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New Work
Clausal Complementation and the Wager-class [draft paper]
[A revision and extension of the work below, with a new proposal for the semantics of complement clauses.]
Revisiting Postal's DOC: Lethal A-positions [handout]
Shows that the DOC predicates (the wager-class) do not take propositional complements directly. Instead, their infinitival 'complements' compose with a different modal head. The second argument is that the subject position of B-class infinitives is not one in which arguments can compose, due to a lack of a binder index on infinitival T (putting together recent arguments by Wurmbrand 2006 on uninterpreted T in propositional infinitives together with Kratzer 2006's proposal for bundling index features with other morphology). This forces terms to vacate that position or not be interpreted (expletives). In B-class verbs, this forces raising to object. In DOC complements, this forces movement but becuase of the infinitive's location, we derive the curious set of facts about DOC rescuers.
Scope Relations and Infinitival Complements [paper]
Reports two experimental studies that show that inverse scope out of infinitivals is more difficult depending on the overlap between the situations denoted by the matrix and embeddded cluase. A proposal is made that quantifiers are easier to process if the membes of their sets are contained in the situations immediately in the scope of the quantifier.
Presupposed VPs find antecedents asserted ones don't [paper]
Experimental studies show that a preference of 'small antecedents' for ellipses in presuppositional contexts (such as ACD) is constrained by a principle of accommodation ~ Generals Paper no.2, under review.
Athapaskan Internal Heads are Definitely Not Indefinite [handout]
Strong Reflexivity and Attitudes de se [paper] [Dec 2005 Handout: revision of paper]
Explores two classes of ECM complements (Bresnan 1972) and argues using evidence from 'de se' that some attitude verbs are inherently reflexive; in doing so, the paper makes a proposal for the semantics of inherently reflexive verbs, and when applied to attitude verbs, derives 'de se' interpretations ~ Generals Paper no.1]
Control as Voice [pdf]
Considerations for a Property Theory of Control [pdf]
Publications
2007. Scope Relations and Infinitival Complements UMOP 35: Processing and Semantics, Jan Anderssen, et al, eds. GLSA: University of Massachusetts.
2007. Small Antecedents: Syntax or Pragmatics? Proceedings of the North East Linguistic Society 37. Elfner, E. and M. Walkow, eds. GLSA: University of Massachusetts.
2006. with A. Arregui, C. Clifton, and L. Frazier. Processing elided verb phrases with flawed antecedents: the recycling hypothesis. Journal of Memory and Language 55: 232-246.
2004. External Arguments and Gerunds. Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics 22: 121-136. C.Frigeni, ed. [pdf]
2003. Deep allophones in the Old English laryngeal system. Toronto Working Papers in
Linguistics 20: 157-173. D.C.Hall, ed. [pdf]
2002. Clausal modification in Old English: the
case of the correlative. Ms. Forum paper, University of Toronto.
Talks
2007. "Clausal Complementation and the DOC paradigm: A selection-based apporach." To be Presented at NELS 38, University of Ottawa.
2007. "Athapaskan Internal Heads are definitely not Indefinite" To be presented at SULA Semantics of Under-represented Languages of the Americas. Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 2007.
2007. "Revisiting Postal's DOC: Lethal A-positions" Presented at ECO5, March 2007.
2006. "Small Antecedents: Syntax or Pragmatics?" NELS 37, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
2005. "Strong reflexivity and attitudes de se: Evidence from English ECM." Presented at ConSOLE XIV, University of the Basque Country, December 20.
2005. "Strong reflexivity and attitudes de se." Presented at SNEWS, University of Connecticutt, October 23.
2003. "The diachrony of CP." Presented to the Canadian
Linguistic Association, Dalhousie University, Halifax, June 2003.
2002. "Deep Allophones." Presented to the Canadian
Linguistics Association, University of Toronto, May 2002.
2002. "Voicing Opposition in Old English fricative
allophones." Presented at the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto Phonology Workshop,
McGill University, February 2002.
2002. "Syntactic Clitics and Bound Pronouns." Presented at
the Groundhog Day Binding Workshop, University of Toronto, February
2002.
2001. "The Language of Emotion and Exile in The Wanderer
and King Lear." Presented at the 2nd Annual Student Conference on Old
English and Modern Literature, University of Toronto, April
2001.
Older Papers
Case Domains and Case Markedness within Nominalizations [pdf]
Processing entailed complements before subcategorized ones [pdf]
Links
UMass linguistics http://www.umass.edu/linguist
University of Toronto, Department of Linguistics http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/linguistics
F-Zero, UofT Linguistics Band http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/band/
Contact
keir is at linguist dot umass dot edu
Department of Linguistics, Rm 226 South
College
150 Hicks Way
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Amherst, MA
01003
U.S.A.
413.545.0885
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