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J a N V a N E I J C K a N D N I S S I M F R a N C E Z Verb-phrase Ellipsis in Dynamic Semantics 2 J a N V a N E I J C K a N D N I S S I M F R a N C E Z V P E I N D Y N a M I C S E M a N T I C S 4 J a N V a N E I J C K a N D N I S S I M F R a N C E Z V P E I N D Y N a M I C S E M a N T I C S 5 Memory
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Copyright Year | 1995 |
| Abstract | We study Verb-phrase Ellipsis (VPE) and show its relationship to presup-position and its failure. In doing so, we use a novel representation of VPE by means of a dynamic semantics approach, using an extended version of Dynamic Predicate Logic which includes local variables and procedures. We focus on the representation of the strict/sloppy ambiguity in connection with ellipsis constructs, which comes \for free" in a procedural context. We also provide independent justiication for our representation of VPE in terms of procedure deenitions and their invocations. The relationship of VPE and presupposition also sheds some new light on the arguments about the question whether VPE is syntactic or semantic in nature, as well as on the relative order of meaning determination and presupposition determination. In this paper, the relationship between Verb-phrase Ellipsis (henceforth abbreviated to VPE) and presupposition|and in particular presuppo-sition failure|is studied. As far as we know, no such relationship has been considered before in the literature. Note though, that the idea to look at VPE as procedure invocation is not new; it can be found, e.g., in (Gardent, 1991). Our formalization is new, though. We show that the famous ambiguity in VPE, namely the distinction between strict readings vs. sloppy readings, is related to presuppositions and their failure. We formalize our theory using an extension of Dynamic Predicate Logic (DPL) (Groenendijk and Stokhof, 1991). For that purpose, DPL has to be extended. The extension we propose includes the following constructs: Local variables Procedures with simple parameters (without recursion) Scope rules for free variables in procedures (dynamic vs. static scoping). To make the formal connection with presupposition, we combine these extensions with a partial orèrror abortion' semantics for DPL, in the We would like to stress one methodological issue, not directly related to presuppositions and their relation to VPE. Incorporating procedures into a dynamic semantics account of VPE has a twofold advantage: 1. It provides a succinct representation of VPE which naturally accounts for the famous ambiguity of strict/sloppy readings of certain VPEs, and moreover, it does so in terms of scope-rules that are well understood in programming languages semantics. The binding mechanisms involved turn out to have an independent justiication in a broader context, rather than being an ad-hoc construction for VPE representation only. 2. It provides new grounds for a possible answer to a question often raised in the literature, where it tends to generate a heated argument: … |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
