feet’ are all generic generalizations that allow speakers to talk about kinds of entities rather than individuals and to refer to their characteristic or essential properties. Their complex yet fundamental nature has attracted the interest of linguists and philosophers of language since the 1970s while they have also recently become the focus of concentrated interest by cognitive and developmental psychologists. The two main approaches to genericity in two different fields, formal semantics and cognitive psychology, are discussed. The review of the experimental research on the topic reveals that while the experimental study of generics is still in its early stages, interdisciplinary work that integrates the tools and perspectives of both strands of investigation can substantially advance our understanding of the topic.