+ All Categories
Home > Documents > Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Date post: 06-Jan-2016
Category:
Upload: wray
View: 34 times
Download: 0 times
Share this document with a friend
Description:
1 st International Pragmatics Conference of the Americas (AMPRA) and the 5 th International Conference on Intercultural Pragmatics, 19-21 October 2012, University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Popular Tags:
95
1 st International Pragmatics Conference of the Americas (AMPRA) and the 5 th International Conference on Intercultural Pragmatics, 19-21 October 2012, University of North Carolina, Charlotte Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/kmj21
Transcript
Page 1: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

1st International Pragmatics Conference of the Americas (AMPRA)and the 5th International Conference on Intercultural Pragmatics,

19-21 October 2012, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality

Kasia M. Jaszczolt

University of Cambridge

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/kmj21

Page 2: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

?

‘How much pragmatics’ is allowed in the semantic representation?

2

Page 3: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

What is expressed in the lexicon in one language may be expressed by grammar in another.

3

Page 4: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

What is expressed in the lexicon in one language may be expressed by grammar in another.

What is expressed overtly in one language may be left to pragmatic inference or default

interpretation in another.

4

Page 5: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Swahili: consecutive tense marker ka(1)a. …wa-Ingereza wa-li-wa-chukua wa-le maiti,

3Pl-British 3Pl-Past-3Pl-take 3Pl-Dem corpses‘…then the British took the corpses,

b. wa-ka-wa-tia katika bao moja,

3Pl-Cons-3Pl-put.on on board oneput them on a flat board,

c. wa-ka-ya-telemesha maji-ni kwa utaratibu w-ote…3Pl-Cons-3Pl-lower water-Loc with order 3Pl-alland lowered them steadily into the water…’

adapted from Givón (2005: 154)

5

Page 6: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

cf. rhetorical structure rules, Asher and Lascarides 2003

Narration:

(2) Lidia played a sonata. The audience applauded. e1 e2

6

Page 7: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Central Pomo

Future can be realis or irrealis

7

Page 8: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Thai

(3) f3on t1okrain fall

(3a) It is raining. (default meaning)(3b) It was raining. (possible intended meaning)

8

Page 9: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Minimalism/contextualism debate

‘Is semantic interpretation a matter of holistic guesswork (like the interpretation of kicks under the table), rather than an algorithmic, grammar-driven process as formal semanticists have claimed? Contextualism: Yes. Literalism: No. (…) Like Stanley and the formal semanticists, I maintain that the semantic interpretation is grammar-driven.’

Recanati (2012: 148)

9

Page 10: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge
Page 11: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Assumptions

• The output of syntactic processing often leaves the meaning underdetermined.

11

Page 12: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Assumptions

• The output of syntactic processing often leaves the meaning underdetermined.

• The object of study of a theory of meaning is a pragmatically modified representation. (Interactive Semantics is a radical contextualist theory.)

12

Page 13: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Assumptions

• The output of syntactic processing often leaves the meaning underdetermined.

• The object of study of a theory of meaning is a pragmatically modified representation. (Interactive Semantics is a radical contextualist theory.)

• There is no syntactic constraint on the object of study.

13

Page 14: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

(4) A: Shall we meet tomorrow?B: I’m in London.

(4a) B is in London at the time of speaking.(4b) B will be in London the following day. (4c) B can’t meet A the following day.

14

Page 15: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Interlocutors frequently communicate their main intended content through a proposition which is not syntactically restricted.

Experimental evidence:

Pitts 2005Schneider 2009

15

Page 16: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Merger Representation

• Primary meanings are modelled as merger representations.

16

Page 17: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Merger Representation

• Primary meanings are modelled as merger representations.

• The outputs of sources of information about meaning merge and all the outputs are treated on an equal footing.

17

Page 18: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Merger Representation

• Primary meanings are modelled as merger representations.

• The outputs of sources of information about meaning merge and all the outputs are treated on an equal footing. The syntactic constraint is abandoned.

• Merger representations have the status of mental representations.

18

Page 19: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Merger Representation

• Primary meanings are modelled as merger representations.

• The outputs of sources of information about meaning merge and all the outputs are treated on an equal footing. The syntactic constraint is abandoned.

• Merger representations have the status of mental representations.

• They have a compositional structure.

19

Page 20: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Sources of information for

(i) world knowledge (WK)(ii) word meaning and sentence structure (WS)(iii) situation of discourse (SD)(iv) properties of the human inferential system (IS)(v) stereotypes and presumptions about society and culture

(SC)

20

Page 21: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

(iv) properties of the human inferential system IS

(5) The author of The Catcher in the Rye still shocks the readership.

(5a) J. D. Salinger still shocks the readership.

21

Page 22: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

world knowledge (WK)

word meaning and sentence structure (WS)

situation of discourse (SD)

stereotypes and presumptions properties of human inferential system (IS) about society and culture (SC)

Fig. 1: Sources of information contributing to a merger representation Σ

merger representation Σ

Page 23: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

sources of information types of processes

23

Page 24: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Mapping between sources and processes

WK SCWD or CPISC SCWD or CPIWS WS (logical form)SD CPIIS CD

DS makes use of the processing model and it indexes the components of with a subscript standing for the type of processing.

24

Page 25: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Primary meaning:

combination of word meaning and sentence structure (WS)

conscious pragmatic inferencepm (from situation of discourse, social and

social, cultural and cognitive defaults (CD) cultural assumptions, and world world-knowledge defaultspm (SCWDpm) knowledge) (CPIpm) Secondary meanings:

Social, cultural and world-knowledge defaultssm (SCWDsm) conscious pragmatic inferencesm (CPIsm)

Fig. 2: Utterance interpretation according to the processing model of the revised version of Default Semantics

merger representation Σ

Page 26: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Compositionality of Primary Meanings

• DS, IS: compositionality of utterance meaning rather than sentence meaning.

Fodor (2008) compositionality of Mentalese only?

26

Page 27: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Compositionality is a methodological principle:

‘…it is always possible to satisfy compositionality by simply adjusting the syntactic and/or semantic tools one uses, unless that is, the latter are constrained on independent grounds.’

Groenendijk and Stokhof (1991: 93)

27

Page 28: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Compositionality should be an empirical assumption about the nature of possible human languages.

Szabó (2000)

28

Page 29: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Two examples of applications

Page 30: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Example 1

Representing Time: Pragmatic Compositionality

Page 31: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

31

Page 32: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Jaszczolt, K. M. in press. ‘Temporality and epistemic commitment: An unresolved question’, in: K. Jaszczolt & L. de Saussure (eds). Time: Language, Cognition, and Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press (vol. 1 of Oxford Studies of Time in Language and Thought)

Page 33: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Main questions

Is the human concept of time a universal concept?Probably yes

Is it primitive or composed of simpler concepts?Supervenient on properties of modality

How do linguistic expressions of time reflect it?Representations in Default Semantics/Interactive

Semantics

33

Page 34: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Time as Modality: Supervenience

(i) supervenience of the concept of time on the concept of epistemic detachment (temporal properties on modal properties in semantics)

(ii) supervenience of the concept of time on space-time (properties of the concept of time on properties of space-time).

(i) + (ii): It is not just the construal of reality that requires modality; it is reality itself.

34

Page 35: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Supervenience

A set of properties T supervenes on a set of properties M iff no two things can differ with respect to T properties without also differing with respect to M properties.

‘There cannot be a T-difference without an M-difference.’

adapted from McLaughlin & Bennett 2005

35

Page 36: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Merger Representations for the Past

(6) Lidia went to a concert yesterday.(regular past)

(7) This is what happened yesterday. Lidia goes to a concert, meets her school friend and tells her…(past of narration)

(8) Lidia would have gone to a concert (then).(epistemic necessity past)

(9) Lidia must have gone to a concert (yesterday). (epistemic necessity past)

(10) Lidia may have gone to a concert (yesterday).(epistemic possibility past)

(11) Lidia might have gone to a concert (yesterday).(epistemic possibility past)

36

Page 37: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Fig. 3: Degree of epistemic commitment for selected expressions with past-time reference

rp, pn enp epp

1 0

Page 38: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Acc ├ p ‘it is acceptable that it is the case that p’

Grice (2001)

38

Page 39: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

ACCΔ Σ ├

‘it is acceptable to the degree Δ that Σ is true’

39

Page 40: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

amended and extended language of DRSs (Kamp and Reyle 1993)

40

Page 41: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Fig. 4: Σ for ‘Lidia went to a concert yesterday.’ (regular past)

x t Σ' [Lidia]CD (x) yesterday (t) [ACC

rp ├ Σ']WS Σ' [x go to a concert]WS

Σ

Page 42: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

(12) m3ae:r3i:I kh2ian n3iy3ai:

Mary write novel

Past-time reference in Thai (pragmatic)

42

Page 43: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

x y '

[m3ae:r3i:I]CD (x)

[n3iy3ai:]CD (y) ' [x kh2ian y]WS [ACC

rp ├ ']WS, CPIpm

Fig. 5: for example (12) ‘Mary wrote a novel’ (regular past)

43

Page 44: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Realis/irrealis future (Central Pomo): ACCΔ Σ ├

Consecutive tense (Swahili): WS + CPIpm

Capturing cross-linguistic differences

44

Page 45: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Mapping Question

qualitative differences between P, N, F

quantitative modal differences( in ACC)

45

Page 46: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

quantitative concept (ACC ) qualitative concepts (P, N, F)

(i) correlationor(ii) P, N, F as quantitative concepts

46

Page 47: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Two possible solutions:

Direct-Quantitative (DQ) & Modal-Contextualist (MC)

47

Page 48: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Example 2

First-person reference in discourse

Page 49: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

De se

Grammar/pragmatics interface in conveying the intended de se meaning

Representing de se reports in Default/Interactive Semantics

49

Page 50: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

The scenario:

(13) The person who agreed to organise the drinks is to blame.

(14) I am to blame. I completely forgot I was put in charge.

after Perry (1979: 3)

50

Page 51: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

referential semantics conflates (13) with (14):

(13) The person who agreed to organise the drinks is to blame.(14) I am to blame.

x [to-blame(x)] (kasia jaszczolt)

51

Page 52: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

? Grammar produces the self-referring function

Chierchia (1989: 28): The cognitive access to oneself is ‘systematically excluded from the interpretation of (non-pronominal) referential expressions. It is systematically present in the interpretation of overt pronouns. It is systematically and unambiguously associated with the interpretation of PRO the null subject of infinitives and gerunds. It is associated with the interpretation of long-distance reflexives (at least in some languages)’.

52

Page 53: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

? Grammar produces the self-referring function

Chierchia (1989: 28): The cognitive access to oneself is ‘systematically excluded from the interpretation of (non-pronominal) referential expressions. It is systematically present in the interpretation of overt pronouns. It is systematically and unambiguously associated with the interpretation of PRO the null subject of infinitives and gerunds. It is associated with the interpretation of long-distance reflexives (at least in some languages)’.

53

Page 54: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

The cognitive access to the self is present in the semantics (in some form or other).

54

Page 55: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

An argument from non-pronominal expressions (but not the one you expect)

x Pace Chierchia, cognitive access to oneself is not so ‘systematically’ excluded from the interpretation of non-pronominal expressions:

(16) Sammy wants a biscuit.(17) Mummy will be with you in a moment.

55

Page 56: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Honorifics: Japanese and Thai: the first-person marker has the characteristics

of both a pronoun and a noun. Pronouns and nouns are not morphologically different: like nouns, pronouns do not form a closed class; like nouns, they form the plural by adding a plural morpheme;

also e.g. Burmese, Javanese, Khmer, Korean, Malay, or Vietnamese. Typically: ‘slave’, ‘servant’, royal slave’, ‘lord’s servant’, ‘Buddha’s servant’ are used for self-reference with self-denigration;

Thai: 27 forms of first person (cf. ‘mouse’) (Siewierska 2004: 228);

Siewierska (2004) and Heine and Song (2011)

56

Page 57: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Conflation of the nominal with the pronominal:

Acoma (New Mexico), Wari’ (Brazil): no personal pronouns;

Generic one and arbitrary PRO:

(18) One can hear the wolves from the veranda.(19) It is scary PRO to hear the wolves from the veranda.

Generic one and arbitrary (non-controlled) PRO express ‘generalizing detached self-reference.’ Moltmann (2010: 440)

57

Page 58: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Counterfactuals:

‘if I were you’ conveys second-person oriented advice: (Moltmann 2010: 453)

(20) If I were you I would wait a couple of days before issuing a complaint.

cf.

(21) Wait a couple of days before issuing a complaint.

58

Page 59: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Spatial deixis:

Thai phŏm1 nii2 ( ‘one male this’);

Japanese kotira, Korean yeogi, and Vietnamese hây (‘here’) used for self-reference;

59

Page 60: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Degrees of cognitive access to oneself:

(22) I think I put this book back on the shelf.(23) I think I remember PRO putting this book back on the shelf.(24) I put this book back on the shelf.(25) I remember PRO putting this book back on the shelf.

Conscious awareness is present to different degrees rather than as a binary, all-or-nothing characteristic.

60

Page 61: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

An argument from conceptual shift

(26) ‘It1+t2 believe I should have prepared the drinks party. In a way It1 also believed that It1+t2 should have done it when It1 walked into the room. The fact is, the person appointed by the Faculty Board should have done it and as It1 later realised It1+t2 was this person.’

61

Page 62: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Wiemt1+t2, że to jat1+t2 powinnam byłat1+t2

know1SgPres that Dem INom should1SgFPast

przygotować te drinki. W pewnym sensie, prepareInf thisAccPl drinkPlMAcc In certainSgMInstr senseSgMInstr

wtedy też wiedziałamt1, ponieważ miała je

then also know1SgFPast because be-toSgFPast theyNMAcc

przygotować osoba wybranaprzez Radę Wydziału,prepareInf personSgFNom selected by BoardSgFAcc FacultySgMGen

a to jat1+t2 byłam tą osobą.

and Dem INom beSgFPast DemSgFInstr personSgFInstr

62

Page 63: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

An argument from 1st person pronoun

Kratzer (2009): pronouns can be ambiguous between a referential and a bound-variable interpretation

(27) I’m the only one around here who can take care of my children.(28) Only I admitted what I did wrong. (29) Only you can eat what you cook.

63

Page 64: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Restriction: Bound-variable uses are rare, restricted, and differ from language to language.

Tylko ja jeden przyznałem się do błędu.

only 1Sg soleSgMNom admit1SgPastM Refl to mistakeSgMGen

Tylko ja jedna tutaj potrafię zajmować się

Only 1Sg soleSgFNom here can1SgPres careInf Refl

swoimi dziećmi. ReflPronPl Instr childPl Instr

64

Page 65: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Kratzer:

bound variable pronouns are underlyingly referential pronouns whose meaning can be accounted for through context-shifting.

or:

they are unspecified and obtain the meaning through feature transmission from their binders in functional heads.

65

Page 66: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Grammatical foundation of self-reference cannot be excluded.

66

Page 67: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

An argument from PRO (but not the one you expect)

(31) Lidia wants to be a scientist.no underlying ‘I’-reference ‘I want to be a scientist.’

67

Page 68: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

(32) Alice wants what Lidia wants. underlying ‘I’-reference (self-attribution of property)

But:(33) Lidia’s mother wants what Lidia wants and that’s why she is buying her lots of scientific books.

no underlying ‘I’-reference ( propositionalism)

68

Page 69: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Summary so far

Self-referring that involves cognitive access to oneself defies any attempt to fit it squarely into the mould of a single, systematic morphosyntactic device.

69

Page 70: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Summary so far

Self-referring that involves cognitive access to oneself defies any attempt to fit it squarely into the mould of a single, systematic morphosyntactic device.

Instead, the device standardly used for this purpose in English, the first-person singular pronoun, can have other uses as well, and devices that specialise for other uses, such as common nouns and proper names, can adopt the function of reference de se.

70

Page 71: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Summary so far

Self-referring that involves cognitive access to oneself defies any attempt to fit it squarely into the mould of a single, systematic morphosyntactic device.

Instead, the device standardly used for this purpose in English, the first-person singular pronoun, can have other uses as well, and devices that specialise for other uses, such as common nouns and proper names, can adopt the function of reference de se.

This suggests that formal semantics that relies on the rigid distinction between an indexical and non-indexical expression (Kaplan 1989) needs ‘pragmaticising’ .(Jaszczolt 2012a, b; in press a, b)

71

Page 72: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Interim conclusion:

The cognitive access to oneself is

?‘systematically excluded from the interpretation of (non-pronominal) referential expressions’;

?‘systematically present in the interpretation of overt pronouns’; x ‘systematically and unambiguously associated with the

interpretation of PRO the null subject of infinitives and gerunds’;

‘associated with the interpretation of long-distance reflexives (at least in some languages)’.

72

Page 73: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

lexicon/grammar/pragmatics trade-offs

73

Page 74: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Reports de se/de re about oneself

(34) Kasia believes that she is to blame.

quasi-indexical

74

Page 75: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Default De Se

Maier’s (2009) default de se:

(i) syntactic processing results in a de dicto reading;

(ii) presuppositions added (‘equality first’), coreference is established as a default link;

(iii) if recognize (x,x), then no coreference and search continues.

Default Semantics (Jaszczolt 2005, 2010, forthcoming a, b)

75

Page 76: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

A disclaimer: non-coreferential readings

Kasiax believes that shex is to blame.

a strong tendency for coreference, van der Sandt’s (1992) (presupposition as anaphora)

grammar delivers contextualist default contents

76

Page 77: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Towards a (pragmatic) solution

• self-ascription (linguistic semantic)• self-reference (linguistic pragmatic)• self-attribution (epistemic)• self-awareness (cognitive)

77

Page 78: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

?Grammar conveys self-awareness

Allocation of self-awareness to grammar is a matter of an agreement as to what we want the grammar to do: capture strong tendencies or capture patterns that underdetermine meaning.

minimalist or contextualist account

78

Page 79: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Proposal: We should not ‘split’ the power of grammar into that pertaining to the system and that pertaining to how grammar functions in utterance processing.

De se belief ascription provides strong support for a contextualist, but grammar-triggered construal

79

Page 80: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

De Se in Default SemanticsJaszczolt, forthcoming a, b

Bel (x,’)

the individual x has the cognitive state represented as an embedded representation ’

80

Page 81: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

(i) CD default status of de re

(ii) coreference x=y

(iii) de se (= from CD, WS)

81

Page 82: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

?/In a sense, It1 believed It1+t2 was to blame. It1 just didn’t know that the person It1 referred to was It1+t2.

82

Page 83: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Merger representation:

• coreference: condition [y=x]WS

• the lack of self-awareness: differentiation of indexing on x and y (CD vs CPI) and the non-default use of the belief operator (CPI)

83

Page 84: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

‘I believed, in a sense, I was to blame.’ (marked reading)

84

x y ’

[Kasia]CD (x)

[Kasia]CPI (y) [y=x]WS [[x]CD [believe]CPI’]WS

’: [[y]CPI isto blame]WS

Page 85: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

‘Kasia believes she is to blame.’ (default reading)

85

x y ’

[Kasia]CD (x) [Kasia]CD (y) [y=x]WS,CD [[x]CD [believes]CD’]WS

’: [[y]CD is to blame]WS

Page 86: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Conclusions

Merger representations of Interactive Semantics can represent lexicon/grammar/pragmatics trade-offs in expressing different concepts (e.g. temporal reference, reference to objects) in discourse.

Compositionality is best understood as pragmatic compositionality, sought at the level of Σs rather than WS.

Cross-linguistic differences in expressing time can be explained by a universal semantics of temporality in terms of the underlying concept of epistemic modality ACCΔ Σ .├

86

Page 87: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Conclusions

There is substantial cross-linguistic evidence that there is no reliable representation of self-awareness in the grammar or the lexicon. Instead, there is a lexicon/grammar/pragmatics trade-off, allowing for various degrees of salience of communicating cognitive access to oneself.

Self-awareness can be construed as conveyed by the grammar only when grammar is allowed to produce cancellable interpretations. This is best achieved on a contextualist account such as Default/Interactive Semantics.

When compositionality is shifted to the level of the merger of information (), as in DS/IS, the differences between syntactic and pragmatic solutions to de se are rendered unimportant. 87

Page 88: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

‘Holistic guesswork’?

‘Is semantic interpretation a matter of holistic guesswork (like the interpretation of kicks under the table), rather than an algorithmic, grammar-driven process as formal semanticists have claimed?’

Recanati (2012: 148)

88

Page 89: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

radical contextualism

holistic (interactive semantics)compositional (pragmatic compositionality)?algorithmic (merger representation)

Page 90: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

Select References• Asher, N. and A. Lascarides 2003. Logics of Conversation. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.• Borg, E. 2012. Pursuing Meaning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.• Carruthers, P. 2011. The Opacity of Mind: An Integrative Theory of Self-Knowledge.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.• Chierchia, G. 1989. ‘Anaphora and attitudes de se’. In: R. Bartsch, J. van Benthem

and B. van Emde Boas (eds). Semantics and Contextual Expression. Dordrecht: Foris. 1-31.

• Chierchia, G. 2004. ‘Scalar implicatures, polarity phenomena, and the syntax/pragmatics interface’. In: A. Belletti (ed.). Structures and Beyond: The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, vol. 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 39-103.

• Crimmins, M. and J. Perry. 1989. ‘The prince and the phone booth: Reporting puzzling beliefs’. Journal of Philosophy 86. 685-711.

• Fodor, J. A. 2008. LOT 2: The Language of Thought Revisited. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

• Grice, P. 2001. Aspects of Reason. Ed. by R. Warner. Oxford: Clarendon Press.• Heine, B. and K.-A. Song. 2011. On the grammaticalisation of personal pronouns.

Journal of Linguistics 47: 587-630.• Higginbotham, J. 2003. Remembering, imagining, and the first person. In: A.

Barber (ed.). Epistemology of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 496-533.

90

Page 91: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

• Higginbotham, J. 2010. ‘On words and thoughts about oneself’. In: F. Recanati, I. Stojanovic, and N. Villanueva (eds). Context-Dependence, Perspective, and Relativity. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 253-282.

• Huang, Y. 2000. Anaphora: A Cross-Linguistic Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Jaszczolt, K. M. 2005. Default Semantics: Foundations of a Compositional Theory of Acts of Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Jaszczolt, K. M. 2006. ‘Defaults in semantics and pragmatics’. In: E. N. Zalta (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html • Jaszczolt, K. M. 2009. Representing Time: An Essay on Temporality as Modality.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.• Jaszczolt, K. M. 2010. ‘Default Semantics’. In: B. Heine and H. Narrog (eds). The

Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Analysis . Oxford: Oxford University Press. 215-246.• Jaszczolt, K. M. and J. Srioutai 2011. ‘Communicating about the past through

modality in English and Thai’ . In: A. Patard & F. Brisard (eds). Cognitive Approaches to Tense, Aspect and Epistemic Modality. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. 249-278.

• Jaszczolt, K. M. 2012a. ' 'Pragmaticising' Kaplan: Flexible inferential bases and fluid characters'. Australian Journal of Linguistics 32. 209-237.

91

Page 92: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

• Jaszczolt, K. M. 2012b. ‘Propositional attitude reports: Pragmatic aspects’. In: K. Alan and K. M. Jaszczolt (eds). The Cambridge Handbook of Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 305-327.

• Jaszczolt, K. M. 2012c. ‘Cross-linguistic differences in expressing time and universal principles of utterance interpretation’. In: L. Filipović & K. M. Jaszczolt (eds). Space and Time in Languages and Cultures: Linguistic Diversity. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. 95-121.

• Jaszczolt, K. M. in press a. 'First-person reference in discourse: Aims and strategies'. Intercultural Pragmatics Special Issue 'Focus on the Speaker'.

• Jaszczolt, K. M. in press b. 'Contextualism and minimalism on de se belief ascription'. In: A. Capone and N. Feit (eds). Attitudes De Se: Linguistics, Epistemology, Metaphysics. Stanford: CSLI Publications.

• Jaszczolt, K. M. in press c. ‘Temporality and epistemic commitment: An unresolved question’. In: K. Jaszczolt & L. de Saussure (eds). Time: Language, Cognition, and Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Jaszczolt, K. M. in progress. Interactive Semantics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.• Kamp, H. and U. Reyle. 1993. From Discourse to Logic: Introduction to Modeltheoretic Semantics

of Natural Language, Formal Logic and Discourse Representation Theory. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Page 93: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

• Kaplan, D. 1989. ‘Demonstratives’. In: J. Almog, J. Perry, and H. Wettstein (eds). Themes from Kaplan. New York: Oxford University Press. 481-563.

• Kratzer, A. 2009. ‘Making a pronoun: Fake indexicals and windows into the properties of pronouns’. Linguistic Inquiry 40. 187-237. Lewis, D. 1979. ‘Attitudes de dicto and de se’. Philosophical Review 88. 513-543.

• Maier, E. 2009. ‘Presupposing acquaintance: A unified semantics for de dicto, de re and de se belief reports’. Linguistics and Philosophy 32. 429-474.

• McLaughlin, B. and K. Bennett. 2005. ‘Supervenience’. In: E. Zalta (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html

• Moltmann, F. 2010. ‘Generalizing detached self-reference and the semantics of generic one.’ Mind and Language 25. 440-473.

• Nicolle, S. and B. Clark. 1999. ‘Experimental pragmatics and what is said: A response to Gibbs and Moise’. Cognition 69. 337-54.

• Percus, O. and U. Sauerland. 2003. ‘On the LFs of attitude reports’. In: M. Weisgerber (ed.). Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 7. Konstanz: Universität Konstanz. 228-242.

• Perry, J. 1979. ‘The problem of the essential indexical’. Noûs 13. 3-21.• Perry, J. 2001. Reference and Reflexivity. Stanford: CSLI Publications.

93

Page 94: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

• Perry J. 2012. ‘Thinking about the self’. In: J. Liu and J. Perry (eds). Consciousness and the Self: New Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 76-100.

• Pitts, A. 2005. ‘Assessing the evidence for intuitions about what is said’. M.Phil. thesis, University of Cambridge.

• Recanati, F. 2004. Literal Meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.• Recanati, F. 2005. ‘Literalism and contextualism: Some varieties’. In: G. Preyer &

G. Peter (eds). Contextualism in Philosophy: Knowledge, Meaning, and Truth. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 171-196.

• Recanati, F. 2010. Truth-Conditional Pragmatics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.• Recanati, F. 2012. ‘Contextualism: Some varieties’. In: In: K. Allan and K. M.

Jaszczolt (eds). The Cambridge Handbook of Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 135-149.

• van der Sandt, R. A. 1992. ‘Presupposition projection as anaphora resolution’. Journal of Semantics 9. 333-377.

• Schlenker, P. 2003. ‘A plea for monsters’. Linguistics and Philosophy 26. 29-120.• Schlenker, P. in press. ‘Indexicality and de se reports’. In: K. von Heusinger, P.

Portner and C. Maienborn (eds). Semantics: An International Handbook of Natural Language Meaning. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

94

Page 95: Interactive Semantics and Pragmatic Compositionality Kasia  M. Jaszczolt University of Cambridge

• Schneider, A. 2009. Understanding Primary Meaning: A Study with Reference to Requests in Russian and British English. PhD dissertation, University of Cambridge.

• Siewierska, A. 2004. Person. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.• Srioutai, J. 2004. ‘The Thai c1a: A marker of tense or modality?’ In: E. Daskalaki et.

al. (eds). Second CamLing Proceedings. University of Cambridge. 273-80.• Srioutai, J. 2006. Time Conceptualization in Thai with Special Reference to d1ay1

II, kh3oe:y, k1aml3ang, y3u:I and c1a. PhD thesis. University of Cambridge.

• Stanley, J. 2002. ‘Making it articulated’. Mind and Language 17. 149-168. • Stanley, J. & Z. G. Szabó 2000. On quantifier domain restriction. Mind and

Language 15. 219-261.• Szabó, Z. G. 2000. ‘Compositionality as supervenience’. Linguistics and Philosophy

23. 475-505.


Recommended