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Papers by Danny Fox

A popular way of giving quantificational nominal expressions their scope is with a syntactic rule... more A popular way of giving quantificational nominal expressions their scope is with a syntactic rule, sometimes known as Quantifier Raising (QR), that May (1977, 1985) laid out. That rule covertly moves a DP headed by certain quantificational determiners to a position from which its scope is determined. We will argue for a revision to May's rule that preserves most of its content, but moves the phrase inside the DP that restricts the quantification, rather than the DP itself. Moreover, we will implement that idea with an interpretation of movement that has a moved phrase occupy two syntactic positions in one representation: moved phrases are daughters of two mothers. These are both features of the analysis of QR offered in Johnson (2012). Here we show how that analysis might shed light on the nature of two problematic constructions. One of those are the cases of "split antecedence" for relative clause extraposition that Perlmutter and Ross (1970a) discovered: (1) A man entered the room and a woman went out who were quite similar. (Perlmutter and Ross, 1970a: (3), p. 350) What's key in this example is that the relative clause cannot restrict a man or a woman, but instead must modify a predicate of pluralities that is true of man-woman pairs. This is what makes it different from the cases of Right Node Raising studied in Grosz (2015). The other is what Link (1984) called "hydras," exemplified by (2). (2) Every man and every woman who met at the party have left. Like (1), the relative clause in (2) modifies a predicate of pluralities that is true of man-woman pairs, even though this does not seem to be what it syntactically combines with. The syntax we will adopt for these constructions is a lightly revised version of that in Zhang (2007). We will show how Zhang's account follows from a minor adjustment to the version of QR in Johnson (2012) and we will work out its semantics. We begin by introducing the version of QR in Johnson (2012), and then adjust it so that it applies correctly to (1) and (2).

Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2015

Natural Language Semantics, 2020

We propose a modification of the exhaustivity operator from Fox (2007) that on top of negating al... more We propose a modification of the exhaustivity operator from Fox (2007) that on top of negating all the Innocently Excludable (IE) alternatives affirms all the 'Innocently Includable' (II) ones. The main result of supplementing the notion of Innocent Exclusion with that of Innocent Inclusion is that it allows the exhaustivity operator to identify cells in the partition induced by the set of alternatives (assign a truth value to every alternative) whenever possible. We argue for this property of 'cell identification' based on the simplification of disjunctive antecedents (SDA) and the effects on free choice (FC) that arise as the result of the introduction of universal quantifiers. We further argue for our proposal based on the interaction of only with free choice disjunction. Keywords Implicature • Exhaustification • Free choice • Simplification of disjunctive antecedents • Innocent Inclusion • Innocent Exclusion 1 Introduction As is well known, a sentence like (1), where an existential modal takes scope above or, gives rise to the free choice (FC) inferences (1a) and (1b) (von Wright 1968; Kamp 1974). It is also well known that these inferences don't follow from standard assumptions about the semantics of allowed and or: (a ∨ b) is equivalent to a ∨ b rather than the conjunction a ∧ b.1

Linguistics and Philosophy

This paper brings a developmental perspective to the discussion of a longstanding issue surroundi... more This paper brings a developmental perspective to the discussion of a longstanding issue surrounding the proper characterization of presuppositions. On an influential view (Stalnaker in Synthese 22(1–2):272–289, 1970; Stalnaker, in Milton, Unger (eds) Semantics and philosophy, New York University Press, New York, 1974; Karttunen in Theor Linguist 1:181–194, 1974), formal presuppositions reflect admittance conditions: an utterance of a sentence which presupposes p is admitted by a conversational context c only if p is common ground in c. The theory distinguishes two modes of satisfying this formal requirement: (i) presuppositions may have common ground status prior to utterance, or (ii) they may achieve common ground status post hoc, via accommodation, an adjustment of the common ground by cooperative listeners so as to meet the requirements of an uttered sentence. While intuitive and general, the theory has been criticized (among other things) on methodological grounds (see e.g. Gazd...

ZAS Papers in Linguistics

In this paper I argue for a new constraint on questions, namely that a questiondenotation (a set ... more In this paper I argue for a new constraint on questions, namely that a questiondenotation (a set of propositions) must map to a partition of a Stalnakerian Context-Set bypoint-wise exhaustification (point-wise application of the function Exh). The presuppositionthat Dayal attributes to an Answer operator follows from this constraint, if we assume a fairlystandard definition of Exh (Krifka, 1995). But the constraint is more restrictive therebyderiving the sensitivity of higher order quantification to negative islands (Spector, 2008).Moreover, when combined with recent proposals about the nature of Exh – designedprimarily to account for the conjunctive interpretation of disjunction (e.g. Bar-Lev and Fox,2017) – Dayal’s presupposition follows only in certain environments. This observationallows for an account of the “mention-some” interpretation of questions that makes specificdistributional predictions.Keywords: exhaustivity, Free Choice, maximality, higher-order quantification, menti...

It is well known that in certain environments the scope of a moved quantifier phrase can be deter... more It is well known that in certain environments the scope of a moved quantifier phrase can be determined at either its premovement position (‘‘scope reconstruction’’) or its postmovement position (‘‘surface scope’’). Thus, the familiar ambiguity of (1) results from two choices for the scope of the moved QP. Under scope reconstruction, the scope of the moved existential QP is the sister of the premovement position (i.e., the sister of t, [to win the lottery]), while under surface scope, it is the sister of the postmovement position (i.e., [is likely t to win the lottery]). The two scope possibilities yield different semantic inter-pretations, corresponding to the paraphrases in (2). (1) Someone from New York is likely t to win the lottery. (2) a. It is likely that there will be someone from New York who wins the lottery. b. There is someone from New York who is likely to win the lottery.

Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2017

The goal of this paper is to provide a global account of universal Free Choice (FC) inferences (a... more The goal of this paper is to provide a global account of universal Free Choice (FC) inferences (argued to be needed in Chemla 2009b). We propose a stronger exhaustivity operator than proposed in Fox (2007), one that doesn’t only negate all the Innocently Excludable (IE) alternatives but also asserts all the ``Innocently Includable'' (II) ones, and subsequently can derive universal FC inferences globally. We further show that Innocent Inclusion is independently motivated by considerations that come from the semantics of only (data from Alxatib 2014). Finally, the distinction between Innocent Exclusion and Innocent Inclusion allows us to capture differences between FC inferences and other scalar implicatures.

Natural Language Semantics, 2016

We present evidence that preschool children oftentimes understand disjunctive sentences as if the... more We present evidence that preschool children oftentimes understand disjunctive sentences as if they were conjunctive. The result holds for matrix disjunctions as well as disjunctions embedded under every. At the same time, there is evidence in the literature that children understand or as inclusive disjunction in downward-entailing contexts. We propose to explain this seemingly conflicting pattern of results by assuming that the child knows the inclusive disjunction semantics of or, and that the conjunctive inference is a scalar implicature. We make two assumptions about implicature computation in the child: (i) that children access only a proper subset of the adult alternatives (specifically, they do not access the lexicon when generating alternatives), and (ii) that children possess the adult capacity to strengthen sentences with implicatures. As a consequence, children are expected to sometimes not compute any implicatures at all, but in other cases they are expected to compute an implicature that is different from the adult implicature. We argue that the child's conjunctive strengthening of disjunctive 1 sentences realizes the latter possibility: the adult infers that the conjunction is false but the child infers that the conjunction is true. This behaviour is predicted when our assumptions about child development are coupled with the assumption that a covert exhaustive operator is responsible for strengthening in both the child and the adult. Specifically, children's conjunctive strengthening is predicted to follow from the same mechanism used by adults to compute conjunctive free choice implicatures in response to disjunctive permission sentences (recursive exhaustification). We furthermore argue that this parallel between the child and the adult extends to disambiguation preferences. In particular, we present evidence that children prefer to strengthen disjunctions to conjunctions, in matrix and embedded positions (under every); this result mirrors previous findings that adults prefer to compute free choice, at the root and under every. We propose a disambiguation strategy that explains the preference for conjunctive strengthening-by both the child and the adult-even though there is no general preference for exhaustification. Specifically, we propose that the preference for a conjunctive strengthening follows from a pragmatic preference for a complete answer to the Question Under Discussion.

Journal of Semantics, 2014

Unlike adults, children as old as 9 years of age often fail to infer that a sentence like, 'Some ... more Unlike adults, children as old as 9 years of age often fail to infer that a sentence like, 'Some of the children slept' implies the falsity of its stronger alternative, 'All of the children slept'-an inference referred to as a 'scalar implicature'. Several explanations have been proposed to account for children's failures with scalar implicature, including domain-general processing limitations, pragmatic deficits or an inability to access the relevant alternatives in a lexical scale (e.g. all as an alternative to some). Our study focused on the role of Gricean epistemic reasoning in children's failures by testing their ability to compute 'ignorance implicatures', which require reasoning about speaker knowledge and informativeness but which differ from scalar implicature with respect to the alternative statements that are involved. We administered two matched tasks to 4-and 5-year-old children: one that assessed their ability to compute ignorance implicatures, and another that assessed their ability to compute scalar implicatures. Five-year-olds successfully computed ignorance implicatures despite failing to compute scalar implicatures, while 4-year-olds failed at both types of inference. These results suggest that 5-year-olds are able to reason about speaker knowledge and informativeness, and thus that it is difficult to explain their deficit with scalar implicature via these factors. We speculate about other possible sources of their difficulties, including processing limits and children's access to the specific scalar alternatives required by scalar implicature.

Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2015

for numerous discussions of the ideas presented in this paper. I would also like to thank Emmanue... more for numerous discussions of the ideas presented in this paper. I would also like to thank Emmanuel Chemla, Kai von Fintel, Martin Hackl, and Ede Zimmermann for helpful comments. 2.1. A constraint on Implicatures and Only: Here I will review some consequences of the UDM for the focus sensitive operator only and for the covert operator responsible for the computation of scalar implicatures, exh. (For the proposal that exh is crucial for the computation of scalar Implicatures, see, among others, Groenendijk and Stokhof 1984, Sevi 2005, Fox 2007 , and Chierchia, Fox and Spector, in progress.) 2.1.1. The UDM and intuitively dense scales Consider the simple, and rather unsurprising, case of MF exemplified in (2), which I call here the basic effect. (2) THE BASIC EFFECT a. John weighs more than 150 pounds. *Implicature: John weighs exactly S(150) pounds, where S is the successor function. b. John weighs very little. *He only weighs more than 150 F. (2)a cannot have the implicature that 150 is largest degree such that John's weight is greater than that degree, i.e., the implicature that John's weight is exactly S(150) lbs, where S(150) is the successor of 150 (say, 151). Similarly, an attempt to state the implicature explicitly using the focus particle only in (2)b leads to unacceptability. This is unsurprising since it is unclear what the successor of 150 ought to be. (Any choice, e.g. 151 or 150.5, seems completely arbitrary.) Under the UDM, this rather unsurprising fact receives a very specific characterization: 150 (like other degrees) has no successor; consequently (2)b can have no coherent meaning, and (2)a can have no implicature. Stated somewhat differently, if John's weight is exactly d lbs where d>150, it follows from the UDM that there is a degree d', s.t. 150<d'<d. Since John's weight is greater than d', (2)b is contradictory, hence unacceptable, and, since (2)b is the implicature that would normally be associated with (2)a, the implicature is unavailable. Consider, now, what happens when the sentences in (2) are embedded under universal modal operators. As illustrated in (3), the sentences no longer suffer from MF. 1 (3) UNIVERSAL MODALS CIRCUMVENT THE PROBLEM a. John is required to weigh more than 150 pounds (if he wants to participate in this fight).

Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2015

This paper compares two accounts of an ambiguity that arises when a comparative phrase containing... more This paper compares two accounts of an ambiguity that arises when a comparative phrase containing an exactly differential is embedded under an intensional operator (Heim 2000). Under one account, the comparative phrase is responsible for the ambiguity (the er-scope theory), and, under the other, the ambiguity is attributed to the exactly phrase (the exactly-scope theory). We present converging evidence from the distribution of de re and de dicto readings and real time sentence processing that supports the er-scope theory. Since the er-scope theory presupposes a quantificational analysis of the comparative, such an analysis is ipso facto supported by our results.

Logic, Language and Meaning, 2012

Presupposition projection in quantified sentences is at the center of debates in the presuppositi... more Presupposition projection in quantified sentences is at the center of debates in the presupposition literature. This paper reports on a survey revealing inter-speaker variation regarding which quantifier yields universal inferences-which Q in QpBqpλx.Cpxq ppxq q supports the inference @x P B: ppxq. We observe an implication that if some yields a universal inference for a speaker, no, and any in a polar question do as well. We propose an account of this implication based on a trivalent theory of presupposition projection together with auxiliary assumptions suggested by [8].

Theoretical Linguistics, 2005

This paper proposes an architecture for the mapping between syntax and phonology-in particular, t... more This paper proposes an architecture for the mapping between syntax and phonology-in particular, that aspect of phonology that determines the linear ordering of words. We propose that linearization is restricted in two key ways. (1) the relative ordering of words is fixed at the end of each phase, or ''Spell-out domain''; and (2) ordering established in an earlier phase may not be revised or contradicted in a later phase. As a consequence, overt extraction out of a phase P may apply only if the result leaves unchanged the precedence relations established in P. We argue first that this architecture (''cyclic linearization'') gives us a means of understanding the reasons for successive-cyclic movement. We then turn our attention to more specific predictions of the proposal: in particular, the e¤ects of Holmberg's Generalization on Scandinavian Object Shift; and also the Inverse Holmberg Effects found in Scandinavian ''Quantifier Movement'' constructions (Rögnvaldsson (1987); Jónsson (1996); Svenonius (2000)) and in Korean scrambling configurations (Ko (2003, 2004)). The cyclic linearization proposal makes predictions that cross-cut the details of particular syntactic configurations. For example, whether an apparent case of verb fronting results from V-to-C movement or from ''remnant movement'' of a VP whose complements have been removed by other processes, the verb should still be required to precede its complements after fronting if it preceded them before fronting according to an ordering established at an earlier phase. We argue that ''cross-construction'' consistency of this sort is in fact found.

Theoretical Linguistics, 2005

Semantics and Pragmatics, 2014

Grice (1975) pointed out that the ignorance inferences normally drawn when disjunctive sentences ... more Grice (1975) pointed out that the ignorance inferences normally drawn when disjunctive sentences are uttered are cancelled when it is presupposed that speakers are not going to provide all of the relevant information that they have available (e.g., in the context of a treasure hunt). This argues that ignorance inferences depend on the maxim of quantity for their derivation. Here it is argued that the situation with Scalar Implicatures is different. This is expected by the grammatical theory of Scalar Implicatures, but not by standard Gricean or neo-Gricean alternatives.

Natural Language Semantics, 2008

This paper focuses on children's interpretation of sentences containing negation and a quantifier... more This paper focuses on children's interpretation of sentences containing negation and a quantifier (e.g., The detective didn't find some guys). Recent studies suggest that, although children are capable of accessing inverse scope interpretations of such sentences, they resort to surface scope to a larger Among many others, we would like to thank

Natural Language Semantics, 2011

On the characterization of alternatives The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. P... more On the characterization of alternatives The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters.

Linguistic Inquiry, 2002

Antecedent-contained deletion poses a problem for theories of ellipsis, a problem that, according... more Antecedent-contained deletion poses a problem for theories of ellipsis, a problem that, according to much literature, is solved by Quantifier Raising. The solution, however, conflicts with the copy theory of movement. This article resolves this new conflict with the aid of a theory of extraposition and covert movement proposed by Fox and Nissenbaum (1999), together with certain assumptions about the structure of relative clauses and the way chains are interpreted. The resolution makes various new predictions and accounts for a range of otherwise puzzling facts.

A popular way of giving quantificational nominal expressions their scope is with a syntactic rule... more A popular way of giving quantificational nominal expressions their scope is with a syntactic rule, sometimes known as Quantifier Raising (QR), that May (1977, 1985) laid out. That rule covertly moves a DP headed by certain quantificational determiners to a position from which its scope is determined. We will argue for a revision to May's rule that preserves most of its content, but moves the phrase inside the DP that restricts the quantification, rather than the DP itself. Moreover, we will implement that idea with an interpretation of movement that has a moved phrase occupy two syntactic positions in one representation: moved phrases are daughters of two mothers. These are both features of the analysis of QR offered in Johnson (2012). Here we show how that analysis might shed light on the nature of two problematic constructions. One of those are the cases of "split antecedence" for relative clause extraposition that Perlmutter and Ross (1970a) discovered: (1) A man entered the room and a woman went out who were quite similar. (Perlmutter and Ross, 1970a: (3), p. 350) What's key in this example is that the relative clause cannot restrict a man or a woman, but instead must modify a predicate of pluralities that is true of man-woman pairs. This is what makes it different from the cases of Right Node Raising studied in Grosz (2015). The other is what Link (1984) called "hydras," exemplified by (2). (2) Every man and every woman who met at the party have left. Like (1), the relative clause in (2) modifies a predicate of pluralities that is true of man-woman pairs, even though this does not seem to be what it syntactically combines with. The syntax we will adopt for these constructions is a lightly revised version of that in Zhang (2007). We will show how Zhang's account follows from a minor adjustment to the version of QR in Johnson (2012) and we will work out its semantics. We begin by introducing the version of QR in Johnson (2012), and then adjust it so that it applies correctly to (1) and (2).

Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2015

Natural Language Semantics, 2020

We propose a modification of the exhaustivity operator from Fox (2007) that on top of negating al... more We propose a modification of the exhaustivity operator from Fox (2007) that on top of negating all the Innocently Excludable (IE) alternatives affirms all the 'Innocently Includable' (II) ones. The main result of supplementing the notion of Innocent Exclusion with that of Innocent Inclusion is that it allows the exhaustivity operator to identify cells in the partition induced by the set of alternatives (assign a truth value to every alternative) whenever possible. We argue for this property of 'cell identification' based on the simplification of disjunctive antecedents (SDA) and the effects on free choice (FC) that arise as the result of the introduction of universal quantifiers. We further argue for our proposal based on the interaction of only with free choice disjunction. Keywords Implicature • Exhaustification • Free choice • Simplification of disjunctive antecedents • Innocent Inclusion • Innocent Exclusion 1 Introduction As is well known, a sentence like (1), where an existential modal takes scope above or, gives rise to the free choice (FC) inferences (1a) and (1b) (von Wright 1968; Kamp 1974). It is also well known that these inferences don't follow from standard assumptions about the semantics of allowed and or: (a ∨ b) is equivalent to a ∨ b rather than the conjunction a ∧ b.1

Linguistics and Philosophy

This paper brings a developmental perspective to the discussion of a longstanding issue surroundi... more This paper brings a developmental perspective to the discussion of a longstanding issue surrounding the proper characterization of presuppositions. On an influential view (Stalnaker in Synthese 22(1–2):272–289, 1970; Stalnaker, in Milton, Unger (eds) Semantics and philosophy, New York University Press, New York, 1974; Karttunen in Theor Linguist 1:181–194, 1974), formal presuppositions reflect admittance conditions: an utterance of a sentence which presupposes p is admitted by a conversational context c only if p is common ground in c. The theory distinguishes two modes of satisfying this formal requirement: (i) presuppositions may have common ground status prior to utterance, or (ii) they may achieve common ground status post hoc, via accommodation, an adjustment of the common ground by cooperative listeners so as to meet the requirements of an uttered sentence. While intuitive and general, the theory has been criticized (among other things) on methodological grounds (see e.g. Gazd...

ZAS Papers in Linguistics

In this paper I argue for a new constraint on questions, namely that a questiondenotation (a set ... more In this paper I argue for a new constraint on questions, namely that a questiondenotation (a set of propositions) must map to a partition of a Stalnakerian Context-Set bypoint-wise exhaustification (point-wise application of the function Exh). The presuppositionthat Dayal attributes to an Answer operator follows from this constraint, if we assume a fairlystandard definition of Exh (Krifka, 1995). But the constraint is more restrictive therebyderiving the sensitivity of higher order quantification to negative islands (Spector, 2008).Moreover, when combined with recent proposals about the nature of Exh – designedprimarily to account for the conjunctive interpretation of disjunction (e.g. Bar-Lev and Fox,2017) – Dayal’s presupposition follows only in certain environments. This observationallows for an account of the “mention-some” interpretation of questions that makes specificdistributional predictions.Keywords: exhaustivity, Free Choice, maximality, higher-order quantification, menti...

It is well known that in certain environments the scope of a moved quantifier phrase can be deter... more It is well known that in certain environments the scope of a moved quantifier phrase can be determined at either its premovement position (‘‘scope reconstruction’’) or its postmovement position (‘‘surface scope’’). Thus, the familiar ambiguity of (1) results from two choices for the scope of the moved QP. Under scope reconstruction, the scope of the moved existential QP is the sister of the premovement position (i.e., the sister of t, [to win the lottery]), while under surface scope, it is the sister of the postmovement position (i.e., [is likely t to win the lottery]). The two scope possibilities yield different semantic inter-pretations, corresponding to the paraphrases in (2). (1) Someone from New York is likely t to win the lottery. (2) a. It is likely that there will be someone from New York who wins the lottery. b. There is someone from New York who is likely to win the lottery.

Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2017

The goal of this paper is to provide a global account of universal Free Choice (FC) inferences (a... more The goal of this paper is to provide a global account of universal Free Choice (FC) inferences (argued to be needed in Chemla 2009b). We propose a stronger exhaustivity operator than proposed in Fox (2007), one that doesn’t only negate all the Innocently Excludable (IE) alternatives but also asserts all the ``Innocently Includable'' (II) ones, and subsequently can derive universal FC inferences globally. We further show that Innocent Inclusion is independently motivated by considerations that come from the semantics of only (data from Alxatib 2014). Finally, the distinction between Innocent Exclusion and Innocent Inclusion allows us to capture differences between FC inferences and other scalar implicatures.

Natural Language Semantics, 2016

We present evidence that preschool children oftentimes understand disjunctive sentences as if the... more We present evidence that preschool children oftentimes understand disjunctive sentences as if they were conjunctive. The result holds for matrix disjunctions as well as disjunctions embedded under every. At the same time, there is evidence in the literature that children understand or as inclusive disjunction in downward-entailing contexts. We propose to explain this seemingly conflicting pattern of results by assuming that the child knows the inclusive disjunction semantics of or, and that the conjunctive inference is a scalar implicature. We make two assumptions about implicature computation in the child: (i) that children access only a proper subset of the adult alternatives (specifically, they do not access the lexicon when generating alternatives), and (ii) that children possess the adult capacity to strengthen sentences with implicatures. As a consequence, children are expected to sometimes not compute any implicatures at all, but in other cases they are expected to compute an implicature that is different from the adult implicature. We argue that the child's conjunctive strengthening of disjunctive 1 sentences realizes the latter possibility: the adult infers that the conjunction is false but the child infers that the conjunction is true. This behaviour is predicted when our assumptions about child development are coupled with the assumption that a covert exhaustive operator is responsible for strengthening in both the child and the adult. Specifically, children's conjunctive strengthening is predicted to follow from the same mechanism used by adults to compute conjunctive free choice implicatures in response to disjunctive permission sentences (recursive exhaustification). We furthermore argue that this parallel between the child and the adult extends to disambiguation preferences. In particular, we present evidence that children prefer to strengthen disjunctions to conjunctions, in matrix and embedded positions (under every); this result mirrors previous findings that adults prefer to compute free choice, at the root and under every. We propose a disambiguation strategy that explains the preference for conjunctive strengthening-by both the child and the adult-even though there is no general preference for exhaustification. Specifically, we propose that the preference for a conjunctive strengthening follows from a pragmatic preference for a complete answer to the Question Under Discussion.

Journal of Semantics, 2014

Unlike adults, children as old as 9 years of age often fail to infer that a sentence like, 'Some ... more Unlike adults, children as old as 9 years of age often fail to infer that a sentence like, 'Some of the children slept' implies the falsity of its stronger alternative, 'All of the children slept'-an inference referred to as a 'scalar implicature'. Several explanations have been proposed to account for children's failures with scalar implicature, including domain-general processing limitations, pragmatic deficits or an inability to access the relevant alternatives in a lexical scale (e.g. all as an alternative to some). Our study focused on the role of Gricean epistemic reasoning in children's failures by testing their ability to compute 'ignorance implicatures', which require reasoning about speaker knowledge and informativeness but which differ from scalar implicature with respect to the alternative statements that are involved. We administered two matched tasks to 4-and 5-year-old children: one that assessed their ability to compute ignorance implicatures, and another that assessed their ability to compute scalar implicatures. Five-year-olds successfully computed ignorance implicatures despite failing to compute scalar implicatures, while 4-year-olds failed at both types of inference. These results suggest that 5-year-olds are able to reason about speaker knowledge and informativeness, and thus that it is difficult to explain their deficit with scalar implicature via these factors. We speculate about other possible sources of their difficulties, including processing limits and children's access to the specific scalar alternatives required by scalar implicature.

Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2015

for numerous discussions of the ideas presented in this paper. I would also like to thank Emmanue... more for numerous discussions of the ideas presented in this paper. I would also like to thank Emmanuel Chemla, Kai von Fintel, Martin Hackl, and Ede Zimmermann for helpful comments. 2.1. A constraint on Implicatures and Only: Here I will review some consequences of the UDM for the focus sensitive operator only and for the covert operator responsible for the computation of scalar implicatures, exh. (For the proposal that exh is crucial for the computation of scalar Implicatures, see, among others, Groenendijk and Stokhof 1984, Sevi 2005, Fox 2007 , and Chierchia, Fox and Spector, in progress.) 2.1.1. The UDM and intuitively dense scales Consider the simple, and rather unsurprising, case of MF exemplified in (2), which I call here the basic effect. (2) THE BASIC EFFECT a. John weighs more than 150 pounds. *Implicature: John weighs exactly S(150) pounds, where S is the successor function. b. John weighs very little. *He only weighs more than 150 F. (2)a cannot have the implicature that 150 is largest degree such that John's weight is greater than that degree, i.e., the implicature that John's weight is exactly S(150) lbs, where S(150) is the successor of 150 (say, 151). Similarly, an attempt to state the implicature explicitly using the focus particle only in (2)b leads to unacceptability. This is unsurprising since it is unclear what the successor of 150 ought to be. (Any choice, e.g. 151 or 150.5, seems completely arbitrary.) Under the UDM, this rather unsurprising fact receives a very specific characterization: 150 (like other degrees) has no successor; consequently (2)b can have no coherent meaning, and (2)a can have no implicature. Stated somewhat differently, if John's weight is exactly d lbs where d>150, it follows from the UDM that there is a degree d', s.t. 150<d'<d. Since John's weight is greater than d', (2)b is contradictory, hence unacceptable, and, since (2)b is the implicature that would normally be associated with (2)a, the implicature is unavailable. Consider, now, what happens when the sentences in (2) are embedded under universal modal operators. As illustrated in (3), the sentences no longer suffer from MF. 1 (3) UNIVERSAL MODALS CIRCUMVENT THE PROBLEM a. John is required to weigh more than 150 pounds (if he wants to participate in this fight).

Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2015

This paper compares two accounts of an ambiguity that arises when a comparative phrase containing... more This paper compares two accounts of an ambiguity that arises when a comparative phrase containing an exactly differential is embedded under an intensional operator (Heim 2000). Under one account, the comparative phrase is responsible for the ambiguity (the er-scope theory), and, under the other, the ambiguity is attributed to the exactly phrase (the exactly-scope theory). We present converging evidence from the distribution of de re and de dicto readings and real time sentence processing that supports the er-scope theory. Since the er-scope theory presupposes a quantificational analysis of the comparative, such an analysis is ipso facto supported by our results.

Logic, Language and Meaning, 2012

Presupposition projection in quantified sentences is at the center of debates in the presuppositi... more Presupposition projection in quantified sentences is at the center of debates in the presupposition literature. This paper reports on a survey revealing inter-speaker variation regarding which quantifier yields universal inferences-which Q in QpBqpλx.Cpxq ppxq q supports the inference @x P B: ppxq. We observe an implication that if some yields a universal inference for a speaker, no, and any in a polar question do as well. We propose an account of this implication based on a trivalent theory of presupposition projection together with auxiliary assumptions suggested by [8].

Theoretical Linguistics, 2005

This paper proposes an architecture for the mapping between syntax and phonology-in particular, t... more This paper proposes an architecture for the mapping between syntax and phonology-in particular, that aspect of phonology that determines the linear ordering of words. We propose that linearization is restricted in two key ways. (1) the relative ordering of words is fixed at the end of each phase, or ''Spell-out domain''; and (2) ordering established in an earlier phase may not be revised or contradicted in a later phase. As a consequence, overt extraction out of a phase P may apply only if the result leaves unchanged the precedence relations established in P. We argue first that this architecture (''cyclic linearization'') gives us a means of understanding the reasons for successive-cyclic movement. We then turn our attention to more specific predictions of the proposal: in particular, the e¤ects of Holmberg's Generalization on Scandinavian Object Shift; and also the Inverse Holmberg Effects found in Scandinavian ''Quantifier Movement'' constructions (Rögnvaldsson (1987); Jónsson (1996); Svenonius (2000)) and in Korean scrambling configurations (Ko (2003, 2004)). The cyclic linearization proposal makes predictions that cross-cut the details of particular syntactic configurations. For example, whether an apparent case of verb fronting results from V-to-C movement or from ''remnant movement'' of a VP whose complements have been removed by other processes, the verb should still be required to precede its complements after fronting if it preceded them before fronting according to an ordering established at an earlier phase. We argue that ''cross-construction'' consistency of this sort is in fact found.

Theoretical Linguistics, 2005

Semantics and Pragmatics, 2014

Grice (1975) pointed out that the ignorance inferences normally drawn when disjunctive sentences ... more Grice (1975) pointed out that the ignorance inferences normally drawn when disjunctive sentences are uttered are cancelled when it is presupposed that speakers are not going to provide all of the relevant information that they have available (e.g., in the context of a treasure hunt). This argues that ignorance inferences depend on the maxim of quantity for their derivation. Here it is argued that the situation with Scalar Implicatures is different. This is expected by the grammatical theory of Scalar Implicatures, but not by standard Gricean or neo-Gricean alternatives.

Natural Language Semantics, 2008

This paper focuses on children's interpretation of sentences containing negation and a quantifier... more This paper focuses on children's interpretation of sentences containing negation and a quantifier (e.g., The detective didn't find some guys). Recent studies suggest that, although children are capable of accessing inverse scope interpretations of such sentences, they resort to surface scope to a larger Among many others, we would like to thank

Natural Language Semantics, 2011

On the characterization of alternatives The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. P... more On the characterization of alternatives The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters.

Linguistic Inquiry, 2002

Antecedent-contained deletion poses a problem for theories of ellipsis, a problem that, according... more Antecedent-contained deletion poses a problem for theories of ellipsis, a problem that, according to much literature, is solved by Quantifier Raising. The solution, however, conflicts with the copy theory of movement. This article resolves this new conflict with the aid of a theory of extraposition and covert movement proposed by Fox and Nissenbaum (1999), together with certain assumptions about the structure of relative clauses and the way chains are interpreted. The resolution makes various new predictions and accounts for a range of otherwise puzzling facts.