Already : just scalarity
Name
1227111502-MIT.pdf
Size
276.38 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
5b4590bd78df624759f0370f2978a805
Author(s)
Zhu, Hanzhi,S.M.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Advisor(s)
Roger Schwarzschild.
Alternative Title
Already, just scalarity
Date Issued
2020
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The particles still and already are commonly thought of and analyzed as particles that mirror each other. The particle still has been robustly argued to have an additive presupposition in the same vein as particles like too. However, I argue that a dual semantics for already, as all previous accounts attempt to implement, is untenable, motivated by asymmetries between the two particles. Instead, I propose that already has no additive presupposition but instead an even-style scalar 'likelihood' presupposition enriched with an exhaustivity operator. Such an analysis offers empirical improvements over previous analyses, notably in its ability to directly capture the earlier-than-expected inference conveyed by already.
Description
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, September, 2020
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 36-37).
Subjects
Linguistics and Philosophy.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
Terms of Use
MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.
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