Using semantic inferences to distinguish between free relative and embedded questions: An analysis of ambiguous embedded clauses
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Abstract
In this chapter, we propose an analysis of embedded clauses in Brazilian Portuguese introduced by wh-pronouns and selected by the verbs ver(‘to see’), saber(‘to know’), ignorar(‘to ignore’), esquecer-se (‘to forget’) and lembrar-se (‘to remember’). These clauses have features that are similar to free relatives (FR) and to embedded questions (EQ). Thus, they are called ambiguous embeddedclauses. In this research, we suggest applying a semantic test to differentiate these clauses: the inference test (entailment and presupposition). This test seems to be efficient for clearly distinguishing between EQ clauses and ambiguous embedded clauses. However, the distinction between the latter and FR clauses is not that clear, since both FR and ambiguous embedded clauses seem to trigger entailment and presupposition. FRs are structurally conditioned to trigger entailments while ambiguous embedded clauses are a complement to a factive verb that creates inferences (entailment and presupposition). However, only the FR clauses need to share a constituent with the matrix clause. In other words, the constituent shared between the FR clause and the matrix clause must be co-referential. Thus, the fact that the triggering semantic inference does not depend on the matrix clause having a factive verb and a shared constituent (co-reference) gives us enough evidence to state that the ambiguous embedded clauses cannot be identified as FR clauses. With such prerogatives, we conclude that the ambiguous embedded clauses are not ambiguous in-between FR and EQ clauses, since they would be semantically differentiated from both FR and EQ clauses.
Abstract
In this chapter, we propose an analysis of embedded clauses in Brazilian Portuguese introduced by wh-pronouns and selected by the verbs ver(‘to see’), saber(‘to know’), ignorar(‘to ignore’), esquecer-se (‘to forget’) and lembrar-se (‘to remember’). These clauses have features that are similar to free relatives (FR) and to embedded questions (EQ). Thus, they are called ambiguous embeddedclauses. In this research, we suggest applying a semantic test to differentiate these clauses: the inference test (entailment and presupposition). This test seems to be efficient for clearly distinguishing between EQ clauses and ambiguous embedded clauses. However, the distinction between the latter and FR clauses is not that clear, since both FR and ambiguous embedded clauses seem to trigger entailment and presupposition. FRs are structurally conditioned to trigger entailments while ambiguous embedded clauses are a complement to a factive verb that creates inferences (entailment and presupposition). However, only the FR clauses need to share a constituent with the matrix clause. In other words, the constituent shared between the FR clause and the matrix clause must be co-referential. Thus, the fact that the triggering semantic inference does not depend on the matrix clause having a factive verb and a shared constituent (co-reference) gives us enough evidence to state that the ambiguous embedded clauses cannot be identified as FR clauses. With such prerogatives, we conclude that the ambiguous embedded clauses are not ambiguous in-between FR and EQ clauses, since they would be semantically differentiated from both FR and EQ clauses.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
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Part I: Wh-Exclamatives
- Exclamatives: An overview 23
- On the role of IP-related functional categories in the derivation of wh-exclamatives 53
- “What a great paper!”: A semantic analysis of wh-exclamatives with predicates of personal taste 85
- Copular exclamatives and gender agreement 117
- The perception of wh-exclamatives, free small clauses, and wh-questions in Brazilian Portuguese 143
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Part II: Imperatives
- Imperative clauses 173
- The verbal imperative in Brazilian capitals: An analysis of data from the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil Project 227
- Past imperatives 255
- Imperative sentences and their subjects 283
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Part III: Wh-questions
- A framework for the study of Romance wh-questions, with special reference to Italo-Romance 315
- Using semantic inferences to distinguish between free relative and embedded questions: An analysis of ambiguous embedded clauses 359
- The left-peripheral syntax of Brazilian Portuguese cadê 387
- Aspects of the development of wh-questions in child Brazilian Portuguese 409
- Wh-questions, intervention effects and beyond: An assessment of Brazilian Portuguese-speaking schoolchildren’s linguistic abilities 441
- Subject index 461
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Wh-Exclamatives
- Exclamatives: An overview 23
- On the role of IP-related functional categories in the derivation of wh-exclamatives 53
- “What a great paper!”: A semantic analysis of wh-exclamatives with predicates of personal taste 85
- Copular exclamatives and gender agreement 117
- The perception of wh-exclamatives, free small clauses, and wh-questions in Brazilian Portuguese 143
-
Part II: Imperatives
- Imperative clauses 173
- The verbal imperative in Brazilian capitals: An analysis of data from the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil Project 227
- Past imperatives 255
- Imperative sentences and their subjects 283
-
Part III: Wh-questions
- A framework for the study of Romance wh-questions, with special reference to Italo-Romance 315
- Using semantic inferences to distinguish between free relative and embedded questions: An analysis of ambiguous embedded clauses 359
- The left-peripheral syntax of Brazilian Portuguese cadê 387
- Aspects of the development of wh-questions in child Brazilian Portuguese 409
- Wh-questions, intervention effects and beyond: An assessment of Brazilian Portuguese-speaking schoolchildren’s linguistic abilities 441
- Subject index 461
