Representing referents of partitioning and non-partitioning plural expressions

Berry ClausHumboldt-Universität zu Berlin / Universität Tübing en

3rd Workshop on Semantic Processing, Logic, and Cogn ition Tübingen July 2011

Plural expressions

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The children of Pluralis Nursery are happy. All of them will be attending the circus today. Most of the children have never been to a circus.

Two boys are chatting. The two of them are talking about football. Both don’t play very well but like to watch matches on TV.

How are the referents of plural expressions mentally represented?

Plural: mental representation?

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Mental representation of plural expressions

Two possibilitiesfine-grainedcoarse

Fine-grained: atomic tokens

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The entities of the set referred to by a plural expression are mentally kept apart and are represented by a number of distinct tokens � atomic-tokens representation

The four sisters …

4 atomic tokens

Coarse: assemblage

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The entities of the set referred to by a plural expression are conceived as an integrated whole and are represented by one token standing for the entire assemblage� assemblage representation

The four sisters …

1 assemblage

atomic tokens vs. assemblage

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The four sisters present a wedding gift.

Sentence predicateapplies to each atomicindividual ���� 4 gifts

Sentence predicate appliesto the assemblage as a whole ���� 1 gift

atomic tokens or assemblage

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Neither of the two possibilities, atomic tokens or assemblage , may be generally true

Grain size of representation, fine-grained or coarse, maydepend on type of plural expression

Grain size and type of plural

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“partitioning plural expressions” , e.g., most of the children, both of the boys, all of the students, most children, both� atomic-tokens representation

“non-partitioning plural expressions” , e.g., the boys, they, Viktor and Rolf, the three stooges� assemblage representation

Evidence: how many gifts?

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non-partitioning plural expressionse.g., They bought five bars of chocolate

� Responses indicate a strong preference for assemblage interpretation (e.g, five chocolate bars)

Kaup, Kelter, & Habel (2002)Participants were presented with sentences with either a non-partitioning (sie [they] referring to two people) or a partitioning plural pronoun (beide [both]) and had to answer “how many” questions, e.g., How many chocolate bars were bought?

partitioning plural expressionse.g., Both bought five bars of chocolate

� Less clear-cut results, but preference for atomic-token interpretation (e.g, ten chocolate bars)

Evidence: two gifts or just one?

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Reading-time studyconducted together with Stephanie Kelter

� Same preferences when not being asked to say how many but just being asked to read?

Experimental approach

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Participants read narratives (in German), sentence by sentence (self-paced), from a computer screen

In each experimental narrative, two characters were intro-duced separately, e.g. the clown Pippo and the clown Ludovico

Each experimental narrative contained a critical sentence pair: manipulation sentence and test sentence

Experimental approach (cont.)

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2 x 2 versions of each experimental narrative

two versions of the manipulation sentencenon-partitioning or partitioninge.g.,Sie / Beide tragen einen großen Regenschirm.

They / Both carry a large umbrella.

two versions of the test sentence , reference to internal argument of predicate of manipulation sentence either in singular or in plural form e.g.,Der Regenschirm ist / Die Regenschirme sind

zerfleddert.The umbrella is / The umbrellas are tattered.

Prediction

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���� 1 umbrella ���� 2 umbrellas

They carry a large umbrella. Both carry a large umbrella.

RT[Plural] > RT[Singular] RT[Singular] > RT[Plural]

Reading times (RT) for test sentenceThe umbrella is / The umbrellas are tattered.

interaction: type of plural expression x number

Result: they vs. both

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-160

-120

-80

-40

0

40

sg pl sg pl

non-partitioningsie [they]

partitioningbeide [both]

Residual reading times for the test sentence(regression on no. of syllables)

Further experiments

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non-partitioning partitioning

Die N Beide NThe N (e.g., The clowns) Both N (e.g., Both clowns)

Die zwei N Beide NThe two N (e.g., The two clowns) Both N (e.g., Both clowns)

Die beiden Beide‘The both’ BothThe two/both of them

Further experiments: results

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interaction: type of plural expression x number

non-partitioning partitioning(Die N [The N], Die zwei N [The two N], (Beide N [Both N], Beide [Both])Die beiden [The both of them])

RT[Plural] > RT[Singular] RT[Singular] > RT[Plural]

effect of number: weaker with partitioning expressions

Floating beide

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Contrasting non-partitioning with non-partitioning + floating beide

non-partitioning + floating beide

Die zwei N Die zwei N … beideThe two N The two N bothDie zwei Clowns tragen einen Die zwei Clowns tragen beide einenRegenschirm. Regenschirm.The two clowns carry an umbrella. The two clowns both carry an umbrella.

Name und Name Name und Name … beidename and name name and name bothPippo und Ludovico trageneinen Regenschirm.Pippo and Ludovico carry an umbrella.

Pippo und Ludovico tragen beideeinen Regenschirm.Pippo and Ludovico both carry an umbrella.

Floating beide: results

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no interaction

non-partitioning + floating beide(Die zwei N [The two N], (Die zwei N … beide [The two N both], Name und Name [name and name]) Name und Name … beide [name and

name both])

RT[Plural] > RT[Singular] RT[Plural] > RT[Singular]

effect of number: weaker in +floating-beide condition

Summary

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interpretation of sentence predicate depends on type of plural expression

non-partitioning: applying-to-assemblage interpretation

partitioning: applying-to-each-individual interpretation

consistent with view that non-partitioning expressions are understood as denoting an assemblage, whereas partitioning expressions are understood as denoting distinct individuals

Weaker effect for partitioning?

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Why weaker effect of number with partitioning expressions compared with non-partitioning expressions?

test sentence: surface match vs. mismatch / deleting vs. inserting in inconsistent versions (2 – 1 vs. 1 + 1 umbrellas)

manipulation sentence: applying-to-each-individual inter-pretation + separate-actions-on-common-object construal

bias for assemblage interpretation (+ shallow processing and/or being used to misuse of beide [e.g., Beide nickten sichzu; Beide sind gleichaltrig (Both nodded at each other, Both are the same age)])

bias (+ shallow processing) could also explain the assemblage interpretation with floating beide

but: post-verbal position of floating beide could also be critical

More than two?

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atomic-tokens representations with more than two?

number of tokens may often not correspond to the number of individuals to which a plural expression refers

number of individuals may be too large (maybe > 4 is already too much)

number of individuals may not be specified

Back to two (vs. one)

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Der Rettungsschwimmer hat heute ein Kind zweimalgerettet.Today, the lifeguard has rescued a child twice .

Der Rettungsschwimmer hat heute zweimal ein Kindgerettet.Today, the lifeguard has twice rescued a child .

a child twice/twice a child: result

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Der Rettungsschwimmer hat heute ein Kind zweimal gerettet.Today, the lifeguard has rescued a child twice.

Der Rettungsschwimmer hat heute zweimal ein Kind gerettet.Today, the lifeguard has twice rescued a child.

Experiment : test sentence � singular vs. pluralDas Kind ist / Die Kinder sind glücklicherweise wohlauf.Luckily, the child is / the children are in good health.

Result :RT[Plural] > RT[Singular]for both positions of zweimal [twice]

? Der Großvater hat für beide Kinder einen Schlitten mitgebracht.For both children, the grandfather brought a sleigh.

? Der Großvater hat einen Schlitten für beide Kinder mitgebracht.The grandfather brought a sleigh for both children.

That’s it

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Thanks to

Phil Büttner, Norma Köppe, Julia Lengyel, Matthias Lickfett, Guido Liebe, Alexander Richter, and Alexander Specht

for their assistance in collecting the data

and to you for your attention and intuitions