American Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Literatures, 1999
The theoretical aim of this book, indicated by its subtitle, is to elucidate the interface betwee... more The theoretical aim of this book, indicated by its subtitle, is to elucidate the interface between semantic interpretation and morphosyntactic structure. Its empirical domain, indicated by the title, would appear to be ideally suited to this goal. Tense and aspect are well-studied semantic categories, but ones in which there are still plenty of puzzles. It is reasonable to think that an improved understanding may come about through detailed study of the
North-Holland Linguistic Series: Linguistic Variations, 1994
Publisher Summary This chapter describes a mereological characterization of temporal and aspectua... more Publisher Summary This chapter describes a mereological characterization of temporal and aspectual phenomena. It presents an account for phenomena in the domain of the temporal and aspectual interpretation of sentences. Aspectual and temporal information is conveyed by the verbal morphology; the morphosyntactic component organizes the morphemes in a highly regular way that holds cross-liguistically. The chapter focuses on semantic descriptions and interpretation with a special emphasis on the role of the part-of relation. It considers present tense phenomena in the Romance and Germanic languages that set apart English with respect to the other languages. Such phenomena turn out to be rather complex and the account the chapter presents can be generalized to other tenses.
Proceedings of the 13th conference on Computational linguistics -, 1990
This paper is a first step towards a computational account of Binding Theory (BT). Two algorithms... more This paper is a first step towards a computational account of Binding Theory (BT). Two algorithms that compute, respectively, Principle A and B have been provided. Particular attention has been devoted to possible interactions of BT with other modules of the linguistic theory, such as those ruling argumental chains. Finally, the computational complexity of the algorithms has been studied. *Every part of this work has been elaborated jointly by the three authors. However, as far as legal requirements are concerned, A.Giorgi takes responsability of Sections 1 and 2, F.Pianesi of Sections 4 and 5 and G.Satta of Section 3. **This work has been done while G.Satta was completing his Doctoral Dissertation at the University of Padova (Italy). 1This work is part of a larger one providing a computational account of Binding Theory. See Giorgi, Pianesi, Satta (1989a), in which the present approach is extended to principle C of Binding Theory and weak-crossover core cases, and Giorgi, Pianesi, Satta (1989b), where the general problems of Binding Theory verification and satisfiability are addressed.
Ways of Terminating Alessandra Giorgi and Fabio Pianesi University of Venice—IRST-ITC Trento 1. B... more Ways of Terminating Alessandra Giorgi and Fabio Pianesi University of Venice—IRST-ITC Trento 1. Basic Facts The notion of telicity arises in connection with sentences such as those in (1)—(2), which seem to convey the idea that the relevant events reach a sort of privileged ...
Page 199. 7 Complementizer Deletion in Italian ALESSANDRA GIORGI AND FABIO PIANESI T» he purpose ... more Page 199. 7 Complementizer Deletion in Italian ALESSANDRA GIORGI AND FABIO PIANESI T» he purpose of this chapter is to shed light on a phenomenon of Italian, which seems to have several interesting ... 'He left (IND), Mario said (not that he arrived).'5 (11)* Sia malato, è un ...
In this paper we consider the dependencies in Italian from forms such as credo (I believe) and di... more In this paper we consider the dependencies in Italian from forms such as credo (I believe) and dicono (they say). The main focus will be on credo, and only at the end of the discussion we will extend the analysis to cover dicono as well. Credo (I believe) is the subject-less first person present tense verbal form of the epistemic verb credere (to believe). Dicono (they say) is the subject-less third person plural present tense verbal form of the verb dire. These verbal forms can be followed by a subordinate clause. However, under certain circumstances – for instance in Complementizer Deletion structures – the (apparently) embedded clause exhibits several properties typical of main clauses, which are incompatible with the syntax of subordinate sentences. Moreover, in these cases, from the semantic point of view, both the main verbal form and the alleged complement clause present some peculiarities, which call for an explanation. We will argue that the sequence consisting of credo or dicono followed by a complementizer-less clause should often be seen as a mono-clausal structure and that credo (I believe) and dicono (they say) are better treated as heads occupying functional projections, expressing an epistemic and an evidential value respectively.
Temporal reference in natural language is inherently context dependent: what counts as a moment i... more Temporal reference in natural language is inherently context dependent: what counts as a moment in one context may be structurally analysed in another context, and vice versa. In this note we outline a way of accounting for this phenomenon within event-based semantics.
EVENTS, TOPOLOGY AND TEMPORAL RELATIONS * We are used to regarding actions and other events, such... more EVENTS, TOPOLOGY AND TEMPORAL RELATIONS * We are used to regarding actions and other events, such as Brutus' stabbing of Caesar or the sinking of the Titanic, as occupying intervals of some underlying linearly ordered temporal dimension. This attitude is so natural and compelling that one is tempted to disregard the obvious difference between time periods and actual happenings in favor of the former: events become mere "intervals cum description". 1 On the other hand, in ordinary circumstances the point of talking about time is to talk about what actually happens or might happen at some time or another. We talk about 'now' and 'then' in an effort to put some order in our description of what goes on. And since different events seem to overlap in so many different ways, a full account of their temporal relations seems to run afoul of a reductionist strategy. This raises two philosophical questions. The first is whether we can actually go beyond time, as it were, i.e., whether we can take events as bona fide entities and deal with them directly, just as we can deal with spatial entities such as physical bodies or masses without confining ourselves to their spatial representations. This is a controversial issue (though probably not as controversial as it used to be), and ties in with a number of unsettled problems concerning, e.g., the structure of causality or the definition of adequate identity and individuation criteria for events. 2 The second question is whether we can perhaps do without time, i.e., whether we can dispense with time points or intervals as an independent ontological category and focus only on actual or potential happenings, in opposition to the form of reductionism mentioned above-in short, whether we can account for the temporal dimension in terms of suitable relations among events. This is also a highly controversial issue, and relates to the classical dispute concerning relational vs. absolutist conceptions of (space and) time. 3 It is this second question that we intend to focus on here. Even if the acceptance of events as part of our ontological inventory is in itself a matter of dispute, we shall assume there to be enough good arguments to justify a positive attitude in this regard: events are part of the furniture of the world, whatever their exact ontological make up. We shall actually assume that events are individuals, as opposed to, for instance, states of affairs. 4 The focus of our concern is whether this assumption allows one to answer also the second question in the af
This paper expands on the theory of event structures put forward in previous work by further inve... more This paper expands on the theory of event structures put forward in previous work by further investigating the subtle connections between time and events. Specifically, in the first part we generalize the notion of an event structure to that of a refinement structure, where various degrees of temporal granularity are accommodated. In the second part we investigate how these structures can account for the context-dependence of temporal structures in natural language semantics.
We present a theory offeatures within the minimalist framework, according to which: a) UG specifi... more We present a theory offeatures within the minimalist framework, according to which: a) UG specifies both the sei offeatures to be selected by the child äs relevant for his/her language and the order ofchecking aming them (the Universal Ordering Constraint); b) The projection ofnodesfrom categories consisting ofsets offeatures (syncretic categories) is ruled by the Feature Scattering Principle which states that eachfeature can head a projection. The empirical import ofsuch a theory is illustratedby analyzing certainfacts concerning Italian Complementizer Deletion and Interrogative sentences which have been often explained äs involving V-to-C movement. We show that the relevant datafollow a) from the hypothesis that in both cases there is a syncretic category realizing thefeatures of Agr and the ones of C (Mood and wh, respectively), and b)from the interaction between the Feature Scattering Principle and economy principles which constrain the scattered realization of syncretic categories. The authors have elaborated every part of this work together. However, äs far äs legal requirements are concerned, A. Giorgi takes official responsibility for the Introduction, sections l and 2 and F. Pianesi for sections 3 and 4.
Abstract In this paper we discuss the properties of the fictional context created by the verb dre... more Abstract In this paper we discuss the properties of the fictional context created by the verb dream, focusing on Italian data. The relevance of these contexts is twofold: on the one hand, they exhibit very consistent behaviour across Romance languages with respect to mood selection, in that they always select the indicative in their complement clause, rejecting the subjunctive. On the other hand, their interpretive properties change according to the tense used: when containing a subordinate imperfect indicative tense, dream reports have the property that the dreamed eventuality need not be temporally anchored; at the same time, they do not seem to ascribe any specific attitude to the subject (the dreamer). When containing a non-imperfect indicative tense, temporal anchoring is available, and a particular evidential meaning can be detected, revealing the presence of a speaker-oriented attitude towards the content of the dream. The connection between temporal anchoring and the presence/absence of a propositional attitude will be investigated: semantically, within an extensional, truth-theoretical framework by arguing in favour of a reflexive/tensed-thoughts approach to propositional attitudes; and in its morphosyntactic aspects, by motivating a conception according to which the interaction between the temporal features of T and the features of C provide the interface conditions for the interpretive facts to arise.
American Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Literatures, 1999
The theoretical aim of this book, indicated by its subtitle, is to elucidate the interface betwee... more The theoretical aim of this book, indicated by its subtitle, is to elucidate the interface between semantic interpretation and morphosyntactic structure. Its empirical domain, indicated by the title, would appear to be ideally suited to this goal. Tense and aspect are well-studied semantic categories, but ones in which there are still plenty of puzzles. It is reasonable to think that an improved understanding may come about through detailed study of the
North-Holland Linguistic Series: Linguistic Variations, 1994
Publisher Summary This chapter describes a mereological characterization of temporal and aspectua... more Publisher Summary This chapter describes a mereological characterization of temporal and aspectual phenomena. It presents an account for phenomena in the domain of the temporal and aspectual interpretation of sentences. Aspectual and temporal information is conveyed by the verbal morphology; the morphosyntactic component organizes the morphemes in a highly regular way that holds cross-liguistically. The chapter focuses on semantic descriptions and interpretation with a special emphasis on the role of the part-of relation. It considers present tense phenomena in the Romance and Germanic languages that set apart English with respect to the other languages. Such phenomena turn out to be rather complex and the account the chapter presents can be generalized to other tenses.
Proceedings of the 13th conference on Computational linguistics -, 1990
This paper is a first step towards a computational account of Binding Theory (BT). Two algorithms... more This paper is a first step towards a computational account of Binding Theory (BT). Two algorithms that compute, respectively, Principle A and B have been provided. Particular attention has been devoted to possible interactions of BT with other modules of the linguistic theory, such as those ruling argumental chains. Finally, the computational complexity of the algorithms has been studied. *Every part of this work has been elaborated jointly by the three authors. However, as far as legal requirements are concerned, A.Giorgi takes responsability of Sections 1 and 2, F.Pianesi of Sections 4 and 5 and G.Satta of Section 3. **This work has been done while G.Satta was completing his Doctoral Dissertation at the University of Padova (Italy). 1This work is part of a larger one providing a computational account of Binding Theory. See Giorgi, Pianesi, Satta (1989a), in which the present approach is extended to principle C of Binding Theory and weak-crossover core cases, and Giorgi, Pianesi, Satta (1989b), where the general problems of Binding Theory verification and satisfiability are addressed.
Ways of Terminating Alessandra Giorgi and Fabio Pianesi University of Venice—IRST-ITC Trento 1. B... more Ways of Terminating Alessandra Giorgi and Fabio Pianesi University of Venice—IRST-ITC Trento 1. Basic Facts The notion of telicity arises in connection with sentences such as those in (1)—(2), which seem to convey the idea that the relevant events reach a sort of privileged ...
Page 199. 7 Complementizer Deletion in Italian ALESSANDRA GIORGI AND FABIO PIANESI T» he purpose ... more Page 199. 7 Complementizer Deletion in Italian ALESSANDRA GIORGI AND FABIO PIANESI T» he purpose of this chapter is to shed light on a phenomenon of Italian, which seems to have several interesting ... 'He left (IND), Mario said (not that he arrived).'5 (11)* Sia malato, è un ...
In this paper we consider the dependencies in Italian from forms such as credo (I believe) and di... more In this paper we consider the dependencies in Italian from forms such as credo (I believe) and dicono (they say). The main focus will be on credo, and only at the end of the discussion we will extend the analysis to cover dicono as well. Credo (I believe) is the subject-less first person present tense verbal form of the epistemic verb credere (to believe). Dicono (they say) is the subject-less third person plural present tense verbal form of the verb dire. These verbal forms can be followed by a subordinate clause. However, under certain circumstances – for instance in Complementizer Deletion structures – the (apparently) embedded clause exhibits several properties typical of main clauses, which are incompatible with the syntax of subordinate sentences. Moreover, in these cases, from the semantic point of view, both the main verbal form and the alleged complement clause present some peculiarities, which call for an explanation. We will argue that the sequence consisting of credo or dicono followed by a complementizer-less clause should often be seen as a mono-clausal structure and that credo (I believe) and dicono (they say) are better treated as heads occupying functional projections, expressing an epistemic and an evidential value respectively.
Temporal reference in natural language is inherently context dependent: what counts as a moment i... more Temporal reference in natural language is inherently context dependent: what counts as a moment in one context may be structurally analysed in another context, and vice versa. In this note we outline a way of accounting for this phenomenon within event-based semantics.
EVENTS, TOPOLOGY AND TEMPORAL RELATIONS * We are used to regarding actions and other events, such... more EVENTS, TOPOLOGY AND TEMPORAL RELATIONS * We are used to regarding actions and other events, such as Brutus' stabbing of Caesar or the sinking of the Titanic, as occupying intervals of some underlying linearly ordered temporal dimension. This attitude is so natural and compelling that one is tempted to disregard the obvious difference between time periods and actual happenings in favor of the former: events become mere "intervals cum description". 1 On the other hand, in ordinary circumstances the point of talking about time is to talk about what actually happens or might happen at some time or another. We talk about 'now' and 'then' in an effort to put some order in our description of what goes on. And since different events seem to overlap in so many different ways, a full account of their temporal relations seems to run afoul of a reductionist strategy. This raises two philosophical questions. The first is whether we can actually go beyond time, as it were, i.e., whether we can take events as bona fide entities and deal with them directly, just as we can deal with spatial entities such as physical bodies or masses without confining ourselves to their spatial representations. This is a controversial issue (though probably not as controversial as it used to be), and ties in with a number of unsettled problems concerning, e.g., the structure of causality or the definition of adequate identity and individuation criteria for events. 2 The second question is whether we can perhaps do without time, i.e., whether we can dispense with time points or intervals as an independent ontological category and focus only on actual or potential happenings, in opposition to the form of reductionism mentioned above-in short, whether we can account for the temporal dimension in terms of suitable relations among events. This is also a highly controversial issue, and relates to the classical dispute concerning relational vs. absolutist conceptions of (space and) time. 3 It is this second question that we intend to focus on here. Even if the acceptance of events as part of our ontological inventory is in itself a matter of dispute, we shall assume there to be enough good arguments to justify a positive attitude in this regard: events are part of the furniture of the world, whatever their exact ontological make up. We shall actually assume that events are individuals, as opposed to, for instance, states of affairs. 4 The focus of our concern is whether this assumption allows one to answer also the second question in the af
This paper expands on the theory of event structures put forward in previous work by further inve... more This paper expands on the theory of event structures put forward in previous work by further investigating the subtle connections between time and events. Specifically, in the first part we generalize the notion of an event structure to that of a refinement structure, where various degrees of temporal granularity are accommodated. In the second part we investigate how these structures can account for the context-dependence of temporal structures in natural language semantics.
We present a theory offeatures within the minimalist framework, according to which: a) UG specifi... more We present a theory offeatures within the minimalist framework, according to which: a) UG specifies both the sei offeatures to be selected by the child äs relevant for his/her language and the order ofchecking aming them (the Universal Ordering Constraint); b) The projection ofnodesfrom categories consisting ofsets offeatures (syncretic categories) is ruled by the Feature Scattering Principle which states that eachfeature can head a projection. The empirical import ofsuch a theory is illustratedby analyzing certainfacts concerning Italian Complementizer Deletion and Interrogative sentences which have been often explained äs involving V-to-C movement. We show that the relevant datafollow a) from the hypothesis that in both cases there is a syncretic category realizing thefeatures of Agr and the ones of C (Mood and wh, respectively), and b)from the interaction between the Feature Scattering Principle and economy principles which constrain the scattered realization of syncretic categories. The authors have elaborated every part of this work together. However, äs far äs legal requirements are concerned, A. Giorgi takes official responsibility for the Introduction, sections l and 2 and F. Pianesi for sections 3 and 4.
Abstract In this paper we discuss the properties of the fictional context created by the verb dre... more Abstract In this paper we discuss the properties of the fictional context created by the verb dream, focusing on Italian data. The relevance of these contexts is twofold: on the one hand, they exhibit very consistent behaviour across Romance languages with respect to mood selection, in that they always select the indicative in their complement clause, rejecting the subjunctive. On the other hand, their interpretive properties change according to the tense used: when containing a subordinate imperfect indicative tense, dream reports have the property that the dreamed eventuality need not be temporally anchored; at the same time, they do not seem to ascribe any specific attitude to the subject (the dreamer). When containing a non-imperfect indicative tense, temporal anchoring is available, and a particular evidential meaning can be detected, revealing the presence of a speaker-oriented attitude towards the content of the dream. The connection between temporal anchoring and the presence/absence of a propositional attitude will be investigated: semantically, within an extensional, truth-theoretical framework by arguing in favour of a reflexive/tensed-thoughts approach to propositional attitudes; and in its morphosyntactic aspects, by motivating a conception according to which the interaction between the temporal features of T and the features of C provide the interface conditions for the interpretive facts to arise.
We are used to regarding actions and other events, such as Brutus' stabbing of Caesar or the sink... more We are used to regarding actions and other events, such as Brutus' stabbing of Caesar or the sinking of the Titanic, as occupying intervals of some underlying linearly ordered temporal dimension. This attitude is so natural and compelling that one is tempted to disregard the obvious difference between time periods and actual happenings in favor of the former: events become mere "intervals cum description". 1 On the other hand, in ordinary circumstances the point of talking about time is to talk about what actually happens or might happen at some time or another. We talk about 'now' and 'then' in an effort to put some order in our description of what goes on. And since different events seem to overlap in so many different ways, a full account of their temporal relations seems to run afoul of a reductionist strategy.
Uploads
Papers by Fabio Pianesi