Ellipsis and higher-order unification

Linguistics and Philosophy 14 (4):399 - 452 (1991)
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Abstract

We present a new method for characterizing the interpretive possibilities generated by elliptical constructions in natural language. Unlike previous analyses, which postulate ambiguity of interpretation or derivation in the full clause source of the ellipsis, our analysis requires no such hidden ambiguity. Further, the analysis follows relatively directly from an abstract statement of the ellipsis interpretation problem. It predicts correctly a wide range of interactions between ellipsis and other semantic phenomena such as quantifier scope and bound anaphora. Finally, although the analysis itself is stated nonprocedurally, it admits of a direct computational method for generating interpretations.

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Citations of this work

Proper names and indexicals trigger rigid presuppositions.Emar Maier - 2009 - Journal of Semantics 26 (3):253-315.
Cross-linguistic semantics.Maria Bittner - 1994 - Linguistics and Philosophy 17 (1):53 - 108.
Dynamic interpretation of verb phrase ellipsis.Daniel Hardt - 1999 - Linguistics and Philosophy 22 (2):187-221.

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References found in this work

A Theory of Truth and Semantic Representation.Hans Kamp - 1981 - In P. Portner & B. H. Partee (eds.), Formal Semantics - the Essential Readings. Blackwell. pp. 189--222.
Dynamic Montague grammar.Martin Stokhof - 1990 - In L. Kalman (ed.), Proceedings of the Second Symposion on Logic and Language, Budapest, Eotvos Lorand University Press, 1990, pp. 3-48. Budapest: Eotvos Lorand University Press. pp. 3-48.

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