• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.499-526
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• 2003

This paper, based on Krifka (2001), is about the interpretation of quantifiers in questions. I have argued that quantification into question acts is possible for universal quantifiers, as these quantifiers are based on conjunction, an operation that is defined for speech acts. This explains the restriction to universal quantifiers, which are generalized conjunctions. I have developed a type system in which quantification into question acts can be described. I have argued that expressions that scope out of speech acts must be topic, which explains a number of additional observations. I have also discussed embedded questions, which, depending on the embedding verb, may allow for quantification into questions.

• Language and Information
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2001

Floating quantifiers(FQs) in English exhibit both universal and language specific proper- ties This paper discusses how such syntactic and semantic characteristics can be explained in terms of a constraint-based, lexical approach to the floating quanti- fer construction within the framework of Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar(HPSG). Based on the assumption and FQs are base-generated VP modifiers, this paper proposes and account in which the semantic contribution of FQs consists of a "lexically retrieved" universal quantifier taking scope over the VP meaning.P meaning.

• Language and Information
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.53-76
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• 2004

Negative polarity items(NPIs), which function as quantifiers are licensed in a syntactically strict way by negatives, which function as qualifiers, resulting in universal negating interpretations as pairs. We present a proposal to explain the related phenomena, in which the syntax and the semantics are closely related to each other, with Combinatory Categorial Grammar. For this purpose, we first adopt the usual approach to scrambling, but control its overgeneration with the use of markers, taking into account the complex syntactic phenomena involving NPIs and scrambling in Korean. We also propose to utilize polarity intensity as a novel feature, in order to account for the universal negating interpretations when NPIs are combined with negatives. Our proposal also explains the difference in readings when other quantifiers or qualifiers intervene the NPI and the related negatives.

• Language and Information
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.39-55
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• 2001

This paper investigates the idiosyncratic understanding of universal quantifiers such as every, each or all by young children at the ages of 4 to 7, and argues that the phenomenon is explicable in terms of the maturation of both the cognitive system and the linguistic system. Evidence for this dual explanation comes from the fact that the visual input, a picture, plays a key role in determining the children's conceptual representation, suggesting the need for the central integration of visual and linguistic elements; and from the fact that a quantifier in the linguistic input has an intrinsic property, i.e. a <+focus> feature. I have tried to explain the nature of the cognitive factors in terms of the function of the central system, suggesting a modified form of Smith & Tsimpli's (1995) yersion of Fodor's (1983) modularity hypothesis. The categorial status of the quantifier in the children's interpretation is considered, focusing on the movement of that quantifier out of its own extended projection to FP. It is claimed that children initially treat quantifiers as modifiers, rather than functional heads, and that the phenomenon of quantifier spreading by children can be attributed to delay in the development of the relevant functional category, i.e., DP (or QP), in language acquisition.

• Language and Information
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2002

This paper examines existing approaches to exceptive constructions, which typically serve to maintain the use of universal quantifiers by diminishing the domain quantified over. It places a particular focus on constructions involving Korean oyey, Dutch behalve, and English apart from, other than, and aside from. These lexical items all share an interesting semantic property that they mean either 'except' or 'besides' depending upon their linguistic contexts, but they have largely been ignored in the literature of exceptive constructions. An observation is made that the two meanings of the ambiguous exceptive words are in complementary distribution with respect to types of quantifiers and that they are not an isolated fact. Based on this, a unifying formal semantic analysis is attempted for the constructions.

• Language and Information
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.67-83
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• 2008

The semantics of whole involves distributivity, which may not be accounted for by the distributive operator for plurals or quantifiers. I review the pragmatic approach to whole by Moltmann (2005) and propose that the semantics of whole can be explained by the member specification function, which maps a group to its members. Although NPs with whole are morphologically singular, they become semantically plural with the application of the function. The distributive operator for plurals is introduced on a sentence with whole, which explains the distributivity of whole.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Language and Information Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.237-257
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• 2001

This paper investigates the idiosyncratic understanding of universal quantifiers such as every, each or all by young children at the ages of 4 to 7, and argues that the phenomenon is explicable in terms of the maturation of both the cognitive system and the linguistic system. Evidence for this dual explanation comes from the fact that the visual input, a picture, plays a key role in determining the children’s conceptual representation, suggesting the need for the central integration of visual and linguistic elements; and from the fact that a quantifier in the linguistic input has an intrinsic property, i.e. a <+focus> feature. I have tried to explain the nature of the cognitive factors in terms of the function of the central system, suggesting a modified form of Smith & Tsimpli’s (1995) version of Fodor’s (1983) modularity hypothesis. Conceptual representations of two kinds are in competition with each other and they are integrated into a neutral LOT (Language of Thought) representation at some point . In the process of this integration, the representations from the visual input predominate over those from the auditory input, though the quantize. (treated as new information provided by the latter) is salient in the final representations. When visual conceptual representations predominate over purely linguistic ones, quantifier spreading errors occur. By contrast, when the relevant grammatical knowledge has developed sufficiently to counteract the conceptual representations, this peculiar behaviour by children should disappear. It is argued that children have to learn two kinds of grammatical fact with regard to universal quantification: (i) they have to learn the status of the quantifier as a functional head of DP so that it has to be positioned inside DP; and (ii) they have to learn the Left-Branch Condition which specifies that movement of an element in the left-branch position is possible only by pied-piping the entire phrase.