Abstract: In this course we will review recent theoretical developments concerning the exhaustivity-operator (Exh). We will start with the basics (focus, scalar implicature and problems of alternatives), and move on to more advanced topics, such as economy conditions on the distribution of Exh, polarity sensitivity, etc.
Prerequisites: We only require basic understanding of theoretical linguistics. Elementary knowledge of set theory of logic (esp. Predicate Logic) will be helpful but not required. No familiarity with formal semantics/pragmatics is presupposed.
Tentative schedule:
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Focus (Rooth 1985, 1992) and scalar implicature (Chierchia 2004, Fox 2007, Chierchia, Fox & Spector 2018)
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Theories of alternatives (Katzir 2007, 2014, Fox & Katzir 2011, Trinh & Haida 2015, Breheny, Klinedinst, Romoli & Sudo 2017)
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Economy conditions on Exh (Meyer 2013, Katzir & Singh 2013, Mayr & Romoli 2016, Fox & Spector 2018)
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Polarity sensitivity and exhaustivity (Chierchia 2004, 2006, 2013, Nicolae 2017a,b)
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Further problems: existential quantifiers (Geurts 2009, Sudo 2016), multiple scalar items (Romoli 2012), interactions with presuppositions (Spector & Sudo 2017)