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The semantics and pragmatics of perspectival expressions in English and Bulu: The case of deictic motion verbs

Barlew, Jefferson
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5716-5004
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1482233238089365

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Linguistics.
Researchers have long had the intuition that interpreting deictic motion verbs involves perspective-taking (see e.g. Fillmore 1965, 1966). In some sense, this perspective-taking is what differentiates deictic motion verbs from other motion verbs. It's what makes them "deictic". In this dissertation, I investigate the role perspective-taking plays in the interpretation of two deictic motion verbs in two typologically unrelated languages, the verbs come in English and zu 'come' in Bulu, a Bantu language of Cameroon. The investigation reveals that zu 'come' represents a previously undocumented type of deictic motion verb and that, differences in meanings notwithstanding, the interpretation of both verbs does involve perspective-taking. Part I of the dissertation consists of detailed investigations of the meanings of come and zu 'come'. Conducting detailed investigations of their meanings makes it possible to state precisely the connection between their lexical semantics and pragmatics and perspective-taking. Here it is. Interpreting either come or zu 'come' requires the retrieval of a contextually supplied perspective, a body of knowledge that represents the way a particular individual imagines things to be. For come or zu 'come' to be used acceptably, it must be true, according to the retrieved perspective, that the individual herself is located at the destination of the motion event being described. If, according to the retrieved perspective, the individual does not self-ascribe being located at the destination, then neither come nor zu 'come' can be used. This is why their use is felt to involve perspective-taking. In addition to describing a motion event, an interlocutor using a deictic motion verb also communicates something about where a particular individual imagines herself to be located. Based on this new understanding of what it is for deictic motion verbs to be perspectival, in Part II of the dissertation I take the first steps toward developing a formal framework for the analysis of perspectival expressions. I follow recent work (e.g. Farkas and Bruce; 2010; Lauer 2013; Roberts 2014) and assume that perspectival content plays a signifcant role in both the structure of the discourse and the interpretation of particular expressions. I assume that just as interlocutors keep track of a Stalnakerian (1978) common ground, they also keep track of bodies of information representing the perspectives of individuals. I model this formally by embedding central elements of Roberts's (2014) theory of doxastic perspectives in AnderBois, Brasoveanu, and Henderson's (2015) dynamic semantics. The analyses of come and zu 'come' developed in this framework both account for the novel data better than previous accounts and establish, for the first time, an explicit, formal connection between the lexical semantics of deictic motion verbs and the intuition that their interpretation involves perspective-taking. More importantly, by embedding elements of Stalnaker (2008) and Roberts' theories in AnderBois et al.'s semantics, this dissertation takes the first steps toward creating a formal framework for the analysis of perspectival content in general, in the spirit of Fillmore 1975, Mitchell 1986, Sells 1987, and Speas and Tenny 2003.
Craige Roberts (Advisor)
Judith Tonhauser (Advisor)
Marie-Catherine de Marneffe (Committee Member)
Zhiguo Xie (Committee Member)
352 p.
Linguistics
perspectival expressions; context sensitive expressions; deixis; Bantu languages; Bulu; dynamic semantics; de se

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Citations

  • Barlew, J. (2017). The semantics and pragmatics of perspectival expressions in English and Bulu: The case of deictic motion verbs [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1482233238089365

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Barlew, Jefferson. The semantics and pragmatics of perspectival expressions in English and Bulu: The case of deictic motion verbs. 2017. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1482233238089365.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Barlew, Jefferson. "The semantics and pragmatics of perspectival expressions in English and Bulu: The case of deictic motion verbs." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1482233238089365

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1482233238089365
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