Un 0 7 1986 - 1 - Rrchi ' Jes

Simple sentences w i t h p l u r a l s have i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s t h a t cannot be reduced t o p r e d i c a t i o n s abou? i n d i v i d u a l o b j e c t s . Such an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n f o r a sentence w i t h 1 p l u r a l s cannot be represented by a l o q i c a l form c o n t a i n i n g q u a n t i f i e r s over i n d i v i d u a l s t h a t b i n d i n t o an atomic q-adic p red ica te : ( i i ) Ten boys a te ten p i e s . Chapter 1 i n t roduces the c lasses o f i n t e r p r e t a t i o q s t h a t cannot be so represented. An example i s t h a t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f ( i i ) which i s t r u e i n a s i t u a t i o n where there are ten boys and ten p i e s , the boys eat the p i e s and no one boy e a t s more than p a r t o f any one o f the p i e s . No i n d i v i d u a l boy a te any i n d i v i d u a l p i e . Chapter 2 on se t -deno ta t i ve l o q i c presents the s tandard view accordinq t o which the n o n r e d u c i b i l i t y o f p l u r a l s i s taken t o show t h a t the Q p l u r a l s i n ( i ) are q u a n t i f i e r s over s e t s o f i n d i v i d u a l s t h a t b i n d i n t o an atomic q-adic p r e d i c a t e express ing a r e l a t i o n among s e t s o f i n d i v i d u a l s . Chapter 3 proposes event l o q i c as an account o f p l u r a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s . Adding an argument p o s i t i o n f o r events, i t assumes a Davidsonian (1967) decomposit ion o f the p r e d i c a t e i n t o c o n s t i t u e n t s express ing the r o l e o f each NP i n an event o f V-ing: ( i i i ) e's e a t e r s are ten boys & ea t (e ) & e's eaten are ten p i e s Q u a n t i f y i n g over events i n general rep laces q u a n t i f y i n g over s e t s . There are no atomic p r e d i c a t e s express ing r e l a t i o n s among s e t s o f i n d i v i d u a l s . An important f e a t u r e o f the event l o g i c ' s syntax e x p l o i t s the p r e d i c a t e ' s decamposit ion i n t o c o n s t i t u e n t s . I t a l l o w s f o r r e s t r i c t e d q u a n t i f i c a t i o n , 'CQ: A1 B e , i n which one o f the c o n s t i t u e n t s o c c u r r i n g i n , say, A i s separated from the remain ing c o n s t i t u e n t s and f rom the verb i t s e l f which are i n 8 . Note t h a t the se t -deno ta t i ve l o g i c ' s atomic p r e d i c a t e does not a l l o w a NP's semantic r o l e t o be separated from i t . I t appears w i t h i t s f u l l valence, p r o v i d i n g a p lace t o r every argument i n the r e l a t i o n i t expresses. Chapter 4 shows t h a t a domain o f q u a n t i f i c a t i o n i n the se t -deno ta t i ve l o q i c cannot inc lude a l l subsets o f i n d i v i d u a l o b j e c t s . I f there i s t o be q u a n t i f i c a t i o n over se ts , i t i s r e s t r i c t e d by a r e l a t i o n s h i p t o events. Chapter 5 cons iders the ex tens ion o f se t -deno ta t i ve l o g i c t h a t admits i n the p r e d i c a t e a p lace f o r events w h i l e r e t a i n i n g the view t h a t p l u r a l s are q u a n t i f i e r s over s e t s o f i n d i v i d u a l s b i n d i n g i n t o atomic n t l -adic p red ica tes . The event l o g i c , by q u a n t i f y i n g over events, q u a n t i f i e s i n d i r e c t l y and i n a r e s t r i c t e d way over s e t s c o n t a i n i n g t h e i r p a r t i c i p a n t s . Chapter 5 shows t h a t the extended se t -deno ta t i ve l o g i c must be cons t ra ined t o recover the r e l a t i o n s h i p between s e t s and events d e r i v e d i n the event l o g i c . A p r e d i c a t e i n the extended se t -deno ta t i ve l o g i c must no t denote a se t un less i t i s a l l the p a r t i c i p a n t s o f an event , and the p r e d i c a t e must be about the se t 's a c t i v i t y o n l y w i t h i n a s i n g l e event . Chapter 6 argues f o r the syntax o f event l o q i c , showing t h a t the c o n s t i t u e n t s o f the p r e d i c a t e ' s decomposit ion must sometimes be d i v i d e d between the r e s t r i c t i o n and the m a t r i x on which a q u a n t i f i e r operates. Thes is Superv isors: D r , Noam Chomsky T i t l e : I n s t i t u t e Pro fessor o f L i n g u i s t i c s D r . James Higqinbotham T i t l e : Pro fessor o f L i n g u i s t i c s and Phi losophy