Penka Stateva | University of Nova Gorica (original) (raw)

Papers by Penka Stateva

Quaderni di Linguistica e Studi Orientali, Sep 29, 2023

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011

This chapter is about vagueness in natural language semantics. More specifically, we discuss lexi... more This chapter is about vagueness in natural language semantics. More specifically, we discuss lexical means of making vague assertions more or less precise in compositional semantics. Examples of expressions that have this effect are approximately, absolutely, definitely, and roughly speaking. While many of these expressions are modifiers and adverbs, some such expressions are neither. Hence, for the purposes of this chapter we call expressions that make vague assertions more or less precise approximators. Our main ...

Scalar implicatures have been extensively investigated in the experimental literature, but almost... more Scalar implicatures have been extensively investigated in the experimental literature, but almost exclusively in monolingual speakers. Very little research has been conducted on the pragmatic abilities of multilingual populations, including early bilinguals to L2 learners, a gap the current study aims to remedy

Quaderni di Linguistica e Studi Orientali. Working Papers in Linguistics and Oriental Studies, 2023

This article investigates the variability in the meaning of vague quantifiers across different la... more This article investigates the variability in the meaning of vague quantifiers across different languages, focusing on Italian’s m(any)-words molto and tanto. The aim was to replicate a previous analysis conducted on Slovenian m-words – precej and veliko – examining whether the Italian ones exhibit a similar pragmatic strengthening effect. Using a sentence-picture verification task, we tested 88 Italian monolingual participants on their evaluation of sentences of the form “Quantifier X are Y”. Our results showed that, unlike Slovenian speakers, Italian speakers do not exhibit a difference in the evaluation of molto and tanto, suggesting that the two words have the same numerical bound and are interchangeable as amount modifiers. Our analysis suggests that there are underlying semantic distinctions between molto and tanto that require further investigation. These findings contribute to our understanding of the variability in the use of quantifiers across languages and highlight the importance of examining subtle differences in meaning when studying vague quantifiers.

n this talk I will present work in progress that aims to explore a previously uncharted area of m... more n this talk I will present work in progress that aims to explore a previously uncharted area of multilingual language acquisition, which concerns negative linguistic transfer in the domain of pragmatics. The research is part of a larger program in experimental pragmatics which aims to identify points of cross-linguistic diversion that affect meaning. We investigate the impact of language variation on bilingual acquisition of grammatical number in pairs of languages like Lebanese Arabic and French, and Slovenian-Italian, in which the interpretation of plural morphology within each pair is different depending on whether the number paradigm also includes dual number or not

Bottlenose dolphins’ broadband click vocalizations are well studied in the literature with respec... more Bottlenose dolphins’ broadband click vocalizations are well studied in the literature with respect to their echolocation function. Their use for communication among conspecifics has long been speculated, but not conclusively established so far. In this study we categorize dolphins’ click productions into types on the basis of their amplitude contour and analyze the distribution of individual clicks and click sequences against their duration and length. We demonstrate that the repertoire and composition of clicks and click sequences follow three key linguistic laws of efficient communication, namely, Zipf’s rank-frequency law, the law of brevity and Menzerath-Altmann law. Conforming to the rank-frequency law suggests that clicks may form a linguistic code that is subject to selective pressures for unification, on the one hand, and diversification, on the other. Conforming to the other two laws also implies that dolphins use clicks in accord with the compression criterion, or minimiza...

This article reports the results of an experimental study that examines the influence of bilingua... more This article reports the results of an experimental study that examines the influence of bilingualism on the acquisition and use of the Maximize Presupposition principle in the context of speakers’ choices among propositional attitude predicates (equivalent to) know and think. We compared the performance of monolingual Slovenian- and Italian-speaking school children to that of age-matched early bilingual children speaking both languages. Our findings suggest that while all children demonstrate adherence to Maximize Presupposition in an adult-like manner, bilingualism may enhance performance in pragmatic tasks that bear on this principle, and therefore constitutes a potential advantage in the relevant area

One of the most studied scales in the literature on scalar implicatures is the quantifier scale. ... more One of the most studied scales in the literature on scalar implicatures is the quantifier scale. While the truth of \u27some\u27 is entailed by the truth of \u27all\u27, \u27some\u27 is felicitous only when \u27all\u27 is false. This opens the possibility that \u27some\u27 would be felicitous if, e.g., almost all of the objects in the restriction of the quantifier have the property ascribed by the nuclear scope. This prediction from the standard theory of quantifier interpretation clashes with native speakers’ intuitions. In Experiment 1 we report a questionnaire study on the perception of quantifier meanings in English, French, Slovenian and German which points to a cross-linguistic variation with respect to the perception of numerical bounds of the existential quantifier. In Experiment 2, using a picture choice task, we further examine whether the numerical bound differences correlate with differences in pragmatic interpretations of the quantifier \u27some\u27 in English and \u27q...

This talk is an experimental investigation of the status of Maximize presupposition as an operati... more This talk is an experimental investigation of the status of Maximize presupposition as an operative pragmatic principle that regulates speakers’ preferences among semantically equivalent attitude reports. We present results from two acquisitional studies. The first study explores sensitivity of 5 and 7-year old Slovenian-speaking children to the principle from a developmental perspective. The second study examines the influence of bilingualism on the use of this principle by comparing monolingual Slovenian and Italian children to early bilingual children acquiring both languages. The results suggest that while even the youngest children demonstrate adherence to Maximize presupposition in an adult-like manner, bilingualism affects performance in pragmatic tasks and constitutes a potential advantage in the relevant area

Living apart together. A critical review of the ways in bilinguals mix and separate their languag... more Living apart together. A critical review of the ways in bilinguals mix and separate their languages in code-switching and translanguaging (Chair: Bernhard Brehmer)

Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 2005

Abstract: This paper examines the likely candidates for the Parasitic Gap (PG) construction in Bu... more Abstract: This paper examines the likely candidates for the Parasitic Gap (PG) construction in Bulgarian. Focusing on the properties of PGs known from previously studied languages, I conclude that there are no genuine PGs in Bulgarian. I also argue that without-clauses are irrelevant for the study of PGs. They involve a different mechanism for licensing a null element inside the clause. ********** The parasitic gap (PG) construction, first discussed by Ross (1967) and Taraldsen (1981), involves sentences like (1) and (2): (1) This is the kind of [food.sub.i] you must cook [t.sub.i] before you eat pg. [Engdahl (1983)] (2) Which [boy.sub.i] did Mary's talking to pg bother [t.sub.i] most? [Engdahl (1983)] The defining property of the PG construction is a "missing" NP, which is anaphorically related to the trace of another moved NP in the sentence. As Engdahl, whose influential 1983 study of PG established most of the properties of the construction, notes, there are two ma...

Proceedings of the International Annual Conference of the Institute for Bulgarian Language (Sofia, 2021), 2021

Feature assignment differs significantly from featural agreement as it involves aspects that are ... more Feature assignment differs significantly from featural agreement as it involves aspects that are not directly manifested in the linguistic input to the speaker (like the Accusative feature of the transitive verb) but are accessible from the knowledge component only. This work is an overview of a research program that aims to explore key aspects of syntactic encoding in the structural realm of feature assignment from an experimental perspective. The project is innovative because we pit the existing models of encoding syntactic agreement against new experimental data pertaining to feature assignment effects, exploring, in particular, the role of working memory in real time computation of featural assignment. We focus on feature assignment phenomena in two Slavic languages, Bulgarian and Russian, which possess rich morphological repertoires, thus providing an excellent testing ground from an experimental perspective.

Second Language Research, 2019

This study investigates the processing of long-distance syntactic dependencies by native speakers... more This study investigates the processing of long-distance syntactic dependencies by native speakers of Slovenian (L1) who are advanced learners of Italian as a second language (L2), compared with monolingual Italian speakers. Using a self-paced reading task, we compare sensitivity of the early-acquired L2 learners to syntactic anomalies in their L2 in two empirical domains: (1) syntactic islands, for which the learners’ L1 and L2 grammars provide a converging characterization, and (2) verb–clitic constructions, for which the respective L1 and L2 grammatical descriptions diverge. We find that although our L2 learners show native-like processing patterns in the former, converging, grammatical domain, they may nevertheless perform non-native-like with respect to syntactic phenomena in which the L1 and L2 grammars do not align, despite the early age of L2 acquisition. Implications for theories of L2 acquisition and endstate are discussed.

Quaderni di Linguistica e Studi Orientali, Sep 29, 2023

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011

This chapter is about vagueness in natural language semantics. More specifically, we discuss lexi... more This chapter is about vagueness in natural language semantics. More specifically, we discuss lexical means of making vague assertions more or less precise in compositional semantics. Examples of expressions that have this effect are approximately, absolutely, definitely, and roughly speaking. While many of these expressions are modifiers and adverbs, some such expressions are neither. Hence, for the purposes of this chapter we call expressions that make vague assertions more or less precise approximators. Our main ...

Scalar implicatures have been extensively investigated in the experimental literature, but almost... more Scalar implicatures have been extensively investigated in the experimental literature, but almost exclusively in monolingual speakers. Very little research has been conducted on the pragmatic abilities of multilingual populations, including early bilinguals to L2 learners, a gap the current study aims to remedy

Quaderni di Linguistica e Studi Orientali. Working Papers in Linguistics and Oriental Studies, 2023

This article investigates the variability in the meaning of vague quantifiers across different la... more This article investigates the variability in the meaning of vague quantifiers across different languages, focusing on Italian’s m(any)-words molto and tanto. The aim was to replicate a previous analysis conducted on Slovenian m-words – precej and veliko – examining whether the Italian ones exhibit a similar pragmatic strengthening effect. Using a sentence-picture verification task, we tested 88 Italian monolingual participants on their evaluation of sentences of the form “Quantifier X are Y”. Our results showed that, unlike Slovenian speakers, Italian speakers do not exhibit a difference in the evaluation of molto and tanto, suggesting that the two words have the same numerical bound and are interchangeable as amount modifiers. Our analysis suggests that there are underlying semantic distinctions between molto and tanto that require further investigation. These findings contribute to our understanding of the variability in the use of quantifiers across languages and highlight the importance of examining subtle differences in meaning when studying vague quantifiers.

n this talk I will present work in progress that aims to explore a previously uncharted area of m... more n this talk I will present work in progress that aims to explore a previously uncharted area of multilingual language acquisition, which concerns negative linguistic transfer in the domain of pragmatics. The research is part of a larger program in experimental pragmatics which aims to identify points of cross-linguistic diversion that affect meaning. We investigate the impact of language variation on bilingual acquisition of grammatical number in pairs of languages like Lebanese Arabic and French, and Slovenian-Italian, in which the interpretation of plural morphology within each pair is different depending on whether the number paradigm also includes dual number or not

Bottlenose dolphins’ broadband click vocalizations are well studied in the literature with respec... more Bottlenose dolphins’ broadband click vocalizations are well studied in the literature with respect to their echolocation function. Their use for communication among conspecifics has long been speculated, but not conclusively established so far. In this study we categorize dolphins’ click productions into types on the basis of their amplitude contour and analyze the distribution of individual clicks and click sequences against their duration and length. We demonstrate that the repertoire and composition of clicks and click sequences follow three key linguistic laws of efficient communication, namely, Zipf’s rank-frequency law, the law of brevity and Menzerath-Altmann law. Conforming to the rank-frequency law suggests that clicks may form a linguistic code that is subject to selective pressures for unification, on the one hand, and diversification, on the other. Conforming to the other two laws also implies that dolphins use clicks in accord with the compression criterion, or minimiza...

This article reports the results of an experimental study that examines the influence of bilingua... more This article reports the results of an experimental study that examines the influence of bilingualism on the acquisition and use of the Maximize Presupposition principle in the context of speakers’ choices among propositional attitude predicates (equivalent to) know and think. We compared the performance of monolingual Slovenian- and Italian-speaking school children to that of age-matched early bilingual children speaking both languages. Our findings suggest that while all children demonstrate adherence to Maximize Presupposition in an adult-like manner, bilingualism may enhance performance in pragmatic tasks that bear on this principle, and therefore constitutes a potential advantage in the relevant area

One of the most studied scales in the literature on scalar implicatures is the quantifier scale. ... more One of the most studied scales in the literature on scalar implicatures is the quantifier scale. While the truth of \u27some\u27 is entailed by the truth of \u27all\u27, \u27some\u27 is felicitous only when \u27all\u27 is false. This opens the possibility that \u27some\u27 would be felicitous if, e.g., almost all of the objects in the restriction of the quantifier have the property ascribed by the nuclear scope. This prediction from the standard theory of quantifier interpretation clashes with native speakers’ intuitions. In Experiment 1 we report a questionnaire study on the perception of quantifier meanings in English, French, Slovenian and German which points to a cross-linguistic variation with respect to the perception of numerical bounds of the existential quantifier. In Experiment 2, using a picture choice task, we further examine whether the numerical bound differences correlate with differences in pragmatic interpretations of the quantifier \u27some\u27 in English and \u27q...

This talk is an experimental investigation of the status of Maximize presupposition as an operati... more This talk is an experimental investigation of the status of Maximize presupposition as an operative pragmatic principle that regulates speakers’ preferences among semantically equivalent attitude reports. We present results from two acquisitional studies. The first study explores sensitivity of 5 and 7-year old Slovenian-speaking children to the principle from a developmental perspective. The second study examines the influence of bilingualism on the use of this principle by comparing monolingual Slovenian and Italian children to early bilingual children acquiring both languages. The results suggest that while even the youngest children demonstrate adherence to Maximize presupposition in an adult-like manner, bilingualism affects performance in pragmatic tasks and constitutes a potential advantage in the relevant area

Living apart together. A critical review of the ways in bilinguals mix and separate their languag... more Living apart together. A critical review of the ways in bilinguals mix and separate their languages in code-switching and translanguaging (Chair: Bernhard Brehmer)

Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 2005

Abstract: This paper examines the likely candidates for the Parasitic Gap (PG) construction in Bu... more Abstract: This paper examines the likely candidates for the Parasitic Gap (PG) construction in Bulgarian. Focusing on the properties of PGs known from previously studied languages, I conclude that there are no genuine PGs in Bulgarian. I also argue that without-clauses are irrelevant for the study of PGs. They involve a different mechanism for licensing a null element inside the clause. ********** The parasitic gap (PG) construction, first discussed by Ross (1967) and Taraldsen (1981), involves sentences like (1) and (2): (1) This is the kind of [food.sub.i] you must cook [t.sub.i] before you eat pg. [Engdahl (1983)] (2) Which [boy.sub.i] did Mary's talking to pg bother [t.sub.i] most? [Engdahl (1983)] The defining property of the PG construction is a "missing" NP, which is anaphorically related to the trace of another moved NP in the sentence. As Engdahl, whose influential 1983 study of PG established most of the properties of the construction, notes, there are two ma...

Proceedings of the International Annual Conference of the Institute for Bulgarian Language (Sofia, 2021), 2021

Feature assignment differs significantly from featural agreement as it involves aspects that are ... more Feature assignment differs significantly from featural agreement as it involves aspects that are not directly manifested in the linguistic input to the speaker (like the Accusative feature of the transitive verb) but are accessible from the knowledge component only. This work is an overview of a research program that aims to explore key aspects of syntactic encoding in the structural realm of feature assignment from an experimental perspective. The project is innovative because we pit the existing models of encoding syntactic agreement against new experimental data pertaining to feature assignment effects, exploring, in particular, the role of working memory in real time computation of featural assignment. We focus on feature assignment phenomena in two Slavic languages, Bulgarian and Russian, which possess rich morphological repertoires, thus providing an excellent testing ground from an experimental perspective.

Second Language Research, 2019

This study investigates the processing of long-distance syntactic dependencies by native speakers... more This study investigates the processing of long-distance syntactic dependencies by native speakers of Slovenian (L1) who are advanced learners of Italian as a second language (L2), compared with monolingual Italian speakers. Using a self-paced reading task, we compare sensitivity of the early-acquired L2 learners to syntactic anomalies in their L2 in two empirical domains: (1) syntactic islands, for which the learners’ L1 and L2 grammars provide a converging characterization, and (2) verb–clitic constructions, for which the respective L1 and L2 grammatical descriptions diverge. We find that although our L2 learners show native-like processing patterns in the former, converging, grammatical domain, they may nevertheless perform non-native-like with respect to syntactic phenomena in which the L1 and L2 grammars do not align, despite the early age of L2 acquisition. Implications for theories of L2 acquisition and endstate are discussed.