TExL (a research group on theoretical and experimental linguistics) and CELESE at Waseda University are happy to announce that we are co-sponsoring a public lecture by Shigeru Miyagawa (MIT) on April 23rd.
Title: Speaker-Addressee Phrase and Commitment Phrase — Syntax in the Treetops
Speaker: Shigeru Miyagawa, MIT http://www.shigerumiyagawa.com
Speaker info: Shigeru Miyagawa was awarded the São Paulo Excellence Chair for his work in language and evolution. This award, given by the São Paulo Research Foundation, will support research at the University of São Paulo in archeology, biology, neuroscience, linguistics, primatology, and animal communication studies.
Language: Japanese (Handouts will be in English and Q&A will be conducted in both Japanese and English)
Abstract: (From “Syntax in the Treetops”, to be published as a Linguistic Inquiry Monograph (MIT Press) in May 2022)
Early in the development of generative grammar, Ross (1970) and Emonds (1970) put forth separate but equally bold proposals. Ross argued that there is a layer of superstructure that contains representations of the speaker and the addressee as well as the predicate representing the speech act of the utterance. Emonds proposed that there is a layer of representation he called the Root created by non-structure preserving transformations. Both came under heavy criticism, which led to these proposals largely disappearing from core discussion in syntax. I will argue that, once we account for the problems, the two proposals turn out to be about the same phenomenon. They point to the existence of a projection at the highest point in the structure that is the locus of illocutionary force of the utterance (Ross 1970) and the precise distribution of this projection in syntax (Emonds 1970). Using a recent proposal by Krifka (e.g., 2020) as a starting point, I will argue, following many scholars (e.g., Speas and Tenny 2003, Wiltschko 2017), for the existence of what I call the Speaker-Addressee Projection (SAP) at the top of the tree. Evidence will be drawn from a wide range of languages including Basque, Japanese, Magahi, and Romanian. As Ross noted, SAP by itself is not sufficient; some layer must connect it to the proposition in the CP. Unlike Ross, who posited a performative predicate for this purpose, I will follow Krifka in positing the Commitment Phrase (CommitP). I will give evidence for the existence of the CommitP from Romanian and Japanese sentence particles, including spoken language of Japanese children on the autism spectrum.
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Time: Saturday, April 23rd 2022, 16:00-17:30 (JST)
Location: Bldg. 62W 1st floor Conference room A (大会議室A), Nishi-Waseda Campus, Waseda University
Access and Campus map: https://www.waseda.jp/top/access/nishiwaseda-campus
The participation is free but pre-registration is recommended. Please fill in the following form by April 22nd (JST).
https://forms.gle/78nEPUjMm8ue1FX29
Contact: Ayaka Sugawara, ayakasug[at]waseda.jp