The interpretation of disjunction in VP ellipsis
The case of Mandarin Chinese
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20343000 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Na Gao (0000-0001-6383-6719, Beijing Language and Culture University, corresponding author), Peng Zhou (0000-0002-2499-6805, Tsinghua University), Russell Thornton (0000-0003-2854-3720, Macquarie University), Stephen Crain (0000-0002-6370-7447, Macquarie University) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 737-759 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | First Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0142-7237 • E-ISSN: 1740-2344 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01427237211020971 |
| OpenAlex | W3207974583 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 22 |
It has long been noted that verb phrase (VP) ellipsis cancels the polarity sensitivity of the English Positive Polarity Items (PPIs). In recent work, it has been proposed that words for disjunction are governed by a parameter. On one value of the parameter, disjunction is a PPI for adult speakers of many languages including Mandarin Chinese. On the other value, disjunction is interpreted in situ. It has also been proposed that child language learners, across languages, initially interpret disjunction in situ, not as a PPI. Taken together, these proposals predict that child and adult speakers of Mandarin will assign the same interpretation to disjunction in sentences with VP ellipsis, but will assign a different interpretation in sentences without VP ellipsis. This study assessed these predictions. In sentences with a full VP, the adult participants analyzed disjunction as a PPI, but they interpreted disjunction in situ in sentences with VP ellipsis. The child participants interpreted disjunction in situ in sentences of both kinds. Together, the findings support the recent proposal that disjunction is governed by a lexical parameter, with a default setting
Biology · Ellipsis (linguistics) · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Mandarin Chinese · Natural language processing · Noun · Noun phrase · Phrase · Polarity (international relations) · Value (mathematics) · Verb · Verb phrase · Verb phrase ellipsis · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Language Development and Disorders · Philosophy · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Logic in Grammar
Polarity Sensitivity as (Non)Veridical Dependency
What VP Ellipsis Can Do, and What it Can't, But Not Why
On the source of children’s conjunctive interpretation of disjunction
Negative sentences with disjunction in child Catalan
The interpretation of logical connectives in Turkish
Biolinguistics
Deriving the positive polarity behavior of plain disjunction
Positive Polarity – Negative Polarity
The Structure of Language
Perspectives on Sentence Processing
Children's Knowledge of Free Choice Inferences and Scalar Implicatures
The Compositionality of Logical Connectives in Child Italian
The Structure of Children's Linguistic Knowledge
Questions and Question-word Incorporating Quantifiers in Malayalam
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |