Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult Mandarin
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3987551 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aijun Huang (0000-0002-0744-8807, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, corresponding author), Jingjing Li (0009-0006-0033-1522, Soochow University), Luisa Meroni (OTS/ Italian, Utrecht University , Trans 10 , 3512 JK Utrecht , The Netherlands) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 933-972 |
| Publication date | 2022-07-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0024-3949 • E-ISSN: 1613-396X |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/ling-2022-0048 |
| OpenAlex | W4280542924 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 43 |
The semantics of superordinate collectives (superordinates hereafter) such as English furniture are argued to be count or mass, or to allow both count and mass readings. When tested experimentally, however, it has repeatedly been reported that superordinates denote individuals in a wide range of typologically distinct languages, including Mandarin. A close examination of the experimental method and design commonly used in previous research suggests, however, that the attested individual-denoting reading might only be the preferred reading in neutral contexts rather than the only reading that superordinates allow. In the present study, using a Truth Value Judgment Task we investigate the interpretation of Mandarin superordinates by Mandarin-speaking adults and 4-6-year-old children. We found that bare superordinates can convey both individual-denoting and non-individual-denoting readings depending on specific contexts provided, but such contextual manipulation cannot override morphosyntax (the presence of an individual classifier that selects an individual-denoting reading only). Taken together, our experimental data indicate that both contextual and morphosyntactic information play an important role in the interpretation of Mandarin superordinates, but that they function in different ways. In a word, the present study contributes new data and opens new perspectives for further investigation in the interpretation of superordinates in Mandarin as well as in other languages
Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Mandarin Chinese · Morpheme · Superordinate goals · Child and Animal Learning Development · Computer Science · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Structuring Sense Volume I
Semantics for Counting and Measuring
Quantity judgments and individuation
The importance of shape in early lexical learning
Plurality of Mass Nouns and the Notion of “Semantic Parameter”
Learning that classifiers count
Maybe English Has no Count Nouns
How universal is the Universal Grinder
Lexicography and the Count-Mass Distinction
Mass nouns, vagueness and semantic variation
The Interpretation of Functional Heads
Counting and the Mass/Count Distinction
The interpretation of Brazilian Portuguese bare singulars in neutral contexts
Brazilian Bare Phrases and Referentiality
Bare and Not-So-Bare Nouns and the Structure of NP
Reference to Kinds across Language
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |