Linguistics Colloquium: Bridget Schvarcz | Department of English Literature and Linguistics

22/03/2022 - 15:30 - 14:00Add To Calendar 2022-03-22 14:00:00 2022-03-22 15:30:00 Linguistics Colloquium: Bridget Schvarcz Bridget Schvarcz, Bar-Ilan University Title: Deconstructing mass/count binaries: Nominal flexibility and classifiers in Hungarian Abstract: This talk aims to investigate mass/count and classifier phenomena in Hungarian and to shine new light on existing mass/count language typologies. The interplay between Hungarian numerals, classifiers, and nouns challenges existing mass/count typologies and calls for an explanation on how this language can be slotted into the existing classification. Traditionally, two major systems of making nouns countable were identified in the literature: a system which uses sortal classifiers, such as in Mandarin Chinese; and a system using count nouns, such as in English (Greenberg 1974). Chierchia (1998, 2010) argues that the two systems are in complementary distribution, i.e. languages express countability in either having a count/mass distinction or a system of sortal classifiers. Contrary to this ‘either-or’ type categorization, Hungarian uses both systems: the nominal könyv (‘book’) can either be counted via direct modification of the noun by a numeral (1a), or by a construction involving a sortal classifier (1b). (1) a. három könyv three book ‘three books’ b. három darab könyv three CLgeneral book ‘three books’ This variation has been linked to nominal flexibility, i.e. nouns having both a mass and a count form (Schvarcz and Rothstein (2017), Schvarcz (2018), Schvarcz and Nemes (2021)). Hungarian numerical constructions involving the count counterpart of a flexible pair are realized via direct modification of the noun by a numerical (1a), while the mass counterpart involves a sortal classifier (1b). Hungarian employs mass/count nominal flexibility to a much greater degree than many other languages do and points to a new direction of capturing nominal flexibility cross-lingustically. Nominal flexibility can be thought of as a spectrum: languages, such as English, which have nouns that are either mass or count and which have only a limited number of fully flexible nouns with both count and mass forms, being at the one end of the spectrum; languages, such as Hungarian and Brazilian Portuguese, in which all (almost) count nouns are flexible between a mass and a count use, being at the other end. Not only in terms of nominal flexibility does Hungarian point to more typological variation between languages than has been formerly suggested, but its use of classifiers also obliges the existing mass-count language types to change shape. Hungarian is a “mixed system” in which classifiers and a mass/count system co-exist. In other words, the functional category of classifiers and a grammatical mass/count distinction need not be considered as ‘an-either-or’ type of property of a language. The analysis of the grammatical behavior of Hungarian classifiers points to their nominal nature, similar to classifiers in English, rather than constituting a separate functional category as in typical classifier languages. In typical classifier languages, grammatical countability is realized via the classifier, as these languages lack grammatically count nouns, hence in order to count entities they require a special class of functional operators. In contrast, the mass counterparts of Hungarian flexible nouns function as object mass nouns: while being syntactically mass, they denote sets of individuated atomic entities. Hence, Hungarian does not need a separate class of functional operators in order to individuate entities and make nouns countable because countability is encoded in the grammatical structure of mass versions of flexible nouns. Hungarian classifiers take mass nouns, the mass-peer of a flexible pair as complements and form a countable expression which then can combine with a numeral. Semantically, they are analogous to the COUNTk operation (Rothstein 2010, 2017) applied to a mass noun, specifying the set of atoms relative to a particular context k. In other words, classifiers denote the set of ordered pairs, a set of indexed entities for what counts as one unit of P in context k: {<a, k> : a ∈ P ∩ k}. Hungarian classifiers in my analysis include a presupposition on each atom in the denotation of a noun according to the physical properties of the object it denotes. For example, the general classifier darab in (1b) is associated with a presupposition that each entitiy in the denotation of its complement must refer to a physical object: λP: ∀a ∈ P ∩ k PHYSICAL (a). {<a, k> : a ∈ P ∩ k}. Details of the compositional structure of Hungarian classifier phrases will be provided in the talk. References Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998a. Plurality of mass nouns and the notion of 'semantic parameter'. In Susan Rothstein (ed.), Events and grammar, 53-103. Berlin: Springer. Chierchia, Gennaro. 2010. Mass nouns, vagueness and semantic variation. Synthese 174. 99-149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9686-6 Greenberg, Joseph H. 1974. Language typology: A historical and analytic overview. The Hague: Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110886436 Pires de Oliveira, Roberta & Susan Rothstein. 2011a. Bare singular noun phrases are mass in Brazilian Portuguese. Lingua 121(15). 2153-2175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2011.09.004 Pires de Oliveira, Roberta & Susan Rothstein. 2011b. Two sorts of bare nouns in Brazilian Portuguese. Revista da Abralin 10(3). 231-266. Rothstein, Susan. 2010. Counting, measuring and the mass count distiction. Journal of Semantics 27(3). 343-397. https://doi.org/10.1093/jos/ffq007 Rothstein, Susan. 2017. Semantics for counting and measuring. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9780511734830 Schvarcz, Brigitta R. 2018. A megszámlálható és megszámlálhatatlan főnevek közti kontraszt a magyar nyelvben [The mass-count contrast in Hungarian]. In Fazekas Boglárka, Kaposi Diána & P. Kocsis Réka (eds.), Csomópontok: Újabb kérdések a Félúton műhelyéből [Nodes: More questions from the Félúton (Halfway) workshop], 147–167. Budapest: Kalota Művészeti Alapítvány. https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/30447127 Schvarcz, Brigitta R. & Borbála Nemes. 2021. Classifiers make a difference: Kind interpretation and plurality in Hungarian. In Mojmír Dočekal & Marcin Wągiel (eds.), Formal approaches to number in Slavic and beyond, 369–396. Berlin: Language Science Press. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5082480 Schvarcz, Brigitta R. & Susan Rothstein. 2017. Hungarian classifier constructions and the mass/count distinction. In Anikó Lipták & Harry van der Hulst (eds.), Approaches to Hungarian: Papers from the 2015 Leiden Conference, vol. 15, 157-182. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/atoh.15.07sch Subscribe to our Telegram channel to get notified about upcoming talks and events אוניברסיטת בר-אילן internet.team@biu.ac.il Asia/Jerusalem public

Bridget Schvarcz, Bar-Ilan University

Title: Deconstructing mass/count binaries: Nominal flexibility and classifiers in Hungarian

Abstract:

This talk aims to investigate mass/count and classifier phenomena in Hungarian and to shine new light on existing mass/count language typologies. The interplay between Hungarian numerals, classifiers, and nouns challenges existing mass/count typologies and calls for an explanation on how this language can be slotted into the existing classification.

Traditionally, two major systems of making nouns countable were identified in the literature: a system which uses sortal classifiers, such as in Mandarin Chinese; and a system using count nouns, such as in English (Greenberg 1974). Chierchia (1998, 2010) argues that the two systems are in complementary distribution, i.e. languages express countability in either having a count/mass distinction or a system of sortal classifiers. Contrary to this ‘either-or’ type categorization, Hungarian uses both systems: the nominal könyv (‘book’) can either be counted via direct modification of the noun by a numeral (1a), or by a construction involving a sortal classifier (1b).

(1) a. három   könyv
           three     book
          ‘three books’

   b. három darab     könyv
       three     CL_generalbook
       ‘three books’

This variation has been linked to nominal flexibility, i.e. nouns having both a mass and a count form (Schvarcz and Rothstein (2017), Schvarcz (2018), Schvarcz and Nemes (2021)). Hungarian numerical constructions involving the count counterpart of a flexible pair are realized via direct modification of the noun by a numerical (1a), while the mass counterpart involves a sortal classifier (1b).

Hungarian employs mass/count nominal flexibility to a much greater degree than many other languages do and points to a new direction of capturing nominal flexibility cross-lingustically. Nominal flexibility can be thought of as a spectrum: languages, such as English, which have nouns that are either mass or count and which have only a limited number of fully flexible nouns with both count and mass forms, being at the one end of the spectrum; languages, such as Hungarian and Brazilian Portuguese, in which all (almost) count nouns are flexible between a mass and a count use, being at the other end.

Not only in terms of nominal flexibility does Hungarian point to more typological variation between languages than has been formerly suggested, but its use of classifiers also obliges the existing mass-count language types to change shape. Hungarian is a “mixed system” in which classifiers and a mass/count system co-exist. In other words, the functional category of classifiers and a grammatical mass/count distinction need not be considered as ‘an-either-or’ type of property of a language.

The analysis of the grammatical behavior of Hungarian classifiers points to their nominal nature, similar to classifiers in English, rather than constituting a separate functional category as in typical classifier languages. In typical classifier languages, grammatical countability is realized via the classifier, as these languages lack grammatically count nouns, hence in order to count entities they require a special class of functional operators. In contrast, the mass counterparts of Hungarian flexible nouns function as object mass nouns: while being syntactically mass, they denote sets of individuated atomic entities. Hence, Hungarian does not need a separate class of functional operators in order to individuate entities and make nouns countable because countability is encoded in the grammatical structure of mass versions of flexible nouns. Hungarian classifiers take mass nouns, the mass-peer of a flexible pair as complements and form a countable expression which then can combine with a numeral. Semantically, they are analogous to the COUNT_koperation (Rothstein 2010, 2017) applied to a mass noun, specifying the set of atoms relative to a particular context k. In other words, classifiers denote the set of ordered pairs, a set of indexed entities for what counts as one unit of P in context k: {<a, k> : a ∈ P_∩ k}. Hungarian classifiers in my analysis include a presupposition on each atom in the denotation of a noun according to the physical properties of the object it denotes. For example, the general classifier darab in (1b) is associated with a presupposition that each entitiy in the denotation of its complement must refer to a physical object: λP: ∀a ∈ P_∩ k PHYSICAL (a). {<a, k> : a ∈ P_∩ k}. Details of the compositional structure of Hungarian classifier phrases will be provided in the talk.

References

Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998a. Plurality of mass nouns and the notion of 'semantic parameter'. In Susan Rothstein (ed.), Events and grammar, 53-103. Berlin: Springer.

Chierchia, Gennaro. 2010. Mass nouns, vagueness and semantic variation. Synthese 174. 99-149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9686-6

Greenberg, Joseph H. 1974. Language typology: A historical and analytic overview. The Hague: Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110886436

Pires de Oliveira, Roberta & Susan Rothstein. 2011a. Bare singular noun phrases are mass in Brazilian Portuguese. Lingua 121(15). 2153-2175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2011.09.004

Pires de Oliveira, Roberta & Susan Rothstein. 2011b. Two sorts of bare nouns in Brazilian Portuguese. Revista da Abralin 10(3). 231-266.

Rothstein, Susan. 2010. Counting, measuring and the mass count distiction. Journal of Semantics 27(3). 343-397. https://doi.org/10.1093/jos/ffq007

Rothstein, Susan. 2017. Semantics for counting and measuring. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9780511734830

Schvarcz, Brigitta R. 2018. A megszámlálható és megszámlálhatatlan főnevek közti kontraszt a magyar nyelvben [The mass-count contrast in Hungarian]. In Fazekas Boglárka, Kaposi Diána & P. Kocsis Réka (eds.), Csomópontok: Újabb kérdések a Félúton műhelyéből [Nodes: More questions from the Félúton (Halfway) workshop], 147–167. Budapest: Kalota Művészeti Alapítvány. https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/30447127

Schvarcz, Brigitta R. & Borbála Nemes. 2021. Classifiers make a difference: Kind interpretation and plurality in Hungarian. In Mojmír Dočekal & Marcin Wągiel (eds.), Formal approaches to number in Slavic and beyond, 369–396. Berlin: Language Science Press. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5082480

Schvarcz, Brigitta R. & Susan Rothstein. 2017. Hungarian classifier constructions and the mass/count distinction. In Anikó Lipták & Harry van der Hulst (eds.), Approaches to Hungarian: Papers from the 2015 Leiden Conference, vol. 15, 157-182. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/atoh.15.07sch

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Last Updated Date : 22/02/2022