Luis Alonso-Ovalle
Biographic Data
| ID | 747802 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Luis Alonso-Ovalle |
| GIVEN NAMES | Luis |
| FAMILY NAME | Alonso-Ovalle |
| SIGNATURE | ALONSO-OVALLE L |
| AFFILIATIONS | McGill University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Existential free choice items: The case of Farsi yek -i DPs
Existential Free Choice Items (EFCIs) are interpreted as existential quantifiers in downward entailing contexts, but contribute stronger truth conditions when embedded under modals. When unembedded, their behavior differs: while Romanian vreun is ungrammatical (Fălăuş 2014), other EFCIs are grammatical and convey modality (Alonso-Ovalle & Menéndez-Benito 2015b). Farsi yek -i DPs instantiate a new profile: they pattern with other EFCIs in downward…
Modal indefinites and semantic variation: Lessons from Chuj
Recent work proposes that modal auxiliaries project their domains from an event variable, their ‘anchor’ (Hacquard 2006, 2010, Kratzer 2013). Based on the Spanish modal indefinite uno cualquiera, Alonso-Ovalle & Menéndez-Benito (2018) conclude that modal indefinites do too. This paper argues that yalnhej DPs, a type of modal indefinite in Chuj, an understudied Mayan language, support this conclusion. These DPs are existential quantifiers that con…
Eventive modal projection: The case of Spanish subjunctive relative clauses
How do modal expressions determine which possibilities they range over? According to the Modal Anchor Hypothesis (Kratzer in The language-cognition interface: Actes du 19econgrès international des linguistes, Libraire Droz, Genève, 179-199, 2013), modal expressions determine their domain of quantification from particulars (events, situations, or individuals). This paper presents novel evidence for this hypothesis, focusing on a class of Spanish r…
Spanish Bare Interrogatives and Number
Dayal (1996) makes two predictions on the interaction of number and wh-phrases: (i) that questions with singular wh-phrases yield a uniqueness inference, and (ii) that questions with plural wh-phrases yield an antiuniqueness inference. Maldonado (2020) shows that Spanish bare wh-phrases do not conform to Dayal’s predictions. From this, she argues against a unified treatment of number across wh-expressions. Elliott et al. (2022) argue that a unifi…
Random Choice from Likelihood: The Case of Chuj (Mayan)
Research on modality has recently broadened beyond the verbal domain, unearthing questions about the cross-categorial nature of modality ( Arregui et al. 2017), for instance: To what extent do DP and VP modals mirror each other? Chuj, an understudied Mayan language, provides an ideal vantage point to answer this question with respect to random choice modality. Random choice indefinites convey, roughly, that an agent made an indiscriminate choice.…
Keep only strong
While Horn (1969) proposed that [[only]](p) presupposes that the prejacent p is true, von Fintel & Iatridou (2007) showed that the expected prejacent inference is not observed when a necessity modal occurs in the scope of only: [[only]](□p) may convey that p is possible, rather than necessary. What is the mechanism behind the surprisingly weak inference? The approach in von Fintel & Iatridou 2007 is to revise the analysis of only itself to weaken…
Causes and Expectations: On the Interpretation of the Tagalog Ability/Involuntary Action Form
The Tagalog Ability/Involuntary Action (aia) verbal form conveys apparently unrelated modal meanings: that an action was within what an agent could do or that it was beyond what an agent could control, for instance. Recent analyses for the Malagasy and St’át’imcets counterparts of this form propose that this morphology contributes circumstantial modality and conveys, roughly, that the event described follows from a set of facts ( Davis et al., 20…
Projecting Possibilities in the Nominal Domain: Spanish Uno Cualquiera
Recent research argues that modal verbs project their domain of quantification from a part of the evaluation world—their ‘modal anchor’ (Hacquard 2006, 2009; Arregui 2009; Kratzer 2009, 2013, 2015). Based on the behaviour of the Spanish modal indefinite uno cualquiera, we contend that modal nominals can do the same. Uno cualquiera contributes modality: Juan cogió una carta cualquiera (‘Juan picked a random card’) conveys that Juan picked a card a…
Modal indefinites
Across languages, we find indefinites that trigger modal inferences. This article contributes to a semantic typology of these items by contrasting Spanish algún with indefinites like German irgendein or Italian uno qualsiasi. While irgendein-type indefinites trigger a Free Choice effect (Kratzer and Shimoyama 2002; Chierchia 2006), algún simply signals that at least two individuals in its domain are possibilities. Additionally, algún, but not irg…
Expressives and Identity Conditions
April 01 2009 Expressives and Identity Conditions Christopher Potts, Christopher Potts Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Ash Asudeh, Ash Asudeh Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Seth Cable, Seth Cable Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Yurie Hara, Yurie Hara Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Eric McCready, Eric McCrea…
Innocent exclusion in an Alternative Semantics
Formal Perspectives on Romance Linguistics: Selected Papers from the 28th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages, University Park, 16-19 April 1998
Expressives and Identity Conditions
April 01 2009 Expressives and Identity Conditions Christopher Potts, Christopher Potts Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Ash Asudeh, Ash Asudeh Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Seth Cable, Seth Cable Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Yurie Hara, Yurie Hara Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Eric McCready, Eric McCrea…
Modal indefinites
Across languages, we find indefinites that trigger modal inferences. This article contributes to a semantic typology of these items by contrasting Spanish algún with indefinites like German irgendein or Italian uno qualsiasi. While irgendein-type indefinites trigger a Free Choice effect (Kratzer and Shimoyama 2002; Chierchia 2006), algún simply signals that at least two individuals in its domain are possibilities. Additionally, algún, but not irg…
Innocent exclusion in an Alternative Semantics
Formal Perspectives on Romance Linguistics: Selected Papers from the 28th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages, University Park, 16-19 April 1998
Innocent exclusion in an Alternative Semantics
Expressives and Identity Conditions
April 01 2009 Expressives and Identity Conditions Christopher Potts, Christopher Potts Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Ash Asudeh, Ash Asudeh Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Seth Cable, Seth Cable Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Yurie Hara, Yurie Hara Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Eric McCready, Eric McCrea…
Modal indefinites
Across languages, we find indefinites that trigger modal inferences. This article contributes to a semantic typology of these items by contrasting Spanish algún with indefinites like German irgendein or Italian uno qualsiasi. While irgendein-type indefinites trigger a Free Choice effect (Kratzer and Shimoyama 2002; Chierchia 2006), algún simply signals that at least two individuals in its domain are possibilities. Additionally, algún, but not irg…
Projecting Possibilities in the Nominal Domain: Spanish Uno Cualquiera
Recent research argues that modal verbs project their domain of quantification from a part of the evaluation world—their ‘modal anchor’ (Hacquard 2006, 2009; Arregui 2009; Kratzer 2009, 2013, 2015). Based on the behaviour of the Spanish modal indefinite uno cualquiera, we contend that modal nominals can do the same. Uno cualquiera contributes modality: Juan cogió una carta cualquiera (‘Juan picked a random card’) conveys that Juan picked a card a…
Causes and Expectations: On the Interpretation of the Tagalog Ability/Involuntary Action Form
The Tagalog Ability/Involuntary Action (aia) verbal form conveys apparently unrelated modal meanings: that an action was within what an agent could do or that it was beyond what an agent could control, for instance. Recent analyses for the Malagasy and St’át’imcets counterparts of this form propose that this morphology contributes circumstantial modality and conveys, roughly, that the event described follows from a set of facts ( Davis et al., 20…
Random Choice from Likelihood: The Case of Chuj (Mayan)
Research on modality has recently broadened beyond the verbal domain, unearthing questions about the cross-categorial nature of modality ( Arregui et al. 2017), for instance: To what extent do DP and VP modals mirror each other? Chuj, an understudied Mayan language, provides an ideal vantage point to answer this question with respect to random choice modality. Random choice indefinites convey, roughly, that an agent made an indiscriminate choice.…
Keep only strong
While Horn (1969) proposed that [[only]](p) presupposes that the prejacent p is true, von Fintel & Iatridou (2007) showed that the expected prejacent inference is not observed when a necessity modal occurs in the scope of only: [[only]](□p) may convey that p is possible, rather than necessary. What is the mechanism behind the surprisingly weak inference? The approach in von Fintel & Iatridou 2007 is to revise the analysis of only itself to weaken…
Spanish Bare Interrogatives and Number
Dayal (1996) makes two predictions on the interaction of number and wh-phrases: (i) that questions with singular wh-phrases yield a uniqueness inference, and (ii) that questions with plural wh-phrases yield an antiuniqueness inference. Maldonado (2020) shows that Spanish bare wh-phrases do not conform to Dayal’s predictions. From this, she argues against a unified treatment of number across wh-expressions. Elliott et al. (2022) argue that a unifi…
Modal indefinites and semantic variation: Lessons from Chuj
Recent work proposes that modal auxiliaries project their domains from an event variable, their ‘anchor’ (Hacquard 2006, 2010, Kratzer 2013). Based on the Spanish modal indefinite uno cualquiera, Alonso-Ovalle & Menéndez-Benito (2018) conclude that modal indefinites do too. This paper argues that yalnhej DPs, a type of modal indefinite in Chuj, an understudied Mayan language, support this conclusion. These DPs are existential quantifiers that con…
Eventive modal projection: The case of Spanish subjunctive relative clauses
How do modal expressions determine which possibilities they range over? According to the Modal Anchor Hypothesis (Kratzer in The language-cognition interface: Actes du 19econgrès international des linguistes, Libraire Droz, Genève, 179-199, 2013), modal expressions determine their domain of quantification from particulars (events, situations, or individuals). This paper presents novel evidence for this hypothesis, focusing on a class of Spanish r…
Existential free choice items: The case of Farsi yek -i DPs
Existential Free Choice Items (EFCIs) are interpreted as existential quantifiers in downward entailing contexts, but contribute stronger truth conditions when embedded under modals. When unembedded, their behavior differs: while Romanian vreun is ungrammatical (Fălăuş 2014), other EFCIs are grammatical and convey modality (Alonso-Ovalle & Menéndez-Benito 2015b). Farsi yek -i DPs instantiate a new profile: they pattern with other EFCIs in downward…
Philosophy (11 works) · Linguistics (10 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (10 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Mathematics (7 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (6 works) · Epistemology (4 works) · Modal (4 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Artificial Intelligence (3 works)