Presupposition Accommodation by Discourse Initial Evidential Marker Mo

Presupposition Accommodation by Discourse

Initial Evidential Marker MoSumiyo Nishiguchi

Stony Brook [email protected]

International Conference on Revisiting Japanese Modality

June 25, 2006

University of London, SOAS

mailto:[email protected]

June 24, 2006 International Conference on Revisiting Japanese Modality, University of London SOAS

Sumiyo Nishiguchi: Presupposition Accommodation by Discourse Initial Evidential Marker Mo

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Abstract

1. A focus marker mo àlso/even’can associate with the whole proposition (Numata 2000) and appear discourse initially.

2. Mo triggers a set of stative propositions similar to the asserted one as presuppositions (cf. Shudo 　 2002).The hearer accommodates the informative presuppositions.



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3. This kind of mo is an evidential marker.4. Mo is a modal morpheme of evidentiality

as well as speaker's sentiments.5. Mo takes unaccusative predicates.



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6. Mo is a determiner which takes presupposition in the restrictor and the unaccusative predicates in the nuclear scope.

7. Mo-p updates the information state.8. The illocutionary force of mo-p is not only

to report (cf. Faller 2002) but to prompt actions.



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1. Mo



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Mo1

Mo àlso/even’ is a particle attached to noun phrases in Japanese.

Mo àlso/even’ is a focus marker or a quantifier-like-element (Kuroda1969).

Mo1 àlso’(1) Ken-mo ki-ta.

Ken-also come-PAST`Ken came, too'



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Mo2

Mo obtains the meaning of èven' when the NP is focused (Watanabe 2004).

Mo2 èven’

(2) [Ken]F-mo ki-ta.Ken-also come-PAST`Ken came, too'



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The èven' mo forms NPIs with indeterminates (wh-words) (Kuroda 1965; Watanabe 2004; cf. Lahiri 1998):

(3) Dare-mo ko-nai. who-even come-NEG`Nobody comes'



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Mo with minimum quantity serves as a minimizer (Kato 1985):

(4) Hito-ri-mo ko-nai. 1-CL-even come-NEG `Nobody comes'



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Japanese grammarians have considered mo polysemous (Sadanobu 1997): i) also; ii) even; and, iii) attenuation(Numata 1986) or admiration (Teramura 1991).



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Mo3

The meaning of the third mo is distinct from the other two, àlso’ and èven’.

Mo can associate with the whole proposition (Numata 1986, Numata 2000).



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Wide Scope and Sentence Focus(5) Yo-mo hukete-ki-ta.

night-also pass-come-PAST Mo neru-to shi-yo.already sleep-COMP do-will

Ìt’s late. I will go to bed'

(5)’ LF: mo [yo-<mo> huke-ta]



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No Antecedent This kind of mo does not need any

antecedent, such as ``x has become late, and the night also grew late.''



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Sentence-Focus Structure (Lambrecht 2002)

(6) a. Sentence: My CAR broke down. b. Presupposition: ___ c. Assertion: `speaker’s car broke down’

d. Focus domain: `speaker’s car broke down’ e. Focus: S

(Lambrecht 2002: 233)

June 24, 2006 InternationJune 24, 2006 International Conference on Revisitinal Conference on Revisiting Japanese Modality, Univg Japanese Modality, University of London SOASersity of London SOAS

Sumiyo Nishiguchi: Presupposition AccoSumiyo Nishiguchi: Presupposition Accommodation by Discourse Initial Evidential mmodation by Discourse Initial Evidential Marker MoMarker Mo

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Moreover, Discourse InitialMoreover, Discourse Initial

This sentence focus mo is used discourse initially:(7) Haru-mo takenawa-ni nari-mashi-ta

spring-also peak-GOAL become-HON-PAST

`The spring has reached its peak'(Numata2000: 172)



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What is the meaning of mo? Mo3 has its distinct meaning since replacing mo3

with ga (nominative case) or wa (topic marker) changes the meaning.

(8)a. Haru-mo takenawa-ni nari-mashi-taspring-also peak-GOAL become-HON-PAST

b. Haru-ga takenawa-ni nari-mashi-ta. spring-NOM peak-LOC become-HON-PAST

C. Haru-wa takenawa-ni nari-mashi-ta. spring-TOP peak-LOC become-HON-PAST

`The spring has reached its peak'



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Observations Mo triggers presuppositions (section 2) Mo expresses sentimentality (section 3)



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2. Presupposition Accommodation by

Mo



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Numata argues that (7) either: i) evokes other events relevantto change of seasons; or,ii) pretends the existence ofantecedents in order to give rise to attenuating effect

(Numata1986, Numata2000)



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What does mo presuppose? The speaker presupposes prior situations

e.g., cherry blossoms are blooming, the leaves became green, and the weather became warmer.

June 24, 2006 International June 24, 2006 International Conference on Revisiting JaConference on Revisiting Japanese Modality, Universitypanese Modality, University of London SOAS of London SOAS

Sumiyo Nishiguchi: Presupposition AccSumiyo Nishiguchi: Presupposition Accommodation by Discourse Initial Evidenommodation by Discourse Initial Evidential Marker Motial Marker Mo

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(9) Yo-mo fukete-ki-ta. Mo neru-to shi-yo. night-also pass-ASP-PAST already sleep-COMP do-will




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(10) Soto-mo hiete-ki-ta.outside-also cold-ASP-PAST

Ìt has become cold outside'



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(11) Ko-no saifu-mo furuku-nat-ta. this-GEN wallet-also old-become-PAST

`This wallet has become old’



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(12) Tabi-mo owari-ni chikazuite-ki-ta. trip-also end-to approach-ASP-PAST `The trip is nearing the end‘

(13) Omae-mo aho-ya-na.you-also silly-be-EXC`You are silly, I should say'



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(14) Yo-mo sue-da.world-also finale-be`This is the end of the world’



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Mo is a presupposition trigger

(15) Mo {Yo-ga fuke-ta ìt’s late’} ={It is dark, It is past midnight, The neighbors turned off their lights}

(16) Mo {Haru-ga takenawa-ni natta `spring reached its peak'} = {Cherry blossoms are blooming, It became warmer, The daylight has become longer,...}



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(17) Mo {ko-no saifu-ga huruku-nat-ta}={It has been long since I got this, the wallet looks worn and torn,…}

(18) Mo {tabi-ga owari-ni chikazui-ta}={the train is approaching the destinati

on, …}



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Presuppositions of Mo When uttering mo-p discourse initially:- Speaker acts as if presupposed preceding

events are part of the common ground (cf. Stalnaker 1973, 1974)

- Speaker presupposes that the auditor will be able to infer that it is presupposed.



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Presupposition Accommodation Lewis (1979)

If a time t something is said that requires presupposition P to be acceptable, and if P is not presupposed just before t, ceteris paribus and within certain limits- presupposition P comes into existence at t.



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Mo-p triggers presupposition that are propositions similar to p.

Eg.,Haru-mo takenawa-ni narimasita `Spring has reached its peak’

presupposesCherry blossoms are blooming, it b

ecame warmer,…



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What does mo quantify over? - Mo quantifies over unspecified events.The presuppositions might differ between the hearer and the speaker.Japanese: cherry blossoms Americans: longer daytime - Mo quantifies over evidences.- Mo quantifies over the near and similar possible worlds.



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Comparative similarity (Lewis 1973)

SIMw is a function from propositions to propositions which maps each p to the set of p-worlds similar to w.

(19) SIMw p={w’∊p | w’is similar to w no less than any other world in p}

(20) ≤⊆W×W, for w W, ∊u ≤w v iff u is more similar to or close to w than v

(21) mo-p(w)=1 iff u p, ∊ v W s.t. ∊ u ≤w v & q(v)=1



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The addressee supplements the presupposed propositions into his knowledge (presupposition accommodation)



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The hearer has not been (at least fully) aware of the presupposed events until the speaker utters mo-p.

When hearing p, the addressee recognizes the evidence that the bag is torn or the spring has reached its peak.



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Informative Presuppositions (Stalnaker 1988)

Normally, presuppositions are not informative.

However, the presuppositions of mo-p are informative.

Mo-p updates the common ground. The presuppositions of mo-p are added to the hearer’s knowledge.



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Summary on Section 2: Presupposition Accommodation

Mo triggers unspecified presuppositions similar to the asserted proposition

The hearer infers the likely resuppositions.



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3. Mo is an evidential marker



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Mo is an Evidential Marker Building on Numata's insight, I claim that t

his kind of mo is an evidential marker. (7) is an utterance when speaker and

hearer have perceived evidence that spring has reached its peak. [visual]

June 24, 2006 InternationJune 24, 2006 International Conference on Revisitinal Conference on Revisiting Japanese Modality, Univg Japanese Modality, University of London SOASersity of London SOAS

Sumiyo Nishiguchi: Presupposition AccoSumiyo Nishiguchi: Presupposition Accommodation by Discourse Initial Evidential mmodation by Discourse Initial Evidential Marker MoMarker Mo

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(7) Haru-mo takenawa-ni nari-mashi-taspring-also peak-GOAL become-HON-PAST

`The spring has reached its peak'(Numata2000: 172)



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What is evidentiality? Evidentiality: the indication of speaker’s source o

f information A true evidential encodes a type of information Scales:

i)Visual>auditory>other sensory>inference from results>reasoningii) Direct>secondhand>thirdhand>hearsay/folklore

(Faller 2002)



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(9) Yo-mo fukete-ki-ta. Mo neru-to shi-yo. night-also pass-ASP-PAST already sleep-COMP do-will




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(9) would be uttered after the speaker had a look at a clock. [direct visual evidence]

(9) and (7) are reports based on direct evidence, aimed to draw hearer's attention to time or a season.



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(11) Ko-no saifu-mo huruku-nat-ta. this-GEN wallet-also old-become-PAST

`This wallet has become old’

[visual direct evidence]



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(12) Tabi-mo owari-ni chikazuite-ki-ta.trip-mo end-to approach-ASP-PAST `The trip is nearing the end’[direct nonvisual evidence]

(13) Omae-mo aho-ya-na.you-mo silly-be-EXC`You are silly, I should say‘[direct inferential evidence]



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Then, mo is an evidential marker ofdirect, mostly visual evidences.



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Evidential markers in Japanese Aoki (1986)

so: hearsaygar: hearsay and inferential formrashi: circumstantial evidence or

gathered through sources other than one’s own senses



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Epistemic must Speaker believes must p based on present

ly available evidence(cf. Coates 1983, Woisetschlaeger 1

985, on epistemic must)(20) believe(speaker, must p)



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Conversational Backgrounds

(21) Modal base f (in view of the direct evidences): must p



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4. Sentimentality



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Sentimental/Bouletic Modality

Not only being evidential, mo is an expression of sentimental modality.

While (7) demonstrates speaker's uplifted sentiments, most of the evidential mo sentences express speaker's negative emotion.



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(11) Ko-no saifu-mo huruku-nat-ta. this-GEN wallet-also old-become-PAST

`This wallet has become old’ [sentiments]

(9) Soto-mo hiete-ki-ta.outside-mo cold-ASP-PAST

Ìt has become cold outside’

[negative]



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(12) Tabi-mo owari-ni chikazuite-ki-ta. trip-mo end-to approach-ASP-PAST `The trip is nearing the end’

[sentiments, negative](13) Omae-mo aho-ya-na.

you-mo silly-be-EXC`You are silly, I should say’

[sentiments]



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Ordering source (cf. Kratzer1991)(22)Ordering source g (in view of what I wan

t): For all u, w, w’ W, for any g(u) P(W): ∊ ⊆w≤g(u)w’ iff

{p: p g(u) & w’ p} {p:p g(u) and w ∊ ∊ ⊆ ∊ ∊p}



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(23) ||mo-φ||(w) = 1 iff for all u ∩g(w) there is a v ∩g(w) such ∊ ∊that v≤g(w)u and for all z ∩g(w) : if z≤∊ g(w)v, then z ||∊ φ||.



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(24)

φ

g: ordering source – bouletic

MODAL f: modal base – evidential modal

(cf. Kratzer 1991; von Fintel and Iatridou 2005)



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5. Unaccusativity



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Unaccusativity All predicates with wide scope mo are unaccusative.

fukeru `become late’takenawa-ni naru `reach its peak’furuku naru `become old’owari-ni chikazuku `near the end’hiete kuru `become cold’aho-da `be silly’



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No passive morpheme(25) *Yo-ni fuke-rare-ta.

night-DAT grow late-PASS-PAST

(26) *Kono-kaban-ni furuku-nar-are-ta.this-bag-DAT old-become-PASS-PAST

(27) *Tabi-ni owari-ni chikazuk-are-ta.trip-DAT end-LOC near-PASS-PAST



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6. Generalized Quantifier



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Restrictive Quantification Bouletic and evidential modal is the lexical

meaning of mo. Wide scope mo functions as a determiner t

aking implicit presupposition in therestrictor and overt stative or resultative unaccusative predicates in the nuclear scope.

(cf. Kratzer 1991; Berman 1991; von Fintel 1994)



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(28) TP

Mo P VP

Mo (MODALbouletic,evidential) presupposition



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(29) TP moP TP moP T’mo presupposition yo <mo> VP T <yo> huke ta



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Mo takes the propositions similar to p in the restrictor.

Mo takes the set of possible worlds in which the presuppositions are true as a restrictor.

(30)Mo (λw. SIMw(p))(λw. p(w))

=1 if there is w such that SIMw(p)=1

else 0.



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Kuroda (1986) Mo is in COMP in Deep Structure:(31) DS: Hanako-ga odor-ta shi mo

Hanako-NOM dance-PAST and also

Masao-ga odor-ta moMasao-NOM dance-PAST also

SS: Hanako-mo odot-ta-shi Hanako-also dance-PAST and

Masao-mo odot-ta.Masao-also dance-also do-PAST`Hanako danced and Masao danced, too’



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7. CCP and

Information Updates



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Context Change Potential (development from Heim 1992)

(32) c+mo-p={(w,g) in c | p and Believe(s+h,must(Know(s+h,p))) is true at (w,g)} if there is q which is similar to, but not equal to p which is true in c; otherwise, undefined,

where s is the speaker and h the hearer, g is the assignment function and for M=Believe or Know, M(a+b,p) is true at (w,g) iff for all u, w(RM,a U RM,b)* u implies that p is true at (u,g) ((Rx U Ry) is the union of Rx and Ry, and (Rx)* is the reflexive-transitive closure of Rx



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Information Update Utterances with mo draws the hearer's attention

to the fact which the hearer had not been so aware of, e.g., it’s late, or the spring reached its peak,

On the other hand, the sentence without mo is a statement of the fact and does not convey any new information. p resides within the common knowledge between the speaker and the hearer (cf. Gronedijk and Stokhof 1991; Veltman 1996).



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Mo-p adds Ì believe that we must know that p’

(33) BELIEVE MUST KNOW (speaker and hearer, p)



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8. Illocutionary Force



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Speech Act Function of Mo

Faller 2006: The illocutionary force of Cusco Quechua reportative evidentials is report

The speech act functions of mo is to draw attention of the hearer to the evidenced fact that becomes a reason for the following sentence and prompt actions.



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(34) Kane-mo morae-nakat-ta-shi kaer-o. money-also receive-NEG-PAST-so return-will

`Having been given no money, let us go home’

(35) Yo-mo huke-ta-kara ohiraki-ni shi-yo.night-also pass-PAST-so finish-GOAL do-let’

sÌt’s late. Let’s wrap up a party’



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(33) REPORT(Π1 ) Λ BECAUSE(Π1, Π2)

In the framework of SDRT (Asher and Lascarides 2003)



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Conclusion

Mo is an evidence invoking markerThe hearer evokes evidence for p and believes that p is necessarily

true

Mo sentences are subjective. Speaker feelings, often negative ones, are expressed.



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Speaker Modality incorporated into mo is a determiner which takes implicit presuppositions in the restrictor and the unaccusative VPs in the nuclear scope



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Wide scope taking mo triggers similar propositions to p as presuppositionsThe presuppositions are informative.The hearer infers the missing presuppositions from extra-linguistic contexts, thus, accommodates presuppositions



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Mo-p updates common groundThe illocutionary force of mo-p is to give reasons for action.

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Presupposition Accommodation by Discourse Initial Evidential Marker Mo

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