Papers on Negation and Quantifiers

Here is a series of five papers I have written recently concerning negation, quantifiers and negating quantifiers. They are all syntax/semantics interface papers, with a substantial semantic component. The constant theme throughout is the application of the basic framework of Collins and Postal 2014 to various phenomena. 

Internet Searches as a Tool in Syntactic Research (third version)

Internet searches have turned out to be a revolutionary tool in syntactic research. In this blog post, I outline the general methodology.

Internet Searches

Implicit Arguments at WCCFL 41 (2023): Abstracts

The following abstracts concerning implicit arguments have been accepted to WCCFL 41:

On the Syntactic Status of Implicit Arguments in UG: Greek as a Case Study (Accepted WCCFL 41 2023 Abstract)

 The abstract below is a joint effort by our team, including (in alphabetical order):
Niko Angelopoulos, Chris Collins, Dimitris Michelioudakis and Arhonto Terzi.

On the Syntactic Status of Implicit Arguments: Greek as a Case Study

The Distribution of Particles in Quotative Inversion (Collins 2003)

In this paper , I revisit the analysis of Quotative Inversion (QI) presented in Collins (1997) (see also Collins and Branigan (1997), and see Doeleman 1998 and Suñer 2000 on QI in other languages). Based on the distribution of particles in QI, I will show that the […V Subj…] word order found in QI (quotative inversion) is the result of VP movement to a position c-commanding the in-situ Subj. The distribution of particles provides direct evidence against the verb movement analysis of QI given in Collins 1997.

The Distribution of Particles in Quotative Inversion

The Use of the Internet as a Natural Language Corpus in Syntactic Research

Motivation

Collins and Postal (2012, 2014) contain a large amount of data obtained from Internet searches. Similarly, such data is cited extensively in chapters 2 and 3 from my forthcoming monograph “Principles of Argument Structure: A Merge Based Approach”.

Responding to Reviewers: 10 Pieces of Advice

It is often necessary to respond to reviewer comments. For example, if you submit a paper, and the editor’s decision is “revise and resubmit” or “accept with major revisions”, you will be required to respond to reviewer comments. 

I have responded to reviewer comments hundreds of times throughout my career, not only for papers and books, but also grant applications.

This blog post lists some pieces of advice that you might find useful.

Workshop Announcement: Syntactic Approaches to Morphology

SCHEDULE

Venue: online (synchronous talks via Zoom)

Registration: There is no registration fee, but attendees need to register. 

For schedule and registration, click here.

Date: December 4-5, 2020

Organizers: Chris Collins (NYU) and Richard Kayne (NYU)

The purpose of this conference is to investigate the relationship between morphology and syntax, and in particular to investigate the extent to which morphological generalizations can be accounted for in terms of purely syntactic operations and conditions. Specific questions that could be addressed include the following:

Three Monographs to Write

Here are the next three monographs that I want to write, presented in the order in which they will be written. Most of the material has already been written up (and posted on Lingbuzz and on my blog OrdinaryWorkingGrammarian in various forms).

The Beginning of Syntax (Version 3)

In this post, I argue that we, as a field, are at the beginning of the scientific study of natural language syntax. There are two aspects to this claim. First, work in generative syntax, even on a well-studied language like English, has just uncovered the tip of the iceberg in terms of documenting the relevant facts and generalizations. Second, we are also at the very beginning of understanding the mechanisms of UG that account for these generalizations.

Papers that I would love to write (but do not have time for right now)

Here is a list of papers that I would love to write, but do not have time for right now.

Introduction (Belletti and Collins 2019)

This paper is the introduction to the volume on Smuggling to appear (OUP) edited by Adriana Belletti and Chris Collins.

Belletti and Collins 2019

Thought as Syntax

Abstract: In this paper, I outline an approach to the study of thought from a syntactic point of view. I propose that sentences (in the sense of generative syntax) are thoughts. Under that assumption, I use natural language syntax as a probe into the structure of our thoughts, and show how such a probe sheds light on how we make deductions and our capacity for imagination.

Keywords: thought, syntax, logic, semantics, imagination

A Smuggling Approach to the Adjunct/Argument Asymmetry

In this mini-squib, I sketch an approach to the adjunct/argument asymmetry that is based on smuggling. 

Outer negation of universal quantifier phrases

Abstract: This paper discusses two ways of negating DP quantifier phrases. In one way, NEG modifies the quantifier D directly with the structure [[NEG D] NP] (inner negation). In the other way, NEG modifies the whole DP with the structure [NEG DP] (outer negation). I give evidence based on negative polarity items that negated universal quantifier phrases like not every student involve outer negation (contra Hoeksema in Linguist Anal 16:25–40, 1986; in: ESCOL ’87, pp 100–113, 1987).

Outer negation of universal quantifier phrases

Description of Ewe Repository

Ewe is a Gbe language, spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin in west Africa.

The Ewe Repository is a collection of articles and books on and in Ewe for serious Ewe scholars. As of today (June 13, 2019) it contains 289 files. It is not accessible publicly on the internet, although we are looking into creating an internet accessible version. If you are an Ewe scholar, and are interested in joining, the price of admission is to send me paper or book on or in Ewe that we do not already have. Then I will sign you up. Even if you do not want to be a member, if you have books or papers on or in Ewe, please send them to me.

Summary of Research 2017-2018

The writing season is coming up. I need to plan out what I will work on this summer.

Proposal for Volume on Smuggling

Proposal for Volume on Smuggling

Editors:            Adriana Belletti, Chris Collins

Publisher:        Oxford University Press

Scalar Modification of Quantifier Phrases

In this paper, I give an analysis of the syntax and semantics of expressions like almost everybody, absolutely everybody and nowhere near everybody. I show how the interpretation of such expressions involves reference to scales of generalized quantifiers in the sense of Horn 2001.

https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/003682

Negating Gradable Adjectives

The last sigh of my summer vacation....

Here, I try to give the semantics of un- in the framework of Collins and Postal 2014.

https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/003655?_s=tLkL037nNvUiZA00&_k=ZVZWb8kBRIYZvNbh