A quantifier-based approach to NPI-licensing typology: Empirical and computational investigations
Date
2020
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This thesis examines the quantifier-based approach to NPI-licensing (as pro-
posed in (Giannakidou, 2000)) from empirical and computational perspectives. This
approach argues that all NPIs can be categorized as either existentially or univer-
sally quantified items, and that this difference drives cross-linguistically divergent NPI-
behaviors. After providing the necessary background and assumptions, in the first half
of the thesis I show that English any-NPIs are existentially quantified, whereas Hun-
garian se-NPIs are universally quantified. I also demonstrate how this approach can
help understand the behavior of NPIs in other languages and language families such
as Slavic, Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, and Romance languages. In the second half of
the thesis, I analyze the quantifier-based NPI-licensing constraints for computational
complexity. I find that except for the constraints that rely on derived c-command, all
other constraints can be described with Input-local Tier-based Strictly Local (I-TSL)
or Multiple Input-local Tier-based Strictly Local (MITSL) restrictions, which means
that tree-languages that satisfy NPI-licensing constraints for the most part fit into a
fairly restrictive subregular class of tree-languages. Taken together, this thesis argues
that a theoretically informed approach to linguistic phenomena can significantly affect
results on their computational complexity.
Description
Keywords
Computational complexity, Hungarian, Negative Polarity Item, NPI, Subregular syntax, Syntax