The Syntax of Givenness Ivona Kucerová
The Syntax of Givenness Ivona Kucerová The Syntax of Givenness Ivona Kucerová
. #Když muž vlastní osla, osla vlastní jeho žena. when man owns donkey donkey owns his wife (117) In general, CHILDREN misbehave. But teachers only SOMETIMES punish children. (118) a. Jezevčíci jsou obvykle nevychovaní, ale jenom někdy dachshunds.Nom are usually misbehaved but only sometimes důchodci trestají JEZEVČÍKY. pensioners.Nom punish dachshunds.Acc ‘Dachshunds usually misbehave but pensioners only sometimes punish dachshunds.’ b. #Jezevčíci jsou obvykle nevychovaní, ale jezevčíky jenom dachshunds.Nom are usually misbehaved but only sometimes někdy trestají důchodci. dachshunds.Acc punish pensioners.Nom The examples in (115)–(118) contain existential indefinites. As we can see, in English, repetition of an existential indefinite is a sufficient condition for the indefinite to be deaccented. In fact, the indefinites must be deaccented. In contrast, in Czech, such an indefinite does not undergo G-movement. Furthermore, the indefinite carries the main sentential stress. Deaccentating is not possible. As the example in (119) demonstrates, in a non-generic context a plural DP like dachshunds may undergo G-movement. But if it undergoes G-movement then it is necessarily interpreted as a definite description. If there is no G-movement, as in (120), the second occurrence of dachshunds must be interpreted as a different group of dachshunds than those who were misbehaving. (119) Jezevčíci dachshunds.Nom trestají punish jsou are důchodci. pensioners.Nom někdy nevychovaní, a pak jezevčíky sometimes misbehaved and then dachshunds.Acc a. ‘Dachshunds sometimes misbehave and then pensioners punish the dachshunds.’ b. #‘Dachshunds sometimes misbehave and then pensioners punish dachshunds.’ (120) Jezevčíci jsou někdy nevychovaní, a pak důchodci dachshunds.Nom are sometimes misbehaved and then pensioners.Nom trestají jezevčíky. punish dachshunds.Acc a. ‘Dachshunds sometimes misbehave and then pensioners punish dachshunds.’ b. #‘Dachshunds sometimes misbehave and then pensioners punish the dachshunds.’ To summarize so far, existential indefinites do not G-move in Czech and they have no problem being accented in a position where an English existential indefinite must be deaccented. On the other hand, if a plural (recall that Czech does not have overt articles) undergoes G- movement, it must be interpreted as a definite description. 124
Generic indefinites behave slightly differently than existential indefinites. They do not undergo G-movement either, but they may be deaccented if something else needs to bear the main sentential stress. Consider the following examples containing hyponyms. (121) (Ladd, 1980) Q: Has John read Slaughterhouse-Five? A: He doesn’t READ books. (122) a. On knihy NEČTE. he books not-reads b. On NEČTE knihy. he not-reads books ‘He doesn’t READ books.’ (123) (Chafe, 1976) I bought a painting last week. I really LIKE paintings. (124) a. Já mám obrazy RÁD. I have paintings liked b. Já mám RÁD obrazy. I have liked paintings ‘I really LIKE paintings.’ In Czech as in English, the hyperonym primed by the previous context is deaccented. If we look more closely at the examples, we see, however, that they are rather different. Let’s first consider the example in (121). The answer in (121) is a correction to a proposition entailed by the question. The question about reading Slaughterhouse-Five entails an answer about reading books. 21 Corrections in general assert that an entailed (or asserted) proposition is not true. As a result, in this particular example, the negation carries focus accent as a means of excluding the entailed proposition from the set of propositions compatible with the common ground. On the other hand, the example in (123) does not contain any correction. The relevant utterance is an answer to an implicit question ‘Why do you buy paintings?’. 22 The implicit question primes the focus accent on the evaluative predicate like. Even though these two cases are not identical, they both contain a focused element that needs to be stressed. I argue that the fact that the generic indefinites are deaccented is not a property of the indefinites per se but is a consequence of their prosodic neighbor being stressed. If this conclusion is correct, we predict that if there is no focus, hyponyms cannot be deaccented. As we can see in (125), this is indeed correct. Thus, the fact that the generic indefinites in the previous examples are deaccented has nothing to do with them having a salient antecedent. Instead, the lack of sentential stress is a side-product of focusing the 21 This follows only if an answer has the same implicature as the question. 22 I thank Danny Fox, p.c., for suggesting that I treat these cases as containing an implicit question. 125
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Generic indefinites behave slightly differently than existential indefinites. <strong>The</strong>y do not<br />
undergo G-movement either, but they may be deaccented if something else needs to bear<br />
the main sentential stress. Consider the following examples containing hyponyms.<br />
(121) (Ladd, 1980)<br />
Q: Has John read Slaughterhouse-Five?<br />
A: He doesn’t READ books.<br />
(122) a. On knihy NEČTE.<br />
he books not-reads<br />
b. On NEČTE knihy.<br />
he not-reads books<br />
‘He doesn’t READ books.’<br />
(123) (Chafe, 1976)<br />
I bought a painting last week.<br />
I really LIKE paintings.<br />
(124) a. Já mám obrazy RÁD.<br />
I have paintings liked<br />
b. Já mám RÁD obrazy.<br />
I have liked paintings<br />
‘I really LIKE paintings.’<br />
In Czech as in English, the hyperonym primed by the previous context is deaccented. If we<br />
look more closely at the examples, we see, however, that they are rather different. Let’s first<br />
consider the example in (121). <strong>The</strong> answer in (121) is a correction to a proposition entailed<br />
by the question. <strong>The</strong> question about reading Slaughterhouse-Five entails an answer about<br />
reading books. 21 Corrections in general assert that an entailed (or asserted) proposition<br />
is not true. As a result, in this particular example, the negation carries focus accent as a<br />
means <strong>of</strong> excluding the entailed proposition from the set <strong>of</strong> propositions compatible with<br />
the common ground.<br />
On the other hand, the example in (123) does not contain any correction. <strong>The</strong> relevant<br />
utterance is an answer to an implicit question ‘Why do you buy paintings?’. 22 <strong>The</strong> implicit<br />
question primes the focus accent on the evaluative predicate like. Even though these two<br />
cases are not identical, they both contain a focused element that needs to be stressed. I<br />
argue that the fact that the generic indefinites are deaccented is not a property <strong>of</strong> the indefinites<br />
per se but is a consequence <strong>of</strong> their prosodic neighbor being stressed.<br />
If this conclusion is correct, we predict that if there is no focus, hyponyms cannot be<br />
deaccented. As we can see in (125), this is indeed correct. Thus, the fact that the generic<br />
indefinites in the previous examples are deaccented has nothing to do with them having a<br />
salient antecedent. Instead, the lack <strong>of</strong> sentential stress is a side-product <strong>of</strong> focusing the<br />
21 This follows only if an answer has the same implicature as the question.<br />
22 I thank Danny Fox, p.c., for suggesting that I treat these cases as containing an implicit question.<br />
125
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