This dissertation is concerned with how pragmatic particles interact with sentential force and with general pragmatic constraints to derive optimal dynamic interpretations. The primary empirical focus of the dissertation is the Japanese sentence final particle yo and its intonational associates. These right-peripheral elements are argued to interact semantically with sentential force in specifying the set of contextual transitions compatible with an utterance. In this way, they semantically constrain the pragmatic interpretation of the utterances in which they occur. These conventional constraints on interpretation are wedded with general pragmatic constraints which provide a further filter on the road to optimal interpretation.

The goal of this dissertation is to investigate some of the ways in which pragmatic meanings are generated on the basis of syntax and semantics. The theoretical motivation guiding this research is to contribute towards the understanding of how pragmatics is anchored in syntax and semantics, paying particular attention to the role of discourse. The focus of this dissertation is the 'discourse-driven' construction of meaning. In this dissertation I investigate various ways in which the interaction between syntax, semantics and discourse work together to give rise to meanings that cannot (straightforwardly) be accounted for in isolation from discourse. In terms of data, the focus is on HPCs, a structure that I have argued is a type of conditional in Spanish. HPCs serve as ideal windows into the interaction between syntax, semantics and discourse. They are non-canonical structures, 'reduced' from the point of view of syntax (lacking inflectional projections). They give rise to a varied and rich range of meanings and allow us to see the importance of paying attention to the interaction between syntax, semantics and discourse to understand how meanings are constructed. I also draw comparisons with other languages, in particular with English optatives, which I claim are very similar to HPCs.

This dissertation takes up the issue of transparency and opacity in vowel harmony—that is, when a segment is unable to undergo a harmony process, will it be skipped over by harmony (transparent) or will it prevent harmony from propagating further (opaque)? I argue that the choice between transparency and opacity is best understood as a competition between potential harmony triggers—segments are opaque when they themselves trigger spreading of the opposing feature value, and transparent when they do not. The analysis pursued in this dissertation is situated in the framework of Serial Harmonic Grammar, a variant of Optimality Theory which combines the step-wise evaluation of Harmonic Serialism with the weighted constraints of Harmonic Grammar. I argue that harmony is driven by a positively defined constraint, which assigns rewards rather than violations. Preferences for locality and for particular segmental triggers are exerted via scaling factors on the harmony constraint—rewards are diminished for non-local spreading, and increased for spreading from a preferred trigger. Evidence for this proposal comes from a diverse range of vowel harmony languages, in particular those with multiple non-participating segments which display asymmetries in their amenability to transparency. Segments more likely to be treated as opaque are also independently better triggers—they can be observed to be strong triggers in other contexts, and they are perceptually impoverished along the spreading feature dimension, which means they stand to benefit more from the perceptual advantages conferred by harmony. This proposal is also supported by experimental evidence. Results of a nonce-word discrimination task and a phoneme recall task both support the claim that harmony is perceptually advantageous; the latter suggests that this advantage obtains even among non-adjacent segments, and I argue that permitting explicitly non-local representations in harmony does not require abandoning phonetic grounding. Evidence for a trigger competition approach comes from a nonce-word study on Finnish disharmonic loanwords, which showed that vowels which are better triggers are more likely to induce transparent harmony, and less likely to be treated as transparent themselves.

This dissertation investigates various topics concerning the interpretation of determiner phrases and their connection to individual entities. The first chapter looks at a phenomenon called telescoping, in which a quantificational expression appears to bind a pronominal form across sentence boundaries, at odds with commonly assumed and well motivated constraints on binding. I investigate the limited circumstances under which telescoping is available and argue that the mechanism that makes it available should respect said locality constraints. In particular, I argue that the impression of co-variation arises not because of binding by the initial quantificational expression, but because an of independent, albeit unpronounced, quantificational operator in the second sentence. I will show cases where the domains of these two quantificational operators are independent, incompatible with approaches that assume a single operator. This result also entails that no reference to constructed individuals, e.g. prototypical or average individuals is needed. In the second chapter, I look at the German lexical item lauter and argue that DPs headed by lauter are purely predicational. After presenting an overview of the various kinds of interpretations that a DP can receive, and some discussion objecting to the idea of treating these as cases of lexical ambiguity, I show data that illustrate that lauter DPs cannot receive many of these interpretations. At the end of the chapter, I speculate about ways in which purely predicative DPs may appear and be interpreted in some, but not all, positions that arguments typically occupy, resulting in a restricted distribution and less freedom in the range of interpretations. In the last chapter, I look at an instance of a semantically complex determiner, the English item any. Instead of adding to the discussion based on an investigation of any, I propose that this hidden semantic complexity has a transparent reflex in German, where the lexical item überhaupt spells out a logically independent part of the proposed meaning of any, namely its domain widening meaning.

This dissertation is an empirical and theoretical study of sentence-level prosody in Conamara (Connemara) Irish. It addresses the architecture of the syntax-phonology interface and the relation between syntactic constituent structure and prosodic structure formation. It argues for a fully interactional view of the interface, in which the phonological form may be influenced by a number of competing factors, including constraints governing syntax-prosody correspondence, linearization, and prosodic well-formedness. The specific proposal is set within the framework of Match Theory (Selkirk 2009b, 2011), an indirect-reference theory of the syntax-prosody interface in which correspondence between syntactic and prosodic constituents is governed by a family of violable MATCH constraints. These constraints call for a one-to-one correspondence between syntactic and prosodic structure, to the extent that prosodic structure may be recursive under pressure from the recursive nature of syntactic phrases. However, this direct correspondence can be overruled by other interacting constraints, including prosodic markedness constraints and, as proposed here, other correspondence relations, as on the linearization of hierarchical syntactic structures. This dissertation argues that the distribution of pitch accents in Conamara Irish provides direct evidence for Match Theory. It is proposed that two phrasal pitch accents, L-H and H-L, demarcate the edges of phonological phrases, where L-H accents specifically target only those phrases which are recursive. Using the distribution of these pitch accents as indicators for the presence of prosodic boundaries, the dissertation investigates a variety of syntactic structures in both the clausal and nominal domain. It is argued that there is a close correspondence between syntactic and prosodic structure in default cases, but that this direct correspondence may be subverted in favour of a structure which better satisfies higher-ranked prosodic markedness constraints. Finally, this dissertation addresses pronoun postposing, a process pervasive in Irish dialects in word order appears to be sensitive to prosodic structure. This dissertation proposes to account for this phenomenon using the theoretical framework developed in the dissertation, in which the main patterns are accounted for through the interaction of MATCH constraints, prosodic markedness constraints, and a proposed violable constraint on the linearization of syntactic structure.

This thesis investigates children's acquisition of exhaustivity across four structures: quantifiers, single questions, multiple questions and clefts. Two languages, English and German, are probed. Exhaustivity needs some sort of plural set to be mentioned without leaving out a member of that set. This dissertation provides experimental data that children start out non-exhaustively in all four structures, i.e. they start out in a singleton stage. Moreover, I show when children's transition from a singleton stage to a first exhaustivity stage occurs. I argue that the acquisition of quantification is at the heart of all of these structures. Children start showing signs of exhaustivity once they start realizing that quantification is required by these four structures. Chapter 1 contains the introduction to the theoretical background underlying the assumptions and guiding the interpretation of the data obtained in the acquisition experiment. Chapter 2 gives an overview of previous acquisition literature on exhaustivity. The results from an experimental task in chapter 3 show that exhaustivity in quantifiers and single questions is acquired significantly earlier than the exhaustivity in multiple questions and clefts in English as well as in German. It is also shown that although exhaustivity is acquired earlier in some of the structures their acquisition process is still connected through a shared feature, quantification. I argue that the delayed acquisition of exhaustivity in multiple questions is due to a difference in semantic calculation. Whereas subset relations need to be calculated for quantifiers and questions, two sets, which are not in a subset relation to each other, need to be calculated and related for multiple questions and possibly also in clefts. This two set relation is what makes exhaustivity in multiple questions harder for English and German children. The delayed acquisition of exhaustivity in clefts is attributed to an array of facts which includes a possible difficulty of a two set calculation and a possible confusion with there constructions which do not have an exhaustivity requirement amongst other potential interfering factors. Chapter 4 contains the cross-linguistic comparison of the acquisition study in chapter 3 as well as a discussion of general implications for the field of language acquisition, speech pathology and linguistic theory. Furthermore possibilities of various acquisition paths and potential trigger relations between developmental stages are discussed. Chapter 5 contains some topics that are connected to the acquisition of exhaustivity but in the interest of keeping earlier chapters clear cut and streamlined their discussion is postponed until the last chapter. One such topic is how children's mastery of focus factors into their acquiring exhaustivity since questions and clefts contain focus. Another topic which developed during the research for this thesis is whether maximality and exhaustivity differ in acquisition or not. The major thrust of the argument in chapter 5 is that maximality is different from exhaustivity and that their acquisition path differs. However, since this is not the main topic of this thesis only preliminary experimental data can be provided to support this claim. From this preliminary data we can predict that the path of acquisition of maximality may differ greatly from the path of exhaustivity.

This dissertation explores the interaction of syntax and morphology in the morphological realization of AGREE-relations. I present two case studies of derivational interactions of AGREE-processes where the morphological realization of the later processes are affected by the earlier ones. The two cases studied differ in the way probes and goals interact. The first part of the dissertation explores restrictions on clitic combinations where two goals vie for the features of one probe. The second part discusses the reverse situation, where two probes are agreeing with the same goal. The first configuration arises in restrictions on clitic combinations where v can AGREE with an indirect object and a direct object one at a time (Anagnostopoulou 2003, 2005b, Béjar and Řezáč 2003). These configurations give rise to a form of competition: the second argument will fail to AGREE in any features that it shares with the first. I show that this form of competition extends from restrictions involving local person arguments, where it has been used so far, to restrictions involving third person and plural, which have so far been treated as morphological. Whereas the restrictions on local person lead to ungrammaticality, those on third person and plural result in impoverished morphological realization. I argue that this difference indicates a different role of AGREE for local person vs. third person and plural. Recent work as shown that local person has special syntactic licensing needs (e.g. Béjar and Řezáč 2003, Baker 2008, Preminger 2011b). Third person and plural on the other hand, I argue, are syntactically wellformed on their own, but require AGREE to be visible to lexical insertion at PF. Failure to AGREE will lead to absence of morphological realization or ungrammaticality as a function of the features involved. Once restrictions on third person arguments are treated as syntactic, much of the variation across languages in their morphological realization follows from differences in the PF-inventory. The second situation, two probes AGREEING with the same goal, arises in agreement with objects in Hindi-Urdu. The second part of the dissertation discusses two asymmetries in agreement of T with subjects and objects in conjunction structures. While T-agreement with objects shows sensitivity to linear order (i.a. closest conjunct agreement), T-agreement with subjects does not. I argue that the differences follow from the activity of the goal at the time of agreement. While subjects are syntactically active at the time T probes them, objects are not, because they have already been assigned case by v. As a consequence, the syntactic relation between T and an object cannot value the T's probe in the syntax. Non- syntactic effects like the relevance of linear order affect agreement exactly when valuation cannot be achieved in the syntax. Both case studies lead to the proposal that syntactically wellformed derivations can be ruled out at PF by failure of lexical insertion. This can happen in two ways. The discussion of restrictions on clitic combinations will lead to the conclusion that some languages allow the syntax to generate wellformed structures that contain nodes with so few features that PF cannot insert an exponent for them. The discussion of agreement in Hindi-Urdu will lead to the proposal that the grammar can generate feature bundles with inconsistent features that cannot be spelled out in one form. Overall, PF does both less and more than is often assumed. The restrictions on third person and plural discussed in the first part are traditionally considered to be the result of morphological operations that change the feature content of clitics (Bonet 1991, 1993, 1995, Grimshaw 1997, Noyer 1997). The proposal here reduces the role of PF in these restrictions to spelling out syntactic structures that have reduced feature content as the result of syntactic interactions. Similarly, the proposal about Hindi-Urdu tightly delimits the space where non-syntactic effects on agreement arise. At the same time, PF can rule out syntactically wellformed structures, which is not typically assumed to be possible.

This dissertation explores the semantics and syntax of switch-reference (SR). It makes novel generalizations about the phenomenon based on two empirical sources: A broad, cross-linguistic survey of descriptive reports, and semantic fieldwork that narrowly targets the Kiowa language of Oklahoma. It shows that previous attempts at formalizing switch-reference cannot work, and offers a new theory of switch-reference that derives the facts through effects that emerge from the interaction between the syntax and the semantics. The empirical investigation results in four major findings: First, SR is introduced by its own head, instead of being parasitic to T° or C°. Second, switch-reference can track Austinian topic situations. Third, it must track topic situations when it is found with coordination, and it cannot do so with intensional embedded clauses. Finally, generalizations or theories based solely on the syntax are not able to account for these facts. These findings are explained by analyzing switch-reference as a pronominal head in the extended verbal projection of the embedded clause. This head introduces a relation of identity or non-identity between two arguments. One of these is in the dominant clause, the other is the highest indexed constituent in the sister of the SR head. The arguments are selected indirectly, through binding structures that are interpreted as lambda-abstraction. The clausemate argument is bound by the SR head; the properties of feature valuation derive the height constraint. The pronoun introduced by the SR head is bound by the connective. Binding by the connective results in the interpretation of the SR-marked clause as a property. This property is then ascribed to an argument in the dominant clause. This theory accounts for the generalizations, and makes fruitful predictions about other aspects of switch-reference, notably when it tracks non-referential subjects. This dissertation improves our understanding of switch-reference, of situation semantics, and of reference-tracking in general. It ties reference-tracking to contextual restriction by use of topic situations, which are anaphoric pronouns used to restrict sentential interpretation. It provides the first solid evidence of morphology sensitive to situations. In addition, the theory of switch-reference proposed here relies on independently-motivated mechanisms in the grammar. This reliance links switch-reference to other mechanisms of co-reference from inside an embedded clause, and finds a solid place for switch-reference in linguistic theory.

This dissertation proposes a model of word stress in a derivational version of Optimality Theory (OT) called Harmonic Serialism (HS; Prince and Smolensky 1993/2004, McCarthy 2000, 2006, 2010a). In this model, the metrical structure of a word is derived through a series of optimizations in which the ‘best’ metrical foot is chosen according to a ranking of violable constraints. Like OT, HS models cross-linguistic typology under the assumption that every constraint ranking should correspond to an attested language. Chapter 2 provides an argument for modeling stress typology in HS by showing that the serial model correctly rules out stress patterns that display non-local interactions, while a parallel OT model with the same constraints and representations fails to make such a distinction. Chapter 3 discusses two types of primary stress—autonomous and parasitic—and argues that limited parallelism in the assignment of primary stress is warranted by a consideration of attested typology. Stress systems in which the primary stress appears to behave autonomously from secondary stresses require that primary stress assignment be simultaneous with a foot’s construction. As a result, a provision to allow primary stress to be reassigned during a derivation is necessary to account for a class of stress systems in which primary stress is parasitic on secondary stresses. Chapter 4 takes up two issues in the definition of constraints on primary stress, including a discussion of how primary stress alignment should be formulated and the identification of vacuous satisfaction as a cause of problematic typological predictions. It is proposed that all primary stress constraints be redefined according to non-vacuous schemata, which eliminate the problematic predictions when implemented within HS. Finally, chapter 5 considers the role of representational assumptions in typological predictions with comparisons between HS and parallel OT. The primary conclusion of this chapter is that constituent representations (i.e., feet) are necessary in HS to account for rhythmic stress patterns in a typologically restrictive way.

This dissertation explores a longstanding challenge in work on gapping through the empirical lens of gapping in Farsi (the Tehrani variant of Modern Persian). While gapping has much in common with more uncontroversial elliptical constructions such as VPE and sluicing, it also differs from ellipsis in ways that accounts combining TP or CP coordination and constituent deletion fail to explain. Johnson (1994/2004, 2009), and extensions of Johnson's work in Coppock (2001) and Lin (2000,2001), among others, propose a solution to this dilemma for gapping in English that relies on LOW COORDINATION and, consequently, on the assumption that VP, or υP, is the verbal constituent targeted in gapping. I argue that the same kind of solution cannot be extended to Farsi because there is not evidence of low coordination structures in gapping and, crucially, VPE does not exist independently in the langauge. It is shown that while gapping in Farsi exhibits the same core characteristics that distinguish it from ellipsis in English and other languages (restriction to coordinations, forward only directionality), it does not exhibit those that motivate the low-coordination structure. I propose an alternative MOVEMENT PLUS DELETION account that addresses the first set of differences while retaining (i) TP, as opposed to VP, coordination and (ii) ellipsis as the source of the gap. This is achieved by designating the coordinate head itself the syntactic licensor, and by requiring that the gapped TP must move to a specifier position of the coordinate head in order for ellipsis to be licensed via an agreement relationship between it and the licensing head. The necessity of movement in establishing the ellipsis-licensing agreement relationship is argued to account for the contrast between the acceptability of gapping in embedded clauses and the ungrammaticality of gapping inside islands. Thus this account, while it derives the gap from ellipsis, also has affinities with accounts, particularly that of Johnson (1994/2004), which seek to explain the distinctive properties of gapping by invoking movement. In addition to contributing a study of gapping in Farsi, in which gapping has not been previously studied, to the cross-linguistic data on gapping, a major empirical contribution of this work is the finding that the restriction against embedded gapping observed in English is likely not a definitional property of gapping across languages.