Genoveva Puskas - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Genoveva Puskas
Formal Approaches to Romance Morphosyntax, 2020
In this paper, we discuss the realization of complementizers in different Romance languages. We s... more In this paper, we discuss the realization of complementizers in different Romance languages. We show that some Italo-Romance varieties exhibit two forms of complementizers, which select for indicative versus subjunctive embedded clauses. We show that the constraints on the licensing of these two complementizers are determined by properties of the matrix selecting predicate. While all embedding verbs have a sentient feature, only verbs embedding subjunctive clauses also exhibit an emotive feature. We propose that in French and standard Italian, the same verbs select for the same complementizers. However, in these languages, ‘indicative’ and ‘subjunctive’ complementizers are syncretic.
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2008
Acta Linguistica Hungarica, 1998
The question of embedded subjunctive clauses has recently sparked growing interest, both from the... more The question of embedded subjunctive clauses has recently sparked growing interest, both from the semantic point of view (see a.o.
This very rich and comprehensive monograph presents a study of the expression of negation in a la... more This very rich and comprehensive monograph presents a study of the expression of negation in a large array of languages, mostly but not exclusively from the Indo-European family. Henriëtte de Swart's aim is to provide an analysis of the cross-linguistic variation found with respect to negation, using a model based on Optimality Theory (OT). The choice of this model is motivated by its applicability to the syntax-semantics interface, that is, it is said to offer a unified perspective on both the syntactic and semantic contributions of negation, or the speaker (production) and hearer (interpretation) contributions in negative forms/meanings. As such, the book embarks on a clearly innovative enterprise, which encourages the reader to view the strikingly diverse phenomena involved in negation from a different perspective. Wide-scope OT accounts are-to my knowledge-extremely scarce ; and although recent contributions to the study of negation, both from a syntactic and from a semantic point of view, have added to our understanding of the phenomenon, few researchers have attempted to tackle the complex issue of the syntax-semantics interface of negation, especially when working within a large-scale typological investigation. De Swart's book is divided into six chapters and a conclusion. The first two chapters provide the empirical and formal background. Chapter 1, ' Negation in a cross-linguistic perspective ', presents an overview of the central issues of negation. It provides an in-depth discussion of typological and diachronic variation in sentential negation. It also introduces the muchdebated question of the nature of negative expressions. In the existing literature, negative expressions have been assigned various interpretations, having been analysed as negative quantifiers, indefinites in the scope of negation, or even as ambiguous between the two readings (see the references in the book). De Swart argues that 'n-words ' (Laka 1990
Dans cet article, nous nous proposons d'examiner la double negation en considerant le role de... more Dans cet article, nous nous proposons d'examiner la double negation en considerant le role de la structure informationnelle qu'elle contribue, de la composante semantique qu'elle invoque et de la structure syntaxique a laquelle elle a recours pour y parvenir. En partant de l'hypothese que la structure informationnelle est pertinente a l'analyse syntaxique, nous montrons que la contribution de l'element negatif pas en tant que negation supplementaire est possible si le marqueur est focalise. La contribution syntaxique est que l'element pas porte ainsi sur toute la phrase et permet de la nier dans son ensemble. Dans le cas, plus complexe, de DN mettant en jeu plusieurs quantificateurs, nous proposons que le meme mecanisme de focalisation permet semantiquement d'introduire un Verum Focus, une instance de focalisation polaire.
Glossa: a journal of general linguistics, 2021
Baule, a language of the Kwa family, has a rich set of quantifiers, which occur post-nominally wi... more Baule, a language of the Kwa family, has a rich set of quantifiers, which occur post-nominally within the DP. Moreover, Baule DPs can also combine more than one quantifier, and the order of occurrence of the quantifiers yields different interpretations of the quantified DPs. We focus on three quantifiers, ngba ‘all’, klwaa ‘every’ and jwe ‘some’. Given the distribution and the semantic contribution these quantifiers, we propose a structure of the Baule DP in which quantifiers merge as the head of different functional projections. We show that Baule DPs are strictly head-initial, and argue that the word orders observed within the DP is the result of systematic leftward movement of different portions of the nominal structure.
Information temporelle, procédures et ordre discursif, 2007
Jacques MOESCHLER: Introduction Sylviane SCHWER: Traitement de la temporalite des discours: Une a... more Jacques MOESCHLER: Introduction Sylviane SCHWER: Traitement de la temporalite des discours: Une analysis situs Delphine BATTISTELLI, Marie CHAGNOUX, Jean-Pierre DESCLES: Referentiels et ordonnancements temporels dans les textes Laurent GOSSELIN: Les sequences de connecteurs temporels: Ordre et informativite des constituants Jacques MOESCHLER: Discours causal, chaine causale et argumentation Catalin NICOLAU: Contenus conceptuel et procedural dans l'interpretation du discours : Le cas du reperage temporel Bertrand STHIOUL: Informations conceptuelle et procedurale: la piste beauzeenne Andree BORILLO: Quand les adverbiaux de localisation spatiale constituent des facteurs d'enchainement spatio-temporel dans le discours Jacques BRES: Et plus si affinites... des liaisons entre les instructions du plus-que-parfait et les relations d'ordre Laurence DELORT: Etude du role de avant que dans la structure du discours Izumi TAHARA: L'adverbe deja: ses divers usages et son processus interpretatif
Glossa: a journal of general linguistics, 2018
This paper examines the interaction between negation and some expressions of bouletic modality. W... more This paper examines the interaction between negation and some expressions of bouletic modality. Whereas most other types of modals may scope below negation, expressions of bouletic modality in the form of hortative and optative markers never do. The distribution of high adverbials, as well as co-occurrence possibilities with a negative head, such as French ne, reveal that hortatives and optatives do not target the same position: they occupy two different heads within the left peripheral structure. However, it is argued that the syntax of the bouletic operator, which is analyzed as involving high left-peripheral positions, prevents the negative marker from syntactically and semantically scoping over it. This is shown to also correlate with access to metalinguistic negation interpretations. While with the adequate context, the bouletic operators examined here are compatible with metalinguistic negation, no wide scope interpretation above the bouletic modal content is accessible. This ...
Formal Models in the Study of Language, 2017
The linguistic behavior of quantifiers has been a topic of major interest for several decades, as... more The linguistic behavior of quantifiers has been a topic of major interest for several decades, as attested by the extremely abundant literature on the semantics of quantification. It is obviously impossible to cite everything, and very hard to decide simply on what should count as basic references (for an overview, see e.g.
Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 2014
The question of embedded subjunctive clauses has recently sparked growing interest, both from the... more The question of embedded subjunctive clauses has recently sparked growing interest, both from the semantic point of view (see a.o.
The Architecture of Focus, 2006
Acta Linguistica Hungarica - ACTA LINGUIST HUNG, 1998
The paper argues that Hungarian negative sentences contain a NegP, a functional projection inside... more The paper argues that Hungarian negative sentences contain a NegP, a functional projection inside IP. The spec-head configuration requirement of the Neg-Criterion is satisfied by a null operator at S-structure. Negative phrases surfacing in different sentence positions enter into a representational chain (attested as Negative Concord), or a derivational chain. Negative chains have a member of them adjoined to Spec NegP, as a result of which they acquire sentential scope. Sem is not an equivalent of nem but the negative counterpart of is 'also'; sem-phrases occupy the specifier of a functional projection above FP.
Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 2012
The paper proposes a syntactic and semantic analysis of Double Negation (DN). It is shown that th... more The paper proposes a syntactic and semantic analysis of Double Negation (DN). It is shown that there are two types of DN. Strong DN is the result of a Focus construction that involves a polar reading triggered by a Verum Focus; Weak DN, on the other hand, arises when the corresponding n-word is marked as a Contrastive Topic and introduces weak (i.e. non-exclusive) alternatives. The paper discusses the occurrence of these two kinds of DN in two types of languages, which feature different negative strategies. While Hungarian is a strict NC language with non-negative n-words and an obligatory negative marker, English and German are non-NC languages, with negative n-words that can function on their own. It is shown that both strong DN and weak DN occur in each of these languages. However, the mechanisms that license n-words contributing the DN reading are different, due to the differences in the nature of the n-words and in the discourse-functional behavior of the languages in question.
Journal of Linguistics, 2010
Formal Approaches to Romance Morphosyntax, 2020
In this paper, we discuss the realization of complementizers in different Romance languages. We s... more In this paper, we discuss the realization of complementizers in different Romance languages. We show that some Italo-Romance varieties exhibit two forms of complementizers, which select for indicative versus subjunctive embedded clauses. We show that the constraints on the licensing of these two complementizers are determined by properties of the matrix selecting predicate. While all embedding verbs have a sentient feature, only verbs embedding subjunctive clauses also exhibit an emotive feature. We propose that in French and standard Italian, the same verbs select for the same complementizers. However, in these languages, ‘indicative’ and ‘subjunctive’ complementizers are syncretic.
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2008
Acta Linguistica Hungarica, 1998
The question of embedded subjunctive clauses has recently sparked growing interest, both from the... more The question of embedded subjunctive clauses has recently sparked growing interest, both from the semantic point of view (see a.o.
This very rich and comprehensive monograph presents a study of the expression of negation in a la... more This very rich and comprehensive monograph presents a study of the expression of negation in a large array of languages, mostly but not exclusively from the Indo-European family. Henriëtte de Swart's aim is to provide an analysis of the cross-linguistic variation found with respect to negation, using a model based on Optimality Theory (OT). The choice of this model is motivated by its applicability to the syntax-semantics interface, that is, it is said to offer a unified perspective on both the syntactic and semantic contributions of negation, or the speaker (production) and hearer (interpretation) contributions in negative forms/meanings. As such, the book embarks on a clearly innovative enterprise, which encourages the reader to view the strikingly diverse phenomena involved in negation from a different perspective. Wide-scope OT accounts are-to my knowledge-extremely scarce ; and although recent contributions to the study of negation, both from a syntactic and from a semantic point of view, have added to our understanding of the phenomenon, few researchers have attempted to tackle the complex issue of the syntax-semantics interface of negation, especially when working within a large-scale typological investigation. De Swart's book is divided into six chapters and a conclusion. The first two chapters provide the empirical and formal background. Chapter 1, ' Negation in a cross-linguistic perspective ', presents an overview of the central issues of negation. It provides an in-depth discussion of typological and diachronic variation in sentential negation. It also introduces the muchdebated question of the nature of negative expressions. In the existing literature, negative expressions have been assigned various interpretations, having been analysed as negative quantifiers, indefinites in the scope of negation, or even as ambiguous between the two readings (see the references in the book). De Swart argues that 'n-words ' (Laka 1990
Dans cet article, nous nous proposons d'examiner la double negation en considerant le role de... more Dans cet article, nous nous proposons d'examiner la double negation en considerant le role de la structure informationnelle qu'elle contribue, de la composante semantique qu'elle invoque et de la structure syntaxique a laquelle elle a recours pour y parvenir. En partant de l'hypothese que la structure informationnelle est pertinente a l'analyse syntaxique, nous montrons que la contribution de l'element negatif pas en tant que negation supplementaire est possible si le marqueur est focalise. La contribution syntaxique est que l'element pas porte ainsi sur toute la phrase et permet de la nier dans son ensemble. Dans le cas, plus complexe, de DN mettant en jeu plusieurs quantificateurs, nous proposons que le meme mecanisme de focalisation permet semantiquement d'introduire un Verum Focus, une instance de focalisation polaire.
Glossa: a journal of general linguistics, 2021
Baule, a language of the Kwa family, has a rich set of quantifiers, which occur post-nominally wi... more Baule, a language of the Kwa family, has a rich set of quantifiers, which occur post-nominally within the DP. Moreover, Baule DPs can also combine more than one quantifier, and the order of occurrence of the quantifiers yields different interpretations of the quantified DPs. We focus on three quantifiers, ngba ‘all’, klwaa ‘every’ and jwe ‘some’. Given the distribution and the semantic contribution these quantifiers, we propose a structure of the Baule DP in which quantifiers merge as the head of different functional projections. We show that Baule DPs are strictly head-initial, and argue that the word orders observed within the DP is the result of systematic leftward movement of different portions of the nominal structure.
Information temporelle, procédures et ordre discursif, 2007
Jacques MOESCHLER: Introduction Sylviane SCHWER: Traitement de la temporalite des discours: Une a... more Jacques MOESCHLER: Introduction Sylviane SCHWER: Traitement de la temporalite des discours: Une analysis situs Delphine BATTISTELLI, Marie CHAGNOUX, Jean-Pierre DESCLES: Referentiels et ordonnancements temporels dans les textes Laurent GOSSELIN: Les sequences de connecteurs temporels: Ordre et informativite des constituants Jacques MOESCHLER: Discours causal, chaine causale et argumentation Catalin NICOLAU: Contenus conceptuel et procedural dans l'interpretation du discours : Le cas du reperage temporel Bertrand STHIOUL: Informations conceptuelle et procedurale: la piste beauzeenne Andree BORILLO: Quand les adverbiaux de localisation spatiale constituent des facteurs d'enchainement spatio-temporel dans le discours Jacques BRES: Et plus si affinites... des liaisons entre les instructions du plus-que-parfait et les relations d'ordre Laurence DELORT: Etude du role de avant que dans la structure du discours Izumi TAHARA: L'adverbe deja: ses divers usages et son processus interpretatif
Glossa: a journal of general linguistics, 2018
This paper examines the interaction between negation and some expressions of bouletic modality. W... more This paper examines the interaction between negation and some expressions of bouletic modality. Whereas most other types of modals may scope below negation, expressions of bouletic modality in the form of hortative and optative markers never do. The distribution of high adverbials, as well as co-occurrence possibilities with a negative head, such as French ne, reveal that hortatives and optatives do not target the same position: they occupy two different heads within the left peripheral structure. However, it is argued that the syntax of the bouletic operator, which is analyzed as involving high left-peripheral positions, prevents the negative marker from syntactically and semantically scoping over it. This is shown to also correlate with access to metalinguistic negation interpretations. While with the adequate context, the bouletic operators examined here are compatible with metalinguistic negation, no wide scope interpretation above the bouletic modal content is accessible. This ...
Formal Models in the Study of Language, 2017
The linguistic behavior of quantifiers has been a topic of major interest for several decades, as... more The linguistic behavior of quantifiers has been a topic of major interest for several decades, as attested by the extremely abundant literature on the semantics of quantification. It is obviously impossible to cite everything, and very hard to decide simply on what should count as basic references (for an overview, see e.g.
Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 2014
The question of embedded subjunctive clauses has recently sparked growing interest, both from the... more The question of embedded subjunctive clauses has recently sparked growing interest, both from the semantic point of view (see a.o.
The Architecture of Focus, 2006
Acta Linguistica Hungarica - ACTA LINGUIST HUNG, 1998
The paper argues that Hungarian negative sentences contain a NegP, a functional projection inside... more The paper argues that Hungarian negative sentences contain a NegP, a functional projection inside IP. The spec-head configuration requirement of the Neg-Criterion is satisfied by a null operator at S-structure. Negative phrases surfacing in different sentence positions enter into a representational chain (attested as Negative Concord), or a derivational chain. Negative chains have a member of them adjoined to Spec NegP, as a result of which they acquire sentential scope. Sem is not an equivalent of nem but the negative counterpart of is 'also'; sem-phrases occupy the specifier of a functional projection above FP.
Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 2012
The paper proposes a syntactic and semantic analysis of Double Negation (DN). It is shown that th... more The paper proposes a syntactic and semantic analysis of Double Negation (DN). It is shown that there are two types of DN. Strong DN is the result of a Focus construction that involves a polar reading triggered by a Verum Focus; Weak DN, on the other hand, arises when the corresponding n-word is marked as a Contrastive Topic and introduces weak (i.e. non-exclusive) alternatives. The paper discusses the occurrence of these two kinds of DN in two types of languages, which feature different negative strategies. While Hungarian is a strict NC language with non-negative n-words and an obligatory negative marker, English and German are non-NC languages, with negative n-words that can function on their own. It is shown that both strong DN and weak DN occur in each of these languages. However, the mechanisms that license n-words contributing the DN reading are different, due to the differences in the nature of the n-words and in the discourse-functional behavior of the languages in question.
Journal of Linguistics, 2010