Abstract
Building on previous works which argued that scalar implicatures can be computed in embedded positions, this paper proposes a constraint on exhaustification (an economy condition) which restricts the conditions under which an exhaustivity operator can be licensed. We show that this economy condition allows us to derive a number of generalizations, such as, in particular, the ‘Implicature Focus Generalization’: scalar implicatures can be embedded under a downward-entailing operator only if the (relevant) scalar term bears pitch accent. Our economy condition also derives specific predictions regarding the licensing of so-called Hurford disjunctions.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Emmanuel Chemla, Luka Crnic, Roni Katzir, Giorgio Magri, Paolo Santorio, and Philippe Schlenker.
Funding
Funding was provided by Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Grant Nos. ANR-10-LABX-0087 IEC, ANR-10-IDEX-0001-02 PSL*) and H2020 European Research Council (Grant No. 324115-FRONTSEM).
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Fox, D., Spector, B. Economy and embedded exhaustification. Nat Lang Semantics 26, 1–50 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-017-9139-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-017-9139-6