Workshop on the Semantic Contribution of Det and Num. (In)definiteness, genericity and referentiality

Workshop on the Semantic Contribution of Det and Num. (In)definiteness, genericity and referentiality

May 27 and 28, 2016
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Workshop description 
The structure and interpretation of nominal phrases of different syntactic and semantic complexity have been among the most extensively studied topics in linguistics in the past decades. The literature has established various syntax-semantic mappings of noun phrases to express (in)definiteness and genericity across languages, stemming from the classical studies on the topics (Carlson 1977, Kamp 1981, Heim 1982). Much of the syntactic literature, adopting the DP Hypothesis of Abney (1987), has been devoted to the internal architecture of the DP (cf. Longobardi 1994, Zamparelli 2000, Borer 2005, Alexiadou 2014). Yet another much discussed issue is the derivation of referential properties of nominal phrases and the syntactic and semantic ingredients involved (e.g., articles, type-shifting, number specification, mass and count distinction, etc.) in building different types of referentiality (Chierchia 1998, Bouchard 2002, Dayal 2004, Cheng 2012, Aguilar-Guevara et al. 2014, Dobrovie-Sorin and Beyssade 2014, among many others). Recently, a number of experimental studies have been carried out which complement theoretical investigation (cf. Ionin 2015).

In this workshop we aim at bringing together researchers involved in the study of nominals, nominalization, genericity, specificity and indefiniteness in theoretical and experimental linguistics. We welcome work on formal syntax and semantics of nominal phrases in natural languages, focusing specifically on the role of Determiner(s) and Number in establishing referential properties of the nominal phrase. We also encourage submissions on experimental studies on production/processing and L1 and L2 acquisition of referentiality, article systems and genericity.

Invited speakers
Artemis Alexiadou (Humboldt University)
Tania Ionin (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Lisa Cheng (Leiden University)
Ora Matushansky (CNRS/Paris 8)
Claire Beyssade (Université de Paris 8)
Florian Schwarz (University of Pennsylvania)