Language evolution seminar

Speaker: Wataru Uegaki (University of Edinburgh)

Title: Learnability and cross-linguistic constraints on the meanings of clause-embedding predicates

Abstract: A central question in semantic research is whether there are any cross-linguistically robust constraints on the possible denotations of lexical items of certain grammatical categories. Recent work has explored cross-linguistic constraints in the domain of clause-embedding predicates like “know", “agree", and “wonder" (Spector & Egré 2015; Theiler, Roelofsen & Aloni 2018; Uegaki 2019; Steinert-Threlkeld 2020). Within this line of work, two basic questions can be distinguished. The first is empirical: Which constraints, if any, do we find in the semantics of clause-embedding predicates? The second is theoretical: What may explain the existence of such universal semantic constraints? In this talk, I will talk about my recent collaborative projects on both of these fronts. Specifically, I will discuss two empirical proposals concerning cross-linguistic constraints on the meanings of clause-embedding predicates (joint work with Floris Roelofsen), and report on artificial-language experiments that aim to tap into how these constraints relate to learnability (joint work with Jennifer Culbertson).

Contact

Seminars are organised by the Centre for Language Evolution

Henry Conklin

Centre for Language Evolution