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On the syntax and semantics of mirativity
Descriptive
TitleInfo
Title
On the syntax and semantics of mirativity
SubTitle
evidence from Spanish and Albanian
Name
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Torres Bustamante
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Teresa
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(type = date)
1982-
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Teresa Torres Bustamante
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author
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Mark
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Mark Baker
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Advisory Committee
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chair
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Dayal
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Veneeta
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Veneeta Dayal
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Advisory Committee
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(authority = RULIB)
internal member
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(type = personal)
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(type = family)
Sanchez
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(type = given)
Liliana
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Liliana Sanchez
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Advisory Committee
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(authority = RULIB)
internal member
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Hacquard
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(type = given)
Valentine
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Valentine Hacquard
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
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outside member
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Rutgers University
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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school
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Text
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theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated
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2013
DateOther
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2013-10
Place
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xx
Language
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(authority = ISO639-2b);
(type = code)
eng
Abstract
(type = abstract)
In this dissertation, I examine mirative constructions in Spanish and Albanian, in which past tense morphology is used to convey speaker's surprise and does not seem to contribute its usual temporal meaning to the asserted proposition. I put forward an analysis that makes the following claims. First, mirative sentences are assertions that include a modal component. This modal component brings up the speaker's beliefs in a way that entails the opposite of what the assertion expresses. Thus, a clash is generated between the speaker's beliefs and the assertion, and this triggers a sense of surprise. Second, the past tense morphology is analyzed as being a real past tense, following recent proposals for counterfactual conditionals. In the case of miratives, the past tense keeps its normal semantics, but is interpreted in the CP domain as the time argument of the modal base, rather than in TP. The beliefs that are contrasted with the assertion are therefore past beliefs up to the discovery time (which usually coincides with the speech time), in which the actual state of affairs is encountered by the speaker. Third, a syntactic Agree relationship is established between the interpretable past tense feature in C and the uninterpretable past tense feature in T. This Agree relationship must meet locality requirements, such that there must not be intervenors between C and T. I claim that the participle movement observed in Albanian miratives happens in order to overcome intervention, so that Agree can take place. The dissertation also accounts for the role of aspect in deriving differences in the nature of the surprise, at least in Spanish, and for the aspectual requirement that miratives seem to have cross linguistically. Finally, I show that miratives cannot be analyzed in the same way as apparently similar constructions, in terms of usage, such as exclamations and exclamatives. On the contrary, the analysis presented in this dissertation calls for a closer relationship between miratives and counterfactual conditionals, which I also explore.
Subject
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Topic
Linguistics
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Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD_5106
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electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
xv, 219 p.
Note
(type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note
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Includes bibliographical references
Note
(type = statement of responsibility)
by Teresa Torres Bustamante
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Spanish language--Morphology
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Albanian language--Morphology
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Spanish language--Semantics
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Albanian language--Semantics
RelatedItem
(type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore19991600001
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(displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
NjNbRU
Identifier
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doi:10.7282/T3610XCD
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder
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Name
FamilyName
Torres Bustamante
GivenName
Teresa
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime
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2013-10-01 02:49:12
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Name
Teresa Torres Bustamante
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
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License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
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Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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ETD
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windows xp
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