Tubau, Etxeberria, Déprez & Espinal (eds.) (2020). What are (un) acceptability and (un) grammaticality?

Autors:

S. Tubau, U. Etxeberria, V. Déprez i M.T. Espinal (coeditors)

Títol:

Research topic: What are (un)acceptabiity and (un)grammaticality? How do they relate to one another and to interpretation? Frontiers in Psychology

Editorial: Frontiers
Data de publicació: 2020

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Although grammatical sentences and their interpretations are generally considered the building blocks of linguistic theories, the relation between the theoretically deemed-to-be grammatical sentences and the notion of acceptability that speakers establish regarding them is far from being straightforward.
 
Some grammatical sentences that present parsing complications (e.g. garden-path sentences) might appear unacceptable to speakers, as they are difficult to understand. Other sentences, considered as ungrammatical by theoreticians (e.g. wh-island violations, sentences with resumptive pronouns, semantically implausible sequences, and sentences with unlicensed negative polarity items) might be perceived as acceptable by speakers and lead to reliable interpretations.
 
To further complicate matters, recent research on how grammatical 'illusions' (e.g. negative polarity item licensing, and comparative illusions) are perceived, understood and processed has revealed that speakers can subconsciously correct ungrammatical or ill-formed sentences by making use of specific repair strategies. Studies have also revealed that adults can learn to understand novel constructions considered to be syntactically ungrammatical (e.g. the ‘needs’ construction).
 
Taking into account these experimental results, there is now a fundamental need for novel operational, empirically and theoretically grounded redefinitions for core notions such as:
(un)acceptability; (un)grammaticality and, finally, the continual exploration of the existing complex interactions between sentences’ (un)acceptability and (un)grammaticality and their final interpretation.
 
In this vein, it seems necessary to evaluate how suitable specialized research methods can be, to establish the degree and extent to which particular linguistic structures and their interpretations are acceptable or unacceptable to speakers and how this can reliably relate to theoretical (un)grammaticality. If necessary, more analytic methodologies (e.g. acceptability scales, elicitation techniques, time forced-choice tasks, etc.) must be developed in order to provide dependable results informing on linguistic theory. This should lead to (i) a better understanding of what makes (un)grammatical sentences (un)acceptable or the other way around, (ii) a better account of speaker’s preferences and optionality in connection to (un)acceptability and (un)grammaticality, and (iii) the role of performance factors, memory limitations, and processing mechanisms in the evaluation of (un)acceptability, (un)grammaticality, and interpretation of linguistic structures.
 
We welcome manuscripts addressing any of the following topics and subtopics from theoretical and/or experimental perspectives, covering a wide range of languages and linguistic structures:
 
-What is (un)acceptability in linguistics?
-How does (un)acceptability relate to (un)grammaticality?
-Methodological issues related to (un)acceptability and/or (un)grammaticality.
-How are speaker's preferences and optionality connected to (un)acceptability and (un)grammaticality?
-What factors are relevant for the evaluation of (un)acceptability, (un)grammaticality, and interpretation of linguistic structures?

Déprez & Espinal (2020). The Oxford Handbook of Negation

The Oxford Handbook of Negation

Autors:

Déprez, V. & M.T. Espinal (eds.)

Títol:

The Oxford Handbook of Negation

Editorial: Oxford University Press
Data de publicació: 25 de març del 2020
Pàgines: 896
ISBN13: 9780198830528

Més informació

In this volume, international experts in negation provide a comprehensive overview of cross-linguistic and philosophical research in the field, as well as accounts of more recent results from experimental linguistics, psycholinguistics, and neuroscience. The volume adopts an interdisciplinary approach to a range of fundamental questions ranging from why negation displays so many distinct linguistic forms to how prosody and gesture participate in the interpretation of negative utterances. Following an introduction from the editors, the chapters are arranged in eight parts that explore, respectively, the fundamentals of negation; issues in syntax; the syntax-semantics interface; semantics and pragmatics; negative dependencies; synchronic and diachronic variation; the emergence and acquisition of negation; and experimental investigations of negation. The volume will be an essential reference for students and researchers across a wide range of disciplines, and will facilitate further interdisciplinary work in the field.

Espinal & Tubau (2019). Response Systems: The Syntax and Semantics of Fragment Answers…

Autors:

M.Teresa Espinal i Susagna Tubau

Títol:

Response Systems: The Syntax and Semantics of Fragment Answers and Response Particles

Editorial: Annual Review of Linguistics
Data de publicació: 20 de gener de 2019
Pàgines: 28

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Text complet


This article critically reviews the main research issues raised in the study of response systems in natural languages by addressing the syntax and semantics of fragment answers and yes/no response particles. Fragment answers include replies that do not have a sentential form, whereas response particles consist solely of an affirmative or a negative adverb. While the main research question in the syntax of fragments and response particles has been whether these contain more syntactic structure than what is actually pronounced, the key issues in the study of their semantics are question–answer congruence, the anaphoric potential of response particles, and the meaning of fragments in relation to positive and negative questions. In connection to these issues, this review suggests some interesting avenues for further research: (a) providing an analysis of particles other than yes/no, (b) choosing between echoic versus nonechoic forms as answers to polar questions, and (c) deciding whether some non-lexically-based or nonverbal responses are systematically used in combination with polar particles to express (dis)agreement.

Serés & Espinal (2019). Russian definitional generic sentences

Autors:

Dària Serés, M.Teresa Espinal

Títol:

Russian definitional generic sentences

Editorial: Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 4(1). Ubiquity Press
Data de publicació: 14 de juny de 2019
Pàgines: 30

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Text complet


In this article we analyse Russian definitional sentences, which are a type of generic sentence. We focus on the structure and meaning of canonical definitions, which express an identity/identification relation between two nominal concepts. In Russian such definitions are given in the form of a bi-nominative structure: NP1 – èto NP2 (‘NP1 is NP2’). We argue that definitional sentences are copular, and they are non-predicational, showing similarities to equative, identificational and specificational sentences. We also argue that (i) both NPs in definitional sentences are kind-referring, whereas èto is non-referential; (ii) a copula be maps a kind entity (the denotation of NP2) to itself (identity function); and (iii) the neuter element èto introduces a presentational function that maps the kind entity in postcopular position to a function that looks for another kind entity (the one corresponding to NP1) and composes a definitional generic sentence.

Semántica

Autors:

M.Teresa Espinal (Coord.), Josep Macià, Jaume Mateu, Josep Quer

Títol:

Semántica

Editorial: Akal
Data de publicació: 2014
Pàgines: 352
ISBN13: 978-84-460-3943-3

Més informació

La Semántica es el estudio del significado. El libro que aquí presentamos es un manual sobre dicha materia que tiene fundamentalmente dos objetivos: el primero, introducir a los estudiantes en los temas centrales de la teoría del significado (cuestiones que son típicamente lingüísticas; problemas que se han planteado en filosofía del lenguaje y en lógica y que son pertinentes en teoría lingüística, y problemas que tienen un interés en semántica gracias a los avances producidos en áreas afines como la psicología cognitiva); el segundo, iniciarles en el discurso propio de la argumentación lingüística para el planteamiento y resolución de problemas de significado de las lenguas naturales.
El libro está organizado en ocho capítulos. El primero incluye una reflexión sobre las unidades de estudio de la Semántica y la operación básica de composición del significado, al que sigue otro dedicado a las unidades léxicas y al tipo de significado e información que estas pueden codificar. En el tercero se aborda la noción de referencia y otras relacionadas con ella, en las que se fundamenta la Semántica de Condiciones de Verdad. En los capítulos que siguen se estudian con cierto detalle las nociones de predicación, cuantificación, modificación e intensionalidad; en ellos se discuten fundamentalmente datos del español para justificar las hipótesis y los conceptos teóricos que se presentan. En el último, pensado para estudiantes de posgrado, se plantean problemas de interfaz sintaxis-semántica y de interfaz gramática-cognición, cuyo objetivo fundamental es relacionar y reflexionar sobre algunos conceptos y nociones introducidos en los capítulos precedentes.
Todo ello se acompaña de un abundante material complementario en forma de bibliografías, ejercicios y actividades, que hacen del libro una herramienta fundamental para iniciarse y profundizar en una de las áreas básicas para el conocimiento y dominio de la lengua.