aspect in time · five hours] three quarters]]]. à valecian catalan. variation between romance...

22
Aspect in Time Anna Maria Di Sciullo Université du Québec a Montréal Societas Linguisticae Europaea Naples, Italy 31 st August -3 rd September 2016 This work was supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities ResearchCouncil of Canada to the Major Collaborative Researchon Interface Asymmetries, grant number 214-2003-1003, and by funding from the FQRSC on Dynamic Interfaces, grant number 137253. www.interfaceasymmetry.uqam.ca. www.biolinguistics.uqam

Upload: others

Post on 01-Aug-2020

1 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

AspectinTimeAnnaMariaDiSciullo

Université duQuébecaMontréal

Societas Linguisticae EuropaeaNaples, Italy

31st August-3rd September2016

ThisworkwassupportedinpartbyfundingfromtheSocialSciencesandHumanitiesResearchCouncil ofCanadatotheMajorCollaborativeResearchonInterfaceAsymmetries,grantnumber214-2003-1003, andbyfundingfromtheFQRSConDynamicInterfaces,grant

number137253.www.interfaceasymmetry.uqam.ca.www.biolinguistics.uqam

Page 2: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

PurposePPsmaydelimitaspectinVPs(Tenny1987,Ramchand 2008,a.o.);whereastheirboundingpropertiesinDPsareopentoinquiry.

WepresentargumentsthatPPshaveboundingpropertiesinDPsreferringtotime,henceforth“time-countingexpressions”.TheevidencecomesfromtemporalanddirectionalPPs,timespanvs.durativeadverbialmodificationandpointofviewintimecountingexpressions.

Wedrawconsequencesfortheunderstandingofaspectintimecountingexpressionsatthesyntax-semanticinterface.

Page 3: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Questionsandhypothesis

Whataretheproperties oftime countingexpressions?onethirty,aquartertoone,onetwentyfive,…

Whatistheroleofcardinalnumbers?thirtyone,onehundred,onehundredtwentyfive,…

Whatistheroleofthepronounced/silent time PP?twoo’clock,onethirtya.m.,onetwentyfivep.m.,…

Page 4: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Outline

1. Cardinalnumbersandtime countingexpressions2. PPsintime-counting expressions3.Augmentedfunctional projectionandthespatial locationoftime4. Consequences forthesyntax/semantic interfaces andtheCI/SMasymmetry

andthedomainspecificity oflanguage

Page 5: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

1.Cardinalnumeralsandtimecountingexpressions

Wecomparethesyntacticandsemanticpropertiesoftime-countingexpressionstothoseofbetterstudiedcountingsystems,suchascomplexcardinalnumerals(Kayne2005,2016;Ionin &Matushansky 2006;Stavrou &Terzi2008;DiSciullo2012,2015,a.o.).Fromatypologicalpointofview,wewillfocusonRomancelanguages.

Ionin &Matushansky (2006,2016)Stavrou &Terzi (2008)DiSciullo(2014,2015)

Page 6: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Ionin & Matushansky 2004, 2006

X-bar structure and type theoretical semantics

Complexcardinalsinvolvingmultiplication(twohundred)areanalyzedascomplementation,whereascomplexcardinalsinvolvingaddition(onehundredandtwo)aretwosimplexcardinalscombinedintooneviacoordination.

Page 7: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Stavrou & Terzi 2008

In Greek, simplex and complex cardinals are generated in the Specifier of NUMP.

Page 8: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Additive and multiplicative structures Di Sciullo 2014, 2015

Numerals (NUM) merge with functional projections with interpretable features (ADD, MULT) and uninterpretable features (uNUM). Uninterpretable features are checked and eliminated; interpretable features are legible by the external systems.

Page 9: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Operatorsincardinalnumeralsandtime-countingexpressions

Time-counting expressionsusuallyinvolve thesameoperatorsfound incomplexnumericalexpressions, i.e.ADD(ition), MULT(iplication), aswellasSUBSTR(action),andshown inthefollowing examples:

(1) a. duecentocinque (It) c.vingt etun(Fr)“twohundred five” “twentyone”

b. [two MULT hundred] ADD five] d.[twentyADD one]

(2) a. leduemeno cinque (It) c.dosquartsicinc denou (Ca)thetwominus five twoquartersandfiveofnine“fivetotwo” “eightthirty-five”

b. [two MINUS five]… d.[[two MULT quarter]ADD five]…

Page 10: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

2.PPsintime-countingexpressions

1. 1InEnglish,nouns,suchasyears,hourand time,canbesilent,e.g.itissix:CLOCKTIMEi Fo [sixHOUR]ti.(Kayne2003,2005). AgreementrelationsprovideevidencethatthisisalsothecaseinmorphologicallyrichlanguagessuchasItalian,(3).

(3)a.È/*Sono l’una. b.*È/Sono ledue.(It)is/aretheone is/arethetwo‘Itisoneo’clock.’ ‘Itistwoo’clock.’

Silent/pronouncedadverbialPPsarealsopartoftime-countingexpression,whetherornottheyincludeadditiveorsubstractivemorphology,(4).

(4)a.È l’una eezza (dimattina).b.Sono leduemeno unquarto (dipomeriggio).(It)is/aretheoneandahalfofmorning is/arethetwominusaquarterofmorning‘Itisoneinthemorning.’ ‘Itisaquartertotwointhemorning.’

Pronounced/silentadverbialPPsprovidearegionboundarytotimecountingexpressions.

Page 11: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Time-countingexpressionsandintervals

2.Hourscanbedividedinparts,suchasquarters,whichareintervalsthatcannotbeinterpretedwithoutatemporalendpointbroughtaboutbyPPs,(5a).Timespanvs.durativePPmodification,(5b),providefurthersupporttothetelicityofthe DPs.

(5)a.È unquarto*(alle due).(It)Isaquarter*(totwo)‘Itwill be aquarter*(totwo).’

b.Sarà unquartoalle due(tra pochi minuti/*perpochi minuti).(It)willbeaquarterattwo(inafewminutes/*forafewminutes)‘Itwill be aquartertotwo (inafewminutes/*forafewminutes).

Page 12: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Time-countingexpressionsandrelativeview

3.Differences inthe linearizationoftheDPs,asin(6)fromRomanian, indicatethatnaturallanguages articulate time inaprospective orretrospective pointofview.

(6)a.Estedoi și jumătate.(Ro) b.Este jumătate latrei.(Ro)istwoandhalfishalftothree‘Itistwothirty.’‘Itistwothirty.’

Page 13: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

SalientreferencetimeTime-counting expressions involvea“salient” referencetime,henceforthSRT,asshownintheItalianandSpanishexamples in(7)-(8):

(7) a.letre e cinque (It) b.?le quattro menocinquanta cinque (It)c.Las tresycinco(Sp) d.?las cuatromenos cincuenta ycinco(Sp)

thethreeandfive the fourminus fiftyandfive“fivepastthree” “fivepastthree”

(8) a.?letre ecinquanta cinque(It) b.lequattro menocinque (It)c.?lastresycincuenta ycinco(Sp)d.las cuatro menos cinco (Sp)

thethreeandfiftyandfive thefour minus five“fivetofour” “fivetofour”

These examples showthattime-points, i.e.3:05in(7a,c)or3:55in(8b,d),tendtobeexpressedmakingreferencetoanSRTintheirvicinity;thepreceding hourtime in(7a,c)andthefollowinghourtimein(8b,d).

Page 14: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Time-point/time-interval

STRmaydenote eitheratime-point oratime-interval cross-linguistically.

Thetime-point interpretation oftheSRTgivesrisetotelicconstruals inthecases in(9a)-(10a).The lackofSRTmakes(9b)-(10b)notinterpretable astimedenotingexpressions.

(9)a. unquarto alle cinque b.#unquarto(It)a quarter to-thefiveaquarter“aquartertofive” “aquarter”

(10)a.vinte para as cincob.#vinte (Port)twenty for the five twenty“twentytofive” “twenty”

In(10a),forinstance,vinte “twenty”givesthemeasureofthetime-span between thetime-point [4:40]andtheSRT[5:00].Thesetelic construals usually involvelocativeorgoalprepositions, cf.a“to”inItalian,para “for”inPortugueseorto inEnglish.

Page 15: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Time-intervalsandatelicSTR

Ontheotherhand,time-interval interpretations ofSRTaretypicaloftime-countingexpressions involvingpseudo-partitives inlanguages likeCatalanorRussian,asin(11):

(11)un quart i cinc de nou (Ca)aquarter and five of nine “twentypasteight”

In(11),theconstituentunquarti cinc “lit.aquarterandfive”measures thetime-spanalreadypastoftheninthhour.

Weclaimthatpseudo-partitive time-counting expressions, asopposedtothecases in(9a)-(10a),involveanatelicsalient reference-time, inthesense thatthereference-timeisnotviewedastheendpointofatelic interval.

Page 16: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Pseudo-partitive time-countingexpressionsandateliccases

Theateliccharacterofpseudo-partitive time-counting expressions isevidenced bythefactthattheyaremarginal indenotingtime-points closetothefullhour,asshownin(12):

(12)a.??un quart menys deu de nou (Ca)a quarter minus ten of nine “fivepasteight”

b.?/?? tres quarts i deu de nouthree quarters and ten of nine “fivetonine”

Page 17: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Pseudo-partitivetime-countingexpressionsandateliccases

Telic cases inwhichthe[quarter+minutes]constituents receivean interpretationsimilartotheoneinpseudo-partitives. Consider forinstance (13):

(13)tres quarts perlescinc (Valencian Catalan) threequartersforthefive“aquartertofive”

(13)denotes thesametime-point astheonedenotedby(9).However,thistime-pointisdenoted bymeasuring thetimealreadypastofthesecondhourandbyincorporatingthistime intoatelicconstrual (cf.preposition per « for »anddefiniteunpronouncedHOUR).

Page 18: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

3.Augmentedfunctionalprojectionandthespatiallocationoftime

Weanalyzetime-counting expressions intermsofextendedprepositional projectionsincluding PlaceandRelView categories,discussed inCinque (2010) forthesyntax-semanticsoflocative/directional prepositions, inordertoformalize thespatiallocationof time.

[PPdir [PPstatAT[DPplace [DegP [ModeDirP [AbsViewP [RelViewPsource/goal/pathstativeATmeasurediagonally north/southup/down[RelViewP [DeicticP [AxPartP [PPP[NPplace [PLACE]]]]]]]]]]]]]in/ourhere/there under/over/behindGround(Cinque2010)

Weargueforaunified prepositional accountfor(9a)-(10a)unqualto alle cinque(It) “aquartertofive” ontheonehand,and(13) tres quartperlescinc (Valencian Catalan) “aquartertofive”on theother, asfollows:

(14)a.aquarter[RELVIEW aquarter UP[RELVIEW aquarter to/for[PLACE/GOAL [the five HOURS]aquarter]]].à Italian,Portuguese

b. threequarters[RELVIEWthree quarters DOWN[RELVIEW threequarters to/for[PLACE/GOAL [thefiveHOURS]threequarters]]].à Valecian Catalan

Page 19: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

VariationbetweenRomancelanguages

Thecontrastbetweenthetwotelicconstruals residesinthetwodifferentheadsunderRelView.ItalianandPortuguesefeatureaUP headunderRelView,andaquarter in(14a) isinterpretedasthetimelackingtowardstheendpointdenotedbythedefinitethefiveHOURS.

Ontheotherhand, in(14b),theValencianCatalanhostsaDOWN headunderRelView,andthreequartersisinterpretedasthetimepastwithrespecttotheendpoint;thePATHselectedbytheDOWN headisaseriesofincreasingnumberofquartersleadingtothefull-hourendpoint,whereasthePATH selectedbytheUPheadisaseriesofdecreasing numberofquarterstowardstheendpoint,i.e.theSTR.

Page 20: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

4.ConsequencesOuranalysis hasconsequences fortheunderstandingofAspect intimeatthe syntax-semantic interface.

• Functionalstructure, including silentPPs,providesfurthersupporttothephonetic-semantic interfacesasymmetry(Chomsky2008,DiSciullo2008)andthesyntax-semantic transparencyhypothesis (Chierchia 2013,Jacobson2013).

Ouranalysisbringsfurthersupporttotheintervention ofThirdFactorPrinciples(Chomsky2005etseq.),includingthePrinciplesofMinimizeExternalizationandMinimizeSymmetry(DiSciullo2015).

InterfaceAsymmetries :silent delimiting PPsarenotlegible attheSMinterface,asa consequence ofMinimizeExternalization.

Syntax-semantic transparency:silent delimiting PPsarelegible attheCIinterface, asaconsequence ofMinimizeSymmetry.

Page 21: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

Thearrowoftimeandtime-countingexpressions

Accordingtothearrowoftime(theasymmetryoftime):Time isonewaydirectional. (Eddington 1927)

Temporalasymmetries areduetotheasymmetric behaviorofphysicalprocesses inourworld.

Timecountingexpressions areasymmetricalwithrespecttoaSRT.Thetemporalasymmetries intime-counting expressions couldbeattributed tothedomainspecificity ofhumanlanguage, andinparticulartothedelimitingproperties ofPPs,andtheroleofRelative viewinthesyntax-semantics oftime-countingexpressions.

Page 22: Aspect in Time · five HOURS] three quarters]]]. à Valecian Catalan. Variation between Romance languages The contrast between the two telic construals resides in the two different

ReferencesChierchia,G.2013.LogicandGrammar.OxfordStudiesinSemanticsandPragmatics,

OxfordUniversityPress.Chomsky,N.2005.Threefactorsinlanguagedesign.Linguistic Inquiry36:1-22.Chomsky,N.2008.TheBiolinguistic Program:Wheredoesitstandtoday? Ms.MIT.Cinque,G.2010.OnthefunctionalstructureoflocativeanddirectionalPPs.InG.Cinque

&L.Rizzi (eds.).ThecartographyofSyntacticStructure,vol.6.NewYork:OUP,74-126.Corver,N.&J.Zwarts.2006.Prepositionalnumerals.Lingua116:811-835.DiSciullo,A.M.2008.Interfaceasymmetries.CJL.53(2/3):139-142.DiSciullo,A.M.2012.Biolinguistics,minimalistgrammarsandtheemergenceof

complexnumerals.Evolang IX.WorkshoponTheoretical Linguistics/Biolinguistics,13-18.DiSciullo,A.M.2015.Onthedomainspecificityofthehumanlanguage facultyandthe

effectsofprinciplesofcomputationalefficiency:contrastinglanguageandmathematics.Revista LinguiStica:28-56.

Ionin,T.&O.Matushansky.2006.Thecompositionofcomplexcardinals. Journalof23,315-360.

Jackobson,P.2013.CompositionalSemantics:AnIntroductiontotheSyntax/SemanticsInterface,OxfordUniversityPress."DirectCompositionality",inW.Hinzen etal.(eds.),OxfordHandbookofCompositionality,OxfordUniversityPress.

Kayne,R.2003.Silentyearssilenthours.reprintedinKayne,R.2005.MovementandSilence,241-260.OxfordUniversityPress.

Kayne,R.2015.Thesilenceofheads.Ms,NYU.Kayne,R.2016.Somethoughtsononeandtwoandothernumerals,ms NYU.Morzitky,M.2004.MeasureDPadverbials:measurephrasemodificationinVP.Ms,

UQAM.Stavrou,M.&A.Terzi.2008.Typesofnumericalnouns.ProceedingsofWCCFL26.Tenny,C.1987.Grammaticalizing AspectandAffectedness.Phd.Dissertation,MIT.