Sadhwi Srinivas
Biographic Data
| ID | 7215210 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sadhwi Srinivas |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sadhwi |
| FAMILY NAME | Srinivas |
| SIGNATURE | SRINIVAS S |
| AFFILIATIONS | William & Mary |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 7 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Number-based effects on the goodness of English ‘the’
The ability to uniquely identify the intended referent in a given context is often considered a categorical factor licensing English 'the.' However, Reed (2016, 2020) compiles a wide range of non-unique uses of the definite article and suggests that uniqueness is just one among several contextual factors that plays a role. In particular, she suggests `'the' may be used even when the lexical content does not disambiguate in favor of a uniquely ide…
Pattern deduction in linguistically attested and unattested grammars
A popular hypothesis in linguistics posits that language learners are biologically predisposed to learn structures attested in human language – for example, a hierarchically nested phrase structure, while eschewing hypotheses for linguistically unattested structures – for example, one consisting of non-consecutive, linearly alternating “constituents”. The current study explores the robustness of such a predisposition within a controlled artificia…
The does not encode an anaphoric index
Two types of semantic theories concerning referring uses of the English definite article the have historically held sway: (i) uniqueness theories, where the is taken to uniquely describe a referent within some contextually restricted domain, and (ii) familiarity theories, where the picks out a previously mentioned referent. Here, we focus on an observation made in Reed (2024) on the anaphoric potential of the definite article in kind-denoting con…
A UG-based exploration of children’s use of the
English-learning-children have been shown to use “the” in a non-adult-like manner, to refer not only to discourse-old referents but also to discourse-new ones in many contexts. Here, we explore a novel semantic hypothesis for this acquisition observation, whereby the distribution of “the” in children’s speech is a result of their semantic representation for this item being identical to bare nominals in so-called article-less languages. This hypot…
Does D Select the CP in Light Verb Constructions? A Reply to Hankamer and Mikkelsen 2021
In this response to Hankamer and Mikkelsen (H&M) 2021, we clarify the meaning of the definite article the in out-of-the-blue occurrences of English light verb constructions such as make the claim. While H&M view these as purely uniqueness-requiring determiners (as opposed to purely anaphoric ones in non−light verb constructions), we classify them as instances of Carlsonian weak definites (e.g., Carlson et al. 2006), which presuppose neither uniqu…
Semantic Incorporation in English Singular Indefinites
In this paper, we introduce a class of exceptionally narrow-scoping singular indefinites in English (e.g., “Sam drove a car for several years before switching to a truck”), which pattern more closely with what have been termed “weak definites” in the literature (e.g., Poesio, 1994; Carlson et al., 2006) than with regular indefinites. While the existence of such exceptional “weak” indefinites has been previously anticipated by Klein et al. (2013),…
Descriptive As Ifs
No prominent works on this page.
Semantic Incorporation in English Singular Indefinites
In this paper, we introduce a class of exceptionally narrow-scoping singular indefinites in English (e.g., “Sam drove a car for several years before switching to a truck”), which pattern more closely with what have been termed “weak definites” in the literature (e.g., Poesio, 1994; Carlson et al., 2006) than with regular indefinites. While the existence of such exceptional “weak” indefinites has been previously anticipated by Klein et al. (2013),…
Descriptive As Ifs
The does not encode an anaphoric index
Two types of semantic theories concerning referring uses of the English definite article the have historically held sway: (i) uniqueness theories, where the is taken to uniquely describe a referent within some contextually restricted domain, and (ii) familiarity theories, where the picks out a previously mentioned referent. Here, we focus on an observation made in Reed (2024) on the anaphoric potential of the definite article in kind-denoting con…
A UG-based exploration of children’s use of the
English-learning-children have been shown to use “the” in a non-adult-like manner, to refer not only to discourse-old referents but also to discourse-new ones in many contexts. Here, we explore a novel semantic hypothesis for this acquisition observation, whereby the distribution of “the” in children’s speech is a result of their semantic representation for this item being identical to bare nominals in so-called article-less languages. This hypot…
Does D Select the CP in Light Verb Constructions? A Reply to Hankamer and Mikkelsen 2021
In this response to Hankamer and Mikkelsen (H&M) 2021, we clarify the meaning of the definite article the in out-of-the-blue occurrences of English light verb constructions such as make the claim. While H&M view these as purely uniqueness-requiring determiners (as opposed to purely anaphoric ones in non−light verb constructions), we classify them as instances of Carlsonian weak definites (e.g., Carlson et al. 2006), which presuppose neither uniqu…
Pattern deduction in linguistically attested and unattested grammars
A popular hypothesis in linguistics posits that language learners are biologically predisposed to learn structures attested in human language – for example, a hierarchically nested phrase structure, while eschewing hypotheses for linguistically unattested structures – for example, one consisting of non-consecutive, linearly alternating “constituents”. The current study explores the robustness of such a predisposition within a controlled artificia…
Number-based effects on the goodness of English ‘the’
The ability to uniquely identify the intended referent in a given context is often considered a categorical factor licensing English 'the.' However, Reed (2016, 2020) compiles a wide range of non-unique uses of the definite article and suggests that uniqueness is just one among several contextual factors that plays a role. In particular, she suggests `'the' may be used even when the lexical content does not disambiguate in favor of a uniquely ide…
Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Linguistics (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Epistemology (3 works) · Natural Language Processing Techniques (3 works) · Categorization, perception, and language (2 works) · Mathematics (2 works) · Natural language processing (2 works) · Referent (2 works)