{"id":14631,"date":"2022-04-04T06:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T10:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whamit.mit.edu\/?p=14631"},"modified":"2022-04-04T14:00:52","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T18:00:52","slug":"syntax-square-4-4-giovanni-roversi-mit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/2022\/04\/04\/syntax-square-4-4-giovanni-roversi-mit-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Syntax Square 4\/5 - Giovanni Roversi (MIT)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong> Giovanni Roversi (MIT) <br class=\"\" \/><br clear='none'\/>\n<strong>Title: <\/strong>Definite Spans and Blocking in Classifier Languages<br class=\"\" \/><br clear='none'\/>\n<strong>Time: <\/strong>Tuesday, April 5th, 1pm - 2pm<\/p>\n<p><b>Where:<\/b> 32-D461, or on zoom, ask organizers for details\u00a0<br class=\"\" \/><br clear='none'\/>\n<br class=\"\" \/><br clear='none'\/>\n<strong>Abstract: <\/strong>Giovanni will be leading a discussion of Peter Jenks&#8217; (2018) &#8220;Definite Spans and Blocking in Classifier Languages.\u0094\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/5tt1j4pj\">https:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/5tt1j4pj<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/whamit.mit.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mini_magick20190426-7464-qqpx9u.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-14646\" src=\"http:\/\/whamit.mit.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mini_magick20190426-7464-qqpx9u.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"165\" height=\"214\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Abstract of paper:<\/strong> This paper presents a novel analysis of definite noun phrases in numeral classifier languages without definite articles. The motivation for this analysis comes from the classifier-modifier construction (CMC) in Thai, in which a predicative modifier can license a bare classifier, resulting in a definite interpretation. I argue that the definite readings are due to a null choice-functional determiner (Reinhart 1997, Winter 1997), which takes the modifier as its complement (Kayne 1994). I propose that the modifier licenses the bare classifier, otherwise prohibited, because head raising relative clause structures bleed the environment for a D-Clf-N span to be realized as a bare noun (Brody 2000, Svenonius 2012, a.o.). I argue that this coalescence-based account of definite noun phrases, specifically definite bare nouns, is an improvement on accounts based on head movement (Cheng and Sybesma 1999) or semantic type-shifting (Chierchia 1998). This analysis correctly derives the generalization that languages allowing definite bare classifiers do not allow definite bare nouns in most cases, captures Chierchia&#8217;s nominal typology without resorting to semantic variation, and opens up new accounts for the apparent optionality of functional morphology in analytic languages.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Speaker: Giovanni Roversi (MIT) Title: Definite Spans and Blocking in Classifier Languages Time: Tuesday, April 5th, 1pm - 2pm Where: 32-D461, or on zoom, ask organizers for details\u00a0 Abstract: Giovanni will be leading a discussion of Peter Jenks&#8217; (2018) &#8220;Definite Spans and Blocking in Classifier Languages.\u0094\u00a0https:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/5tt1j4pj Abstract of paper: This paper presents a novel analysis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14631"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14650,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14631\/revisions\/14650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}