Degree Semantics and Proportional Quantification

Jeudi 11 Juillet 2019, 09:30 to 16:30
Organisation: 
Carmen Sorin (LLF)
Lieu: 

LLF – Bât. ODG – 5e étage – Salle du conseil (533)

9h30-12h30 Peter Hallman
Degree Quantification and Scope Splitting in Arabic
In this course, I will firstly provide an overview of how degree modification works in Syrian Arabic, focusing on superlatives but also touching on comparatives and degree questions. What is linguistically revealing about superlatives in this language is that the superlative morpheme (counterpart to “most”) can be separated from its scalar associate over some syntactic distance, and its surface position determines its scope. I will then capitalize on this fact to explore ‘split scope’ phenomena in which the negative component of “least” appears to have a different scope than the superlative component. The facts reported here support a model of degree modification in which interpretational ambiguities reflect structural ambiguities at LF.

14h Dobrovie-Sorin & Giurgea
How many MOST’s?

15h30 Patricia Cabredo-Hofherr
Superiority comparatives in Haitian - two standard constructions

16h30 Philippe Gréa
Plusieurs et quelques