... In these cases the latter, hypothetical reading can be forced by adding the the sentential ad... more ... In these cases the latter, hypothetical reading can be forced by adding the the sentential adverb 'moshi' to the antecedent, which may be translated roughly as 'assuming that' or 'in the event that'. Sentence (4) is unambiguously hypothetical: ...
This paper proposes an account of the interpretation of 'only' in the antecedents of indi... more This paper proposes an account of the interpretation of 'only' in the antecedents of indicative conditionals. Our concern lies with the implication from a conditional of the form if (only φ), ψ to its 'only' -less counterpart if φ, ψ: when and why it is warranted. We argue that the pragmatic relationship of scalar upward monotonicity determines its availability. Two factors serve as license. First, it may arise by virtue of a language user's pre-existing world knowledge. Second, it may manifest when it constitutes the most informative reading of the conditional available. We discuss one case in point; namely, its appearance when the consequent is desirable.
This chapter presents a survey of the most important features of the formal semantic analysis of ... more This chapter presents a survey of the most important features of the formal semantic analysis of modality and mood. It first focuses on modality as exemplified by the modal verbs, presenting the main concepts and introducing the most common basic formal apparatus used in its analysis, and surveying some of the issues that are currently central in the field. The chapter then turns to the treatment of mood, discussing formal semantic treatments of both “sentential mood” and “verbal mood”. The last part of the chapter addresses the issue of modal subordination. The chapter aims to give a sense of the major phenomena and theoretical approaches, as well as introduce the primary literature.
The German discourse particles ‘ja’ and ‘doch’ both mark the information expressed by their host ... more The German discourse particles ‘ja’ and ‘doch’ both mark the information expressed by their host sentence as somehow given, obvious, or uncontroversial (McCready & Zimmermann 2011 call them ‘epistemic particles’). Two things are puzzling: (i) despite its ‘epistemic’ nature, ‘doch’ can appear in imperatives and with performative modals; (ii) despite their similarity, ‘ja’ is unacceptable in imperatives and forces a descriptive reading of modal verbs. We explain (i) by assuming that the performativity of modalized propositions depends on certain contextual constellations which may conflict with constraints imposed by the particles. To account for (ii), we offer an analysis for ‘ja’ and ‘doch’ that explains the inviolable ban against ‘ja’ (but not ‘doch’) from performative modal contexts in terms of defeasible inferences about the context.
... In these cases the latter, hypothetical reading can be forced by adding the the sentential ad... more ... In these cases the latter, hypothetical reading can be forced by adding the the sentential adverb 'moshi' to the antecedent, which may be translated roughly as 'assuming that' or 'in the event that'. Sentence (4) is unambiguously hypothetical: ...
This paper proposes an account of the interpretation of 'only' in the antecedents of indi... more This paper proposes an account of the interpretation of 'only' in the antecedents of indicative conditionals. Our concern lies with the implication from a conditional of the form if (only φ), ψ to its 'only' -less counterpart if φ, ψ: when and why it is warranted. We argue that the pragmatic relationship of scalar upward monotonicity determines its availability. Two factors serve as license. First, it may arise by virtue of a language user's pre-existing world knowledge. Second, it may manifest when it constitutes the most informative reading of the conditional available. We discuss one case in point; namely, its appearance when the consequent is desirable.
This chapter presents a survey of the most important features of the formal semantic analysis of ... more This chapter presents a survey of the most important features of the formal semantic analysis of modality and mood. It first focuses on modality as exemplified by the modal verbs, presenting the main concepts and introducing the most common basic formal apparatus used in its analysis, and surveying some of the issues that are currently central in the field. The chapter then turns to the treatment of mood, discussing formal semantic treatments of both “sentential mood” and “verbal mood”. The last part of the chapter addresses the issue of modal subordination. The chapter aims to give a sense of the major phenomena and theoretical approaches, as well as introduce the primary literature.
The German discourse particles ‘ja’ and ‘doch’ both mark the information expressed by their host ... more The German discourse particles ‘ja’ and ‘doch’ both mark the information expressed by their host sentence as somehow given, obvious, or uncontroversial (McCready & Zimmermann 2011 call them ‘epistemic particles’). Two things are puzzling: (i) despite its ‘epistemic’ nature, ‘doch’ can appear in imperatives and with performative modals; (ii) despite their similarity, ‘ja’ is unacceptable in imperatives and forces a descriptive reading of modal verbs. We explain (i) by assuming that the performativity of modalized propositions depends on certain contextual constellations which may conflict with constraints imposed by the particles. To account for (ii), we offer an analysis for ‘ja’ and ‘doch’ that explains the inviolable ban against ‘ja’ (but not ‘doch’) from performative modal contexts in terms of defeasible inferences about the context.
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Papers by Stefan Kaufmann