The Department of Linguistics proudly presents Dr. Veneeta Dayal, Professor at Yale University.  Dr. Dayal will speak on "The Sortability Hypothesis Cross-linguistically".

There are three empirical phenomena that I address in this talk: Optional Plural Marking, Overtly Marked Mention-all Questions, Spontaneous Anti-singularity. Each of these is attested in a number of languages and has been analyzed in terms of singular vs. plural reference:

1a. Manka-taq  urma-ya-mun                                      Cuzco Quechua
       Pot-CONT  fall-INT-TRANSLOC.3S
       “A pot/Some pots fell.”                                           |falling pot| ≥ 1
  b. Manka-kuna-taq  urma-ya-mun                
       Pot-PL-CONT     fall-INT-TRANSLOC.3S
       “Pots fell.”                                                                  |falling pot| > 1

                                                                                           English
2a. Where can one find coffee around here?            Mention-some/mention-all
  b. Where all can one find coffee around here?       Mention-all

3a. ¿Quién      se       fue pronto?                                 Spanish            
      Who-SG REFL left early                                            no uniqueness presupposition    
  b. ¿Quiénes      se       fueron pronto?                        Anti-singularity implicature
       Who-PL    REFL left early

The Cuzco Quechua marker -kuna has been described as an optional plural marker (Faller 2007). In this respect it belongs with markers in other languages that have general number systems, ie a base nominal form that allows for singular and plural reference. Mandarin -men, Japanese -tachi, Korean -tul, Bangla -gulo/-ra, Cuzco Quechua kuna, Indonesian reduplication are other examples of optional pluralization. Such markers are cross-linguistically associated with strict plurality but there is cross-linguistic variation when it comes to animacy related effects. In some languages they are restricted to human/animate nouns, in some languages they are unrestricted. 

In joint work with Liliana Sánchez and Janett Vengoa, we argue that Cuzco Quechua -kuna does not make a semantic contribution: ⟦N⟧ = ⟦N-kuna⟧. Both forms both denote a set of individuals, but -kuna requires its noun complement to denote a set that can be partitioned along some dimension (type, shape, color etc). This is the source of the strict plurality that has been observed for N-kuna: only a plurality of individuals can satisfy the sortability presupposition. The sortability presupposition interacts differently with human vs. inanimate domains, which we also address.

Insights gained from Cuzco Quechua provide a fresh perspective on the two other phenomena noted above. In each case the literature has focused on the difference between the two exponents in terms of number. This leaves unexplained several facts that become tractable when studied through the lens of the sortability hypothesis. 

Funded in part by the GPSAFC and Open to the Graduate Community.