Past Event

How to build a gradable predicate in Mayan

Dr. Robert Henderson
(McGill University)

This talk investigates an enigmatic root class in Mayan languages, called positional in the descriptive literature, and argues that these roots should receive a scalar semantics. Example (1) presents some instances of positional roots in Kaqchikel, while (2) shows a few of their canonical derivations. Note that they can be derived into stems of a variety of syntactic categories.

After mustering distributional arguments for a degree-based account of positional roots, I then expand the analysis along three routes. First, I show how a series of positional-specific morphological puzzles can be solved when positional derivations (like those above) are reanalyzed as degree morphology. Second, given the cross-categorial distribution of scalar items, I show how the analysis lets us understand why positionals are so category neutral: They lexicalize the scalar core underlying gradable predicates across categories. Finally, I consider how to integrate derived positionals into clause-level degree constructions like the comparative. All along the way there will be tension between giving positionals a scalar semantics and preventing them from collapsing on bona fide root adjectives, which pattern differently in a variety of ways. This will open up a way to think about different sources of gradability in natural language.

About the Presenter

Dr. Robert Henderson received his PhD from UC Santa Cruz in 2012. His research interests are in formal semantics, especially plurality, with an empirical focus on Mayan. He has also worked on the prosodic structure of Mayan languages. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University.