Typologies for even-like and only-like operators: Evidence from Modern Hebrew (original) (raw)

The rich semantic-pragmatic research on typologies of even-like particles has identified several parameters along which such particles vary, both within, and across many languages, e.g. the logical properties of the licensing environment (e.g. negative/DE/ UE), high/low position of the prejacent in the scale, and the presence of additive vs. exclusive presuppositions (e.g. Guerzoni,2003, Giannakidou,2007, Gast & van-der-Auwera,2011,2013, Crnič 2011). Other parameters, reported more sporadically for individual languages, seem more contextual/discursive in nature, e.g. high/low degree of contextual saliency of the prejacent (Schwenter & Vasishth,2001), (in)ability to use contextually-based scales (Giannakidou,2007, Tomaszewicz,2012A), and (in)ability to function as ‘discourse even’ in questions (Iatridou & Tetevosov,2016). In light of such parameters we first examine the family of even-like particles in Modern Hebrew (which hasn’t been done so far), mainly afilu, ve-lu, af and bixlal. We show that accounting for the full range of differences between these particles requires (a) adding a new parameter to the existing typologies, namely the (in)ability to operate over domain-based/degree-based alternatives (cf. Greenberg 2014, Chierchia 2013) and (b) a fined-grained characterization of existing ‘context/discourse’-based parameters, e.g. the ability to function as ‘discourse-even’ on corrections/denials, besides questions. This last parameter may be more generally characterized as (in)ability to operate over speech act alternatives. We then compare the resulting even-like typology with the (as yet much more limited) typologies developed for only-like particles in e.g. Beaver & Clark,2008, Coppock & Beaver,2014 (English), Tomaszewicz,2012B (Polish) and Orenstein & Greenberg,2012, Orenstein,2016 (Hebrew). This comparison reveals striking parallels in the parameters along which the Hebrew particles within both the even-family and the only-family vary. Such ‘shared’ parameters include (in)ability to operate over degree/domain-based alternatives, operation over logically-based vs. contextually-supplied scales and (in)ability to operate on questions and corrections/denials (i.e. over speech acts of different sorts). We suggest that, together with reported ‘flipped’ readings of some even-like particles as only-like (cf. Gast & Van-der-Awuera 2011, Tomaschevish,2012B, Grubic & Zimmermann,2011), such parallels further motivate the need for a unified and precise typology for the family of scalar particles cross-linguistically, and we take first steps in identifying some core properties of such a typology.