Ling D: Puzzles in Semantics and Pragmatics (advanced)
Hedde Zeijlstra (University of Göttingen)
Julie Goncharov (University of Göttingen)
Puzzle A. (Maria Esipova, University of Konstanz)
In this mini-seminar/puzzle, we will look at several case studies of non-canonical questions and exclamatives in Russian and/or English at the interfaces. We will ask the following questions: why do exclamatives seemingly have to have degree-related interpretations? What are some of the ways in which prosodic expression of affect can regularize in questions and beyond? Why do some rhetorical yes/no questions assume that the answer is ‘yes’ while others assume that the answer is ‘no’?
Puzzle B. Julie Goncharov & Hedde Zeijlstra (University of Göttingen)
"Polarity-sensitivity: triviality, agentivity and their tension"
"In this sort course, we discuss how agentivity may affect polarity-sensitivity and how this creates a problem of our understanding of polarity-sensitivity in terms of triviality."