Project C02
Limits of cross-linguistic variability in the interpretation of underspecified structures
PI(s): Prof. Dr. Malte Zimmermann
The project continues looking at the limits of variability in semantic interpretation across language users and languages (German, English, Akan, Hausa, Igbo, Medumba). The focus is on the interpretation of underspecified structures, such as found in doubly quantified sentences (scope ambiguities) and in sentences with missing functional elements (article drop in DP and Serial Verb Constructions). Such sentences provide a good testing ground for hidden variability in that identical surface configurations may involve different structural derivations, as diagnosed by differences in interpretation. We will collect data in direct elicitation and in experiments, and we will begin with computationally modelling the quantitative experimental data.
in Phase 1:
Limits of Variability in Interpretation
PI(s): Prof. Dr Malte Zimmermann & Prof. Dr. Alexander Koller
Project C02 focuses on the grammatical, cognitive and communicative factors underlying variability in semantic interpretation. The central empirical goal is the experimental investigation of subtypes of variability and limits of variability in semantic interpretation. Adopting a cross-linguistic perspective (German, English, Akan/Kwa/Niger-Congo), the project addresses two central questions.
The first question concerns the limits of intra- and interspeaker variability in interpretation (variability subtypes 3&4): Which strategies do language users employ for adapting their interpretation of utterances to the communicative needs at hand, and for evaluating utterances as felicitous and true in a given communicative setting? The empirical and theoretical focus is on the (un-)availability of structural, lexical, and evaluative adaptation processes in four semantic phenomena, distributed over four work packages:
- relative quantifier scope and the availability of inverse scope (WP1)
- the felicity and interpretation of bare SG count arguments (WP2)
- the accomodability of existence presuppositions (WP3)
- and the interpretation of counterfactual conditionals (AP4).
We will test for the (un-)availability of interpretations and adaptation procedures in relation to differences in communicative setting, on the one hand, and in relation to constraints imposed by the underlying grammatical systems, on the other. We are interested in identifying (i.) interpretive procedures that are systematically blocked across speakers and trials; and (ii.) interpretive procedures that depend on structural reanalysis. The identification of such cases will shed light on the workings of the syntax-semantics interface. In particular, it will help in evaluating the hypothesis that syntax is a largely autonomous structure-building system, immune to the requirements of the interpretive system.
The second question serves the same goal by adding a cross-linguistic perspective. We investigate which aspects of variability in semantic interpretation are constant across languages, and which ones are language-specific and constrained by the grammars of the underlying linguistic systems (variability subtype 1). Here, we focus on differences in word order (rigid vs flexible), in the inventory of functional markers for expressing (in-)definiteness on NPs, and in the functional interpretation of definite markers across languages. The empirical data will be collected in a series of offline experiments and statistically analyzed.
In sum, the project will contribute to a better understanding of which aspects of variability in interpretation depend on non-linguistic factors (communicative needs, processing), and which ones are contingent on, or altogether blocked by grammatical constraints of the underlying linguistic system.
Members
Papers
| Author(s) | Title | Year | Published in | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renans, A., & De Veaugh-Geiss, J. P. | Experimental Studies on it-Clefts and Predicate Interpretation. | 2019 | Semantics and Pragmatics, 12(Article 11), 1-50. DOI: 10.3765/sp.12.11 | |
| Destruel, E., & De Veaugh-Geiss, J. P. | (Non-)Exhaustivity in French c’est-Clefts. | 2019 | C. Pinon (ed.), Empirical Issues in Syntax and Semantics 12 (pp. 91–120). Paris: CSSP. | |
| Paape, D., & Zimmermann, M. | Conditionals on crutches: Expanding the modal horizon. | 2020 | In M. Franke, N. Kompa, M. Liu, J. L. Mueller, & J. Schwab (Eds.), Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 24 (Vol. 2, pp. 108-126). Osnabrück University. * DOI: 10.18148/sub/2020.v24i2.889 | |
| Philipp, M., & Zimmermann, M. | Empirical investigations on quantifier scope ambiguities in German. | 2020 | In M. Franke, N. Kompa, M. Liu, J. L. Mueller, & J. Schwab (Eds.), Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 24 (Vol. 2, pp. 145-164). Osnabrück University. * DOI: 10.18148/sub/2020.v24i2.914 | |
| De Veaugh-Geiss, J. P. | nà-Cleft (non-)exhaustivity: Variability in Akan. | 2021 | Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 6(1), 1-41. DOI: 10.16995/glossa.5698 | |
| Zimmermann, M. | Fake tense in Hausa counterfactuals: A novel argument for underspecified EXCL. | 2021 | In J. Rhyne, K. Lamp, N. Dreier, & C. Kwon (Eds.), Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistics Theory (SALT) 30 (pp. 125–145). Linguistic Society of America. DOI: 10.3765/salt.v30i0.4808 | |
| Fanselow, G., Zimmermann, M., & Philipp, M. | Accessing the availability of inverse scope in German in the covered box paradigm. | 2022 | Glossa: A journal of general linguistics 7(1), 1-24. DOI: 10.16995/glossa.5766 | |
| Philipp, M., & Zimmermann, M. | An Experimental Comparison of the Availability of Inverse Scope in English and German. | 2025 | Linguistic Inquiry, 56(2), 209–245. DOI: 10.1162/ling_a_00493 | |
| Zimmermann, M., & Kouankem, C. | Focus Fronting in a Language with In Situ Marking: The Case of Mǝ̀dʉ́mbà. | 2024 | Languages, 9(4), 117. DOI: 10.3390/languages9040117 | |
| Armenante, G., & Lecavelier, J. | (Past) temporal reference in an aspect prominent language. | 2024 | In G. Baumann, D. Gutzmann, J. Koopman, K. Liefke, A. Renans, & T. Scheffler (Eds.), Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 28 (pp. 77-94). Bochum: Ruhr-University Bochum. DOI: 10.18148/sub/2024.v28.1109 | |
| Zimmermann, M., & Lecavelier, J. | Question embedding without wh-interrogatives: A unified account. | 2025 | In Y. Zhang, F. L. Zhao, Y. Cho, & Y. Wu (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Semantics and Linguistic Theory Conference (SALT 34) (pp. 524-544): Linguistic Society of America. DOI: 10.3765/1gn2bn89 | |
| Armenante, G. | Temporal de Re and semantic variation: Composing simultaneity in Asante Twi. | 2025 | In Y. Zhang, F. L. Zhao, Y. Cho, & Y. Wu (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Semantics and Linguistic Theory Conference (SALT 34) (pp. 545-562): Linguistic Society of America. DOI: 10.3765/t3fr0n66 | |
| De Veaugh-Geiss, J. P. | Cleft exhaustivity: A unified approach to inter-speaker and cross-linguistic variability. | 2020 | PhD Thesis. Potsdam: Universitätsverlag Potsdam. DOI: 10.25932/publishup-44642 | |
| Philipp, M. | Quantifier scope ambiguities in English, German, and Asante Twi (Akan): structural and pragmatic factors. | 2022 | PhD Thesis. Potsdam: Universitätsverlag Potsdam. DOI: 10.25932/publishup-61235 | |
| Destruel, E., & De Veaugh-Geiss, J. P. | On the interpretation and processing of exhaustivity: Evidence of variation in English and French clefts. | 2018 | Journal of Pragmatics, 138(December 2018), 1-16. DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2018.09.009 | |
| Paape, D. | Antecedent complexity effects on ellipsis processing. | 2018 | Dr. phil. Dissertation, University of Potsdam, Potsdam: Universitätsverlag. | |
| Zimmermann, M., De Veaugh-Geiss, J. P., Tönnis, S., & Onea, E. | (Non-)exhaustivity in focus partitioning across languages. | 2020 | V. Hegedűs & I. Vogel (Eds.), Approaches to Hungarian (Vol. 16: Papers from the 2017 Budapest Conference, pp. 208-230 ). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. | |
| Zimmermann, M., Fricke, L., & Onea, E. | Embedded Questions are Exhaustive Alright, but… | 2022 | In A. Özgün & Y. Zinova (Eds.), Language, Logic, and Computation: 13th International Tbilisi Symposium, TbiLLC 2019, Batumi, Georgia, September 16–20, 2019, Revised Selected Papers (pp. 173-194). Dordrecht: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-98479-3_9 | |
| Zimmermann, M. | Verbal Number in Chadic, with Special Reference to Hausa. | 2021 | In P. Cabredo Hofherr & J. Doetjes (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Grammatical Number (pp. 597–626). Oxford Handbooks Online: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198795858.013.29 | |
| Philipp, M., & Ampofo, J. S. | Quantifier Scope Ambiguities in Akan. | 2024 | Journal of West African Languages, 51(2), 38-52. | |
| Philipp, M., & Pregla, D. | Similarities in the processing of scrambling and quantifier scope ambiguities – a shared source? | to appear | Glossa Psycholinguistics. |
