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ELECTIVE DP Mihaela Tanase-Dogaru Fall semester 2011 BARE PLURALS 1. The Problem -while English allows bare plurals and bare mass terms in preverbal subject position, Romanian does not (see (1)). Secondly, Romanian allows bare singular nouns in predicate position, while English does not (see (ii)). (1) a. b. a. b. (2) a. b. a. b. Dogs bark Meat is not good for you. Cini*(i) latr dogs*(the) bark Carne*(a) nu face bine meat*(the) not does good. Ion e student. Ion is student Grivei e cine. Grivei is dog John is *(a) student Spotty is *(a) dog

2. Proper Names 2.1. Proper Names as Type <e> Expressions - Proper Names are type <e> expressions, i.e. they have internal syntactic structure which includes a definite feature. The definite feature may be seen as a definite article which the noun raises to (Longobardi, 1994) or as a definiteness feature with which the noun agrees (Borer, 2005). - when discussing the semantics of Proper Names, we have to account for the paradoxical nature of proper names (see 3): (3) NPs have descriptive content, DPs have reference. Proper Names are a clear case of referring expressions. But they are NPs.

- Longobardi (1994) suggested the natural conclusion that names simply are not NPs, but (heads of) DPs. This makes immediate empirical sense of the fact that names can be syntactically found even in positions where languages like Italian forbid all other bare nouns, such as pre-verbal argument positions. If the name fills the D-head (has moved to it), no lexical government requirement on empty categories would rule such examples out.1 - the head movement from N to D will have <e>-type denotation as its semantic reflex. A descriptive reading of the whole DP is not possible because there is no head-noun any more in N that could define a range (i.e. a restriction) for a variable bound by a quantifying operator hosted by the D-head, as in the interpretational schema (4), which Longobardi (1994) identifies as one way in which reference may be configured grammatically in natural languages:
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Cases like Il Gianni mio ha telefonato may be handled quite straightforwardly, by means of an analysis of Il as an expletive determiner, and an associated expletive replacement analysis of that determiner at LF.

(4)

Denotational Interpretation [D [N]] D x such that x belongs to the class of Ns

N-to-D movement gives rise to a referential interpretation. - Kripke introduces a description of Proper Names as rigid designators and of Definite Descriptions as non-rigid designators. Proper Names are rigid designators i.e., refer to the same individual in every world in which s/he/it appears. Strongly rigid designators refer to things that exist in every possible world (if there are any). Definite descriptions are non-rigid (or accidental or flaccid) designators refer to whatever-it-is fits their description in each world. Therefore the sentence Aristotle is the greatest philosopher includes two designators, one rigid (Aristotle) and one non-rigid (the greatest philosopher). Thus it expresses a contingent truth (because there are some worlds where Aristotle is not the greatest philosopher). - by looking at the differences exhibited by PNs and definite descriptions in counterfactual contexts, Kripke reaches the conclusion that PNs are typically rigid designators while definite descriptions are typically non-rigid designators: (5) a. The French emperor at the beginning of the 19th century might have been someone else. b. *Napoleon might have been someone else. 2.2. On the Internal Structure of Proper Names - the definite feature in the structure of proper names may be expressed by means of: a. an overt definite article. In this case (Italian), the proper name may move to D and incorporate the definite article by Spell-Out: Il mio Gianni ha finalmente telefonato. (Longobardi, 1994) *Mio Gianni ha finalmente telefonato. Gianni mio ha finalmente telefonato. b. a covert definite article (a definiteness feature). In this case (English), the proper name agrees with the definiteness feature in the syntax and raises to D by LF. (7a) shows that the noun cat is licensed as common name by Agree with the [def] feature in D and LF raising to D.

(6)

(7) a. Cat was morose. (Borer, 2005) b. The cat was morose - in Romanian proper names bear enclitic definite articles (like German or Greek: (8) a. b. c. Der Hans is weggegangen (German). Hans-the is arrived O Kostis efuge. (Greek) Kostis-the ran Clujul e frumos. Cluj-the is beautiful.

- Romanian makes a distinction between the expletive definite article and the non-expletive definite article on proper names. When appearing in the company of prenominal adjectives bearing the definite

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article, proper names are licensed as common names or predicates (9a); when the adjective appears in post-nominal position, the name has risen to D and is clearly a proper name type <e> (9b): (9) a. b. Viteazul Mihai / viteazul erou brave-the Mihai/ brave-the hero Mihai Viteazul / *eroul viteazul mihai brave-the / *hero-the brave-the

- the same idea that it is syntax which gives the denotation gets additional support from the fact that, in Romanian as in English, animal names can get a proper name interpretation when they appear without determiners, i.e. in D. In (10a) the noun is licensed as a common name while in (10b) it is licensed as a proper name. (10) a. b. c. Viermele este scrbos. / Hiena este moart worm-the is disgusting. / hyena-the is dead. Vierme s-a suprat pe mine / Hien a plecat n turneu. Worm is upset with me / Hyena left in tour. *vierme s-a suprat pe mine / *hien a plecat n turneu. *worm is upset with me / *hyena left in tour.

- in Romanian, the Accusative marker pe selects type <e> entities. The contrasts in (11) clearly show that common nouns are licensed as proper names in the appropriate syntactic configurations: (11) L-am vzut pe Vierme / *L-am vzut pe vierme I saw pe Worm / * I saw pe worm Am vzut viermele / *Am vzut Viermele. I saw worm-the / * I saw Worm-the

- the complex structure of proper names and N-to-D movement of proper names in Romanian is exploited by several genres, especially by those which aim at persuading the hearer with the aid of rhetorical devices (puns, figures of speech, deviations from the norm, etc). Advertising is such a genre. In a TV commercial for a company providing internet assistance (broadcast on April 18, 2007), the slogan reads as follows: Eu sunt Liber (I am Free); tu cine eti? (who are you?). The slogan can be interpreted as follows: the predicate free is embedded in a syntactic structure containing the D level and it raises to D, where it achieves reference and it becomes a proper name. 3. Number and Bare Plurals 3.1. Bare Plurals as Kinds: Carlsons (Proper Names) of Kinds Bare plurals are noun phrases with no (visually present) quantifier or determiner before the head noun: NP (cf. Carlson, 1977) (12) a. b. Dogs bark. (English) *Cini(i) latr. (Romanian) Living in caves was not funny! S locuieti n peteri nu e amuzant! to live in caves not is funny Cars crashed on the A7 today. S-au ciocnit maini pe autostrad astzi. Se-have collided cars on highway today

c.

There are three readings for bare plurals: 1. univ characterizing generics: (13) a. a. students learn *Studeni nva. students*(the) learn students learn students go to school * Studeni se duc la coal. students*(the) refl.go to school. students go to school

b. b.

2. ex - indefinite plural: (14) doctors tried to save the dying boy. (muli) *doctori au ncercat s salveze bieelul pe moarte. (many) *doctors have tried to save boy-the on death (many) doctors tried to save the dying boy

3. kind - kind use: (15) dinosaurs are extinct. *dinozauri sunt o specie disprut. dinosaurs*(the) are a species extinct. dinosaurs are an extinct species

- the bare plural does not seem to be the counterpart to the indefinite singular a. There are some crucial differences between them, which can be grouped in four categories: (i) In the context of opacity-inducing operators: believe, wish, likely, seeking, must, etc. the indefinite singular exhibits ambiguity, while the bare plural only elicits the opaque reading: (16) Harry wishes to talk to a wise wizard. Harry dorete s vorbesc cu un vrjitor nelept. Harry wishes to talk to wise wizards. Harry dorete s vorbeasc cu vrjitori nelepi.

(ii) Scope ambiguity the indefinite singular is again ambiguous between two readings, while the bare plural does not elicit ambiguities (17) Everyone read a book on linguistics Toat lumea a citit o carte de lingvistic. Everyone read books on linguistics. Toat lumea a citit cri de lingvistic.

(iii) Differentiated scope - under certain circumstances bare plurals have a narrower scope than a possibly can: time adverbials, cleft sentences, etc. (18) *A dog was everywhere. *Un cine era peste tot.

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Dogs were everywhere Erau cini peste tot. (iv) Anaphoric processes (19) Jim is seeking a unicorn, and Mel is seeking it, too. Jim caut un unicorn i Mel l caut i el. Jim ate apples slowly, and Mel ate them fast. Jim a mncat mere ncet i Mel le-a mncat repede.

the bare plural cannot be the plural of a in any semantically relevant way.

3.2. Romance Bare Plurals - Romance languages generally disallow bare plurals and bare mass terms (grouped under the umbrella term bare nouns, following Longobardi 1994, 2001) in preverbal subject position. - this was originally explained in terms of ECP violations, i.e. bare plurals and bare mass terms in Apositions must be lexically governed by the verb. (20) a. b. Elefani*(i) sunt mari (Romanian). Elephants are big. *Ap vine pe conduct./ *Ap e ud. Water comes on pipe. / Water is wet.

- when the postverbal subject position becomes available for Romanian bare nouns the kind / generic interpretation is ruled out: (21) a. b. c. *Maimue triesc n acel copac. (Romanian) Monkeys live in that tree. n acel copac triesc maimue. In that tree live monkeys. Vine ap pe conduct. Comes water on pipe.

- Chierchia: Romance resorts to two strategies in order to compensate for the limited distribution of bare plurals: a) for the existential reading of bare plurals, it uses devices of existential quantification, like plural forms of the indefinite article (Spanish, Romanian) or partitive constructions (French, Italian) (22) a. b. b. Unos chicos han entrado (Spanish) some kids have entered Nite cini se joac afar (Romanian) some dogs are playing outside Dei cani stanno goicando fuori (Italian) of-the dogs are playing outside

b) for the generic or kind reading, Romance uses the definite article (23) a. I cani sono rari (Italian) the dogs are rare

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b. Cinii sunt rari (Romanian) dogs-the are rare

- Romanian bare plurals in object position are interpreted existentially, licensed as foci and remaining in the nuclear scope: (24) a. b. Astzi am cumprat mere/zahr. Today have bought apples / sugar. Astzi am gtit cotlete / musaca. Today have cooked cutlets / mousaka.

- Romanian BPs are disallowed in preverbal position with generic interpretation; the postverbal position becomes available for Romanian BPs but only with existential interpretation: (25) a. b. c. n fiecare zi n acest cartier mor mpucai tineri. Every day in this neighborhood die shot youngsters. n aceast sal se ncarc puti. In this room se load guns. Erau puti n grdin. Were guns in the garden.

- coordination can widen the distribution of existentially interpreted bare plurals in Romance languages, where unmodified bare plurals in subject position are ill-formed (cf. Heycock and Zamparelli 2000): (26) Zi obinuit de lucru: profesori *(i studeni) vorbeau ntruna. Day usual of work: professors *(and students) were talking incessantly. Usual workday: professors and students kept on talking.

- the split topicalization structure (cf. Henk van Riemsdijk, p.c.) can also widen the distribution of BPs: (27) a. Cri a citit foarte puine books has read very few as for books, he read very few Buecher liest er nur wenige books reads he only few as for books, he only reads few

b.

3.3. Bare Plurals as NumPs - Deprez (2005) formulates a morpho-syntactic parameter named the Plural Parameter, which distinguishes two categories of languages, according to whether the structures of nominal expressions include a projection for Number. - in +PL languages, NumP projects systematically, i.e. including cases of singular nouns with no overt number morphology (singular or plural). This NumP contains a counter, which Deprez defines as a measure function which is the translation of countability. - in PL languages, the projection of NumP is optional and when it occurs, NumP doesnt need to project a counter. what the Plural Parameter entails for the syntax of bare nouns in +PL languages is that bare arguments must always be (minimally) NumPs. As for PL languages, bare arguments can be syntactically realized as simple NP structures.