Specific unknowns
A case study of epistemic indefinites in Cantonese
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22159148 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tommy Tsz-Ming Lee (0000-0003-0536-8501, University of Southern California, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 107 |
| Publication date | 2021-03-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2473-8689 • E-ISSN: 2473-8689 |
| Publisher | Linguistic Society of America (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.3765/plsa.v6i1.4952 |
| OpenAlex | W3137894152 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
This paper concerns how languages bundle an existential claim and>an ignorance inference in a nominal expression. I present a case study on epistemic indefinites (EIs) in Cantonese and show that Cantonese EIs have a different morphological makeup (m + zi + WH ‘not + know + WH’), when compared to other more discussed EIs. I suggest that the ignorance component associated with mzi-WH is a conventional implicature and that m-zi obtains an adnominal usage via grammaticalization. It denotes a choice function that comes with an ignorance component that is inherited from the predicative meaning of m-zi
Epistemology · Existentialism · Grammaticalization · Ignorance · Implicature · Inference · Linguistics · Physics · Pragmatics · Predicative expression · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Mathematics · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Scope or Pseudoscope? Are there Wide-Scope Indefinites?
Quantifier Scope
Logic and Conversation
Epistemic Determiners
New Kind of Epistemic Indefinite
Exhaustive and non-exhaustive variation with free choice and referential vagueness
Modal indefinites
Intervention Effects Follow from Focus Interpretation
On The Interpretation of Wide-scope Indefinites
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |