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ProlegomenatoatheoryofX-marking
KaivonFintel andSabineIatridouMIT
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Apair:
1a.IfMaryknowstheanswer,Johnknowstheanswerb.IfMaryknewtheanswer,Johnwouldknowtheanswer
Not“subjunctiveconditionals”:thesubjunctiveisneithernecessarynorsufficient.
Not“counterfactualconditionals”:FutureLessVividconditionals,alsocancellability asinAnderson1951.
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O-marked
X-marked
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“O-marking”:Open,Ordinary,..“X-marking”:eXtra
Thereisnodeepersignificanceinthechoiceofterms.
Theyarepickedmerelytoavoidwrongassociationslike“subjunctive”and“counterfactual”
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WhatisthemeaningdifferencebetweenO- andX-marking?“semanticX-contribution”
WhatisthemorphologicaldifferencebetweenO- andX-marking?
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TherearelanguagesthathaveveryspecializedX-morphology.
TherearelanguageswhereX-markingconsistsofmorphemesthathaveotherusesaswell.
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• HungarianisalanguagewithspecializedX-morphology:Add-nA toanO-conditional
3. HaJános tudja aválaszt,Mari(is)tudja aválasztifJknowstheanswer-acc M(too)knowstheanswer-acc‘IfJohnknowstheanswer,Maryknowstheanswer’
4.HaJános tudná aválaszt,Mariistudná aválasztifJknow.NA theanswer-acc Maritooknow.NA theanswer-accIfJohnknewtheanswer,Marywouldknowtheanswer
(4)isPresentCounterfactual(PresCF):p,qdonotholdatUT.
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PastCounterfactual,wherep,qdonotholdatatimepriortoUT: youaddpast+nA .
PresCF:5. HaJános tudná aválaszt,Mariistudná aválaszt
ifJknow.NA theanswer-accMaritooknow.NA theanswer-acc‘IfJohnknewtheanswer,Marywouldknowtheanswer’
PastCF:
6. HaJános tudta volna a választ,ifJ know.past.3sgbe-NA theanswer-acc
Mariis tudta volna aválasztM tooknow.past.3gbe-NA theanswer-acc‘IfJohnhadknowntheanswer,Marywouldhaveknowntheanswer too’
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• FutureLessVivid(FLVs):
7a.haholnap el-indul, ajo:vo" h'etre oda-e’riftomorrowaway-leavethefollowingweek.onto there-reach‘Ifheleavestomorrow,hewillgettherenextweek’
b.haholnap el-indulna, ajo:vo" he'tre oda-e'rneiftomorrowaway-leave.NA thefollowingweek.onto there-reach.NA‘Ifhe lefttomorrow,hewouldgettherenextweek’
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Next:
LanguageswhereX-markingplaysadifferentroleinotherenvironments.
SuchlanguagesvariablyusePastTense,Imperfective,FutureandsometimesSubjunctivetomarkthedifferencebetweenXandO-markedconditionals.
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• ForexampleGreek,uses“FakePast”and“FakeImperfective”:
8.Anoarchigos pethene avrio,tha tonthavameekiIfthechiefdied.PST.IMP tomorrow,FUThimbury.PST.IMP there‘ifthechiefdiedtomorrow,wewouldburyhimthere’
Thehypotheticaleventsdescribedarenotinterpretedinthepastnorasbeinginprogress.
Yet,themorphologyisPastandImperfective.
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English,amongmanyothers, isalsoafakepastlanguage(would=woll+PST):
9a.Ifhelefttomorrow,hewouldgettherenextweek(FLV)
b.IfIhadacarnow,Iwouldbehappy (PresCF)
c.Ifhehadbeendescended fromNapoleon, hewouldhavebeen shorter
(PastCF)
EnglishisinasmallminorityoflanguageswhereX-markingappearstoconsistonlyofPasttense.
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TherehasbeenafairamountofliteratureontryingtoidentifyhowthedifferentmorphologicalingredientscontributetothemeaningofthedifferencebetweenXandOconditionals.
Thereareatleasttwowaysthisliteraturehasbeenonthewrongpath.
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• ThefirstisthatmostproposalsconcentrateontheroleofPasttensealone.ignoringotherelementsinX-marking,likeImperfectiveAspectinGreek,Romanceetc).
ButifX-markingconsistsofPastandImperfectiveinGreek andjustPastinEnglish,onewouldhavetocometoeitheroneoftwoconclusions:
- [Past]Greek =/=[Past]EnglishAfterall[Past]Greek needsimperfectiveforX-marking;[Past]Englishdoesnot.or-[Past]Greek =[Past]EnglishAndtheobligatoryimperfectiveinGreekX-markingmakesnocontribution
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Eitherconclusionhasgoneunder-appreciatedbyworkthatfocusesonlyontheroleofPastinX-marking.
Butwearenotheretodaytotrytorectifythistendency.Fortoday’spurposes,wedonotcarewhatXconsistsofmorphologically.
Thatis,Hungarian,EnglishandGreekareonapartoday.
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ThesecondwayinwhichtheliteratureonX-markinghasbeenonthewrongpathisthatithasbeentryingtogleanthecontributionofX-markingbyjustlookingatconditionals.
Thatis,theprevalentpracticehasbeentotrytounderstandthecontributionofX- markingbylookingonly atthedifferencebetweenXandO-markedconditionals.
However,X-markingappearsinotherpartsofthegrammaraswell.
Defaultassumption:thecontributionofX-markingremainsthesame,regardlessofwhetheritappearsinconditionalsorelsewhere.
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Sowhatwewouldliketodotodayistolookatthesenon-conditionalenvironmentsthatcontainXandseewhatwecanlearnfromthem…
…andfindoutifweneedtoamendourviewofX-markinginconditionals,inordertomaintainaconsistentinterpretationforXacrossallenvironmentswhereitappears.
Themethod:wewillstartwithameaningforXfromconditionalsandtakeittothenon-conditionalenvironmentsandseehowitfares.
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Butfirst,wewillneedtoconvinceyouthatthereareindeednon-conditionalenvironmentsthatcontainX-marking.
Thereareatleasttwo:
-aphenomenonwewillcall“transparentwishes”or“X-markeddesires”
and
-aphenomenonwewillcall“transparentought”or“X-markednecessity”
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Let’sstartwithwhatareoftencalled“Counterfactualwishes”:
10.IwishIhadabrotheràIdonothaveabrother
ThecomplementofWISHis(presupposedtobe)false/contrary-to-fact.
Buttheterm“counterfactualwish”isamisnomer:Thedesireisintheactualworld.Thiswillbeimportantlateron.
Wewillshortlydispensewiththeterm“counterfactualwish”.
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Inmanylanguages,thereisamorphologicalcommonalitybetweenX-markedconditionalsandCFwishes(Iatridou 2000).
Inthefullversionofthegeneralization,themorphologyontheX-conditionalconsequentappearsontheembeddingverbwant andthemorphologyontheX-conditionalantecedentappearsonitscomplement:
11.X-markedconditional:ifpm1,qm2
12.CFwish:Iwantm2 thatpm1
WecallthistheConditional/Desire(C/D)generalization.
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Theconditional/desiregeneralizationholdsinmanylanguages:
11.X-markedconditional:ifpm1,qm212.CFwish:Iwantm2 thatpm1
Notethatwearedealingwithtwo“types”ofX-marking:-Xontheconditionalconsequentanddesire-verb-Xontheconditionalantecedentandcomplementofthedesireverb
Themorphologicaldifferencebetweenantecedent andconsequentX-markingisnotalwaysvisiblebecauseinsomelanguages,“antecedent”and“consequent”X-markingarethesame(eg Hungarian,German).
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Hungarian:
13.HaJános tudná aválaszt,Mariistudná aválasztifJknow.NA theanswer-accMaritooknow.NA theanswer-accIfJohnknewtheanswer,Marywouldknowtheanswer
14.Szeret-né-mhamagasabb len-nelike-NA-1sgiftallerbe-NE`Iwishshewastaller’
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Inothers(eg Greek,Spanish)youcanseethedifference:
15.Sifuera más alto sería unjugadordebaloncesto.Ifbe.3.sg.PAST.SUBJ moretallbe.3.sg.COND aplayerofbasketball‘Ifs/hewastaller,s/hewouldbeabastketball player’
SpanishX-desire:
16.Querría que fuera más altodeloque es.Want.3.sg.COND thats/hebe.3.sg.PAST.SUBJ moretallthanits/heis‘Iwishs/hewastallerthans/heis
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“Transparentwishes”:onepartoftheC/Dgeneralization:want+X-marking
Spanish,Greek,Frenchandothersare“transparentwish”languages.
Englishisnot.Ithasalexicalizeditemwish andobeysonlyonepartoftheC/Dgeneralization,namely“antecedent”X-markingonthecomplementofthedesireverb:
16a.IfIhad acar,Iwouldbehappy
b.IwishthatIhad acarnow
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IfEnglishhadbeenatransparentwishlanguage,itwouldhavehadwouldonwant,and (18b)wouldhavemeant(18c),whichitdoesnot:
18a.IfIhadacar,Iwouldbehappyb.Iwould wantthatIhad acarnow(Iwould wanttohaveacarnow)
=/=c.IwishthatIhadacarnow
ButeventhoughEnglishisnotatransparentwishlanguage,itdoesobeyonepartoftheC/Dgeneralization,namelythesamemorphologyappearsontheconditionalantecedentandonthecomplementofthedesirepredicate.
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IfEnglishhadbeenatransparentwishlanguage,itwouldhavehadwouldonwant,and (18b)wouldhavemeant(18c),whichitdoesnot:
18a.IfIhad acar,Iwouldbehappyb.Iwould wantthatIhad acarnow(Iwould wanttohaveacarnow)
=/=c.IwishthatIhad acarnow
ButeventhoughEnglishisnotatransparentwishlanguage,itdoesobeyonepartoftheC/Dgeneralization,namelythesamemorphologyappearsontheconditionalantecedentandonthecomplementofthedesirepredicate.
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TurkishisanotherlanguagelikeEnglish,whichhasaspecializedmorphemefor“CF”wishes.LikeEnglish,itobeystheC/Dgeneralizationonlyinthecomplement.
X-markinginTurkish:TurkishhasfakePast.
X-markingontheconsequent:aorist+pastX-markingontheantecedent:SA+past (past-SAinepistemicconds.)
19.Johnönümüzdeki salı gel-se-ydi,annesi çokmutlu ol-ur-duJohn next Tue come-SA-PST his.mom veryhappybe(come)-AOR-PST‘IfJohnarrivednextTuesday,hismomwouldbeveryhappy’
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Turkishhasundeclinable (non-verbal)keşke toconveyWISH:
20.Keşke önümüzdeki salı gel-se-ydiKeşke nexttuesday come-SA-PST‘IwishhewouldcomenextTuesday’
Andin(20)thespeakerbelievesthatherwishwillnotcometrue.(Hindikaash behavesthesame)
SotheC/Dgeneralizationisreal,eveniftherearelanguages,likeEnglishandTurkish,whichobeyonlyoneofitstwoparts.
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Remember:“counterfactual”wishesaresocalled,notbecausethedesireisinacounterfactualworld(thedesireisintheactualworld)butbecausethecomplementistakentobefalse.
Thesameholdsfortransparentwishes/i.e.X-markeddesirepredicates.
TakeFrench.Thedifferencebetweenaninfinitiveorasubjunctivecomplementisafunctionofthe(contra)indexingofthesubjects:
21a.Jeveux aller à Paris.Iwantgo.inf toParis
b.Jeveux que tu ailles à Paris.Iwantthatyougo.subj toParis
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Whentheembeddedeventisnotattainableanymore,plainwant isout:
22a.*Jeveux être arrivé mardi passé.IwantbearrivedTuesdaypassedintended:‘IwanttohavearrivedlastTuesday’
b.*Jeveux qu’il soit arrivé mardi passé.Iwantthathebe.subj arrivedTuesdaypassedintended:‘IwantyoutohavearrivedlastTuesday’
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Instead,X-markingonwantmustbeused.French(consequent)X-markingiscalledthe“conditionel”,whichisnotamoodbutafuture+past+imperfective combination(Iatridou 2000).
23a.Jevoudrais être arrivé mardi passé.Iwant+X bearrivedTuesdaypassed‘IwishIhadarrivedlastTuesday’
b.Jevoudrais qu’il soit arrivé mardi passé.Iwant+X thathebe.subj arrivedTuesdaypassed‘IwishhehadarrivedlastTuesday’
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SothefirstenvironmentwhereweseeX-markingappearoutsideconditionalsisX-markeddesiresforunattainablesituations.
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ThesecondenvironmentisX-markednecessity.
TaketheEnglishmodalought,whichweidentifybythetestin(24a):
24a.Yououghttodothedishesbutyoudonothavetob.#Youmustdothedishesbutyoudonothaveto
Wewillrefertomodalsthatbehavelikeought inthistestas“weaknecessitymodals”.
Englishhasalexicalitemoughtbutotherlanguagesdonot.(vonFintel andIatridou 2008)
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Otherlanguages:X-markingonastrongnecessitymodal.
InHungarianX-markingisjustnA.25.Péter-nek elkell-ene mosogat-ni-aaz edény-ek-et,
Peter-DATPRTmust-X wash-INF-3sgthedish-PL-ACC
de senki nem kényszer-ít rábutnoone notforce-3sg.SUBJ.3.OBJthat.SUBL
‘Peteroughttodothedishesbutnobodyrequireshimtodothat’
IntheabsenceofX-markingthesentenceisgrammaticalbutacontradiction.
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Andwhenyoucantellthedifference,weseeitisspecifically“consequent”-X-marking. Spanish:
26a.Deberia limpiar losplatos,pero noestoy obligadoMust+COND cleanthedishesbutnotamobliged‘IoughttodothedishesbutIamnotobliged’
b.Tendria que limpiar losplatos,pero noestoy obligadoHave+COND COMPLcleanthedishesbutnotamobliged‘IoughttodothedishesbutIamnotobligedto’
c.#Tengo que limpiar losplatos pero noestoy obligadoHaveCOMPcleanthedishesbutnotamobliged
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IfEnglishhadbeenatransparentoughtlanguage,itwouldhavehadwouldonhaveto,and (27b)wouldhavemeant(27c),whichitdoesnot:
27a.IfIhadacar,Iwouldbehappy
b.Youwould havetodothedishesbutyouarenotrequiredto=/=
c.Youought todothedishesbutyouarenotrequiredto
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Sothewaythereisaconditional/desiregeneralization,morphologicallyspeaking,thereisalsoaconditional/necessitygeneralization,againmorphologicallyspeaking.(Andagain,therearelanguagesthatshowonlyonepartofeachgeneralization,inthiscaselanguageswherecomplementsofmodalsareinfinitivalandthusincapableofshowingX-marking)
Butit’sallaboutX-marking!Andontheassumptionthatthemodalofaconditionalissituatedintheconsequent,weunderstandwhat“consequent”-X-markingis:X-markingonamodal!-intheconditionalconsequent-onthedesirepredicate-onthenecessitymodal
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HerewecanalreadydrawourfirstlessonaboutourtheoriesofX-markinginconditionals:
AnumberofproposalsaboutX-markinginconditionalsconsideronlyX-markingintheconsequenttobesemanticallyactive,andX-markingintheantecedentasortofagreementphenomenon(orSoT)totheX-markingintheconsequent.(ThoseproposalsmostlytalkaboutthePastinX).
ButsuchapproachesrunintoadifficultyinthefaceoftheC/Dgeneralization:antecedentX-markingisrequiredevenwhentheembedder isnotapast-markedelement,likeEnglishwish,theTurkishkeşke,Hindikaash,etc.
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Asecondreasonwhy“antecedent”X-markingisnotjustagreement:Someoftheseparticles,likeTurkishkeşke,Greekmakari cantakeeitherO-markingorX-markingontheircomplement:28.Makari na ine eki tora O-marking
makari PRTistherenow(roughly):‘Iwanthim/hertobetherenow’
29.Makari na itan eki tora X-markingmakari PRTwastherenow‘Iwishs/hewastherenow’
ButwithX-markingitisnecessarilyconveyedthats/heisnottherenow.Soclearly“antecedentX-marking”isnotJUSTagreementorSoT.AntecedentX-markingmakesadifferenceinmeaning.
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Sofarwehave:
X-markedconditionalsX-markeddesiresX-markednecessity
Wesawwhattheyhaveincommoninform.Nextweneedtoseewhattheyhaveincommoninmeaning.
WestartwithasimilaritythatX-markeddesiresandX-markednecessityshare:acertainambiguitywhichdoesnotappeartobepresentinX-markedconditionals.WewillstartbypresentingthissimilaritywithX-markeddesires.
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X-markednecessityisambiguousbetween-Aweaknecessitymodalintheactualworld:
30.tha eprepe na pari aftin tinvarka
must+X takethistheboat‘heoughttotaketheboat’ß noteEnglishtranslation
-Astrongnecessitymodalina“counterfactual”world:
31.AnoFredithele na pai sto nisi,tha eprepe na pari aftin tinvarka
IftheFredwantedtogoto-theisland,must+X takethistheboat‘IfFredwantedtogototheisland,hewouldhavetousetheboat’ß noteEnglishtranslation
ThesetranslatedifferentlyintoEnglishbutin“transparent”languagestheybothareX-markingonanecessitymodal.
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X-markeddesiresareequallyambiguous:
-Adesireintheactualworldtowardssomethingunattainable:
32.tha ithele na ixe makritero krevatiFUTwant+Past na hadlongerbed‘Hewishes hehadalongerbed’
-AdesireinaCFworld:
33.Anitan psiloteros tha ithele na ixe/exi makritero krevatiifwastallerFUTwant+Past na had/havelongerbed‘Ifhewastallerhewouldwanttohavealongerbed’
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Again,notethedifferentEnglishtranslations
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FromvonFintelandIatridou2008
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Butnote:
Despitetheparallelsbetweentransparentought andwish,thereisonedifference:
• Necessity+X intheactualworld:aweakmodal(ought)Want+Xintheactualword:notaweakerdesire(butadesiretowardssomethingunattainable;hencethefrequentterm“CFwish”)
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Sohereisourtask:understandwhatXdoesinthefollowingenvironments:
a. X-markedconditionalsb. X-markednecessitywhichyieldsaweaknecessityintheactualworldc. X-markednecessitywhichyieldsastrongnecessityinaCF-worldd. X-markeddesirewhichyieldsanunattainabledesireintheactualworlde. X-markeddesirewhichyieldsadesireinaCF-world
Wewillstartwithareductionthatshouldnotbecontroversial:(c)and(e)reduceto(a):
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a. X-markedconditionalsb. X-markednecessitywhichyieldsaweaknecessityintheactualworldc. X-markednecessitywhichyieldsastrongnecessityinaCF-worldd. X-markeddesirewhichyieldsanunattainabledesireintheactualworlde. X-markeddesirewhichyieldsadesireinaCF-world
(c):strongnecessity inaX-marked consequent:if ...,Iwould have to...(d):adesireverbinaX-marked consequent:if ...,Iwould want to...
So(c,d)arecasesof(a).45
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Sothequestionreducesto:WhatdoesXdointhefollowing?
a. X-markedconditionalsb. X-markednecessitywhichyieldsaweaknecessityintheactualworldd.X-markeddesirewhichyieldsanunattainabledesireintheactualworld
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Atthispoint,wegetoursecondtake-homelessonaboutourtheoriesofX-markinginconditionals.
Schulzhascoinedtheterms“PastasModal”and“PastasPast”forthetwocampsofproposalsforwhat/howPastTense(partorwholeofX-marking)contributestotheinterpretationofX-markedconditionals.
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PastasModal:
The“past”morphemehasanunderspecifiedmeaning:
temporalpast
μ
CFinference
Past-as-Modal:Iatridou,Schulz,Mackay,Bittner,andothers
times
worlds
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PastasPast:X-markingisapastoperatorwithwidescopeovertheconditional,whichresultsinthe(mostlymetaphysicalmodal’s)modalbasebeingcalculatedinthepasttimeoftheutterancetime.
Past-as-Past:Ippolito,Arregui,Khoo,Romero,andothers
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The“splittingpoint”
~p
~p
p
p
Roughly:thePasttakesusbacktoatimewherethe(non-Past)conditionalcouldstillhavebeentrue.
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NobodythatweknowofhasattemptedaPast-as-PastaccountoftheX-markinginX-markeddesiresorX-markednecessity.
Back-shiftingthetimeofevaluationofthemodal,wouldnotyieldaweakmodalintheactualworld.
Thesameholdsfortransparentwish:Back-shiftingthetimeofevaluationofthemodal,wouldnotyieldtheconstellationofpropertiesofCFwishes.Afterall,whatwecallCFwishesareaboutcurrentdesiresintheactualworld.
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SothePast- as-PastcampdoesnotfarewelloncewelookatX-markingoutsideconditionals.
WhataboutthePast-as-Modalcamp?
Mackay2015(seealsoLeahy2015)arguesthatcertainPast-as-Modalaccounts(morespecificallyIatridou2000andSchulz2014)sufferfromModusPonensproblems.TherehavebeenattemptstosavethePast-as-ModalapproachfromthisproblembySchulz,andinfact,byMackayhimself.
Wewillnotexpressanopiniononthisdebatetoday,butinsteadcontinueourdiscussionwitha“classic”accountofX-marking,theoneinStalnaker 1968,1975.
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