TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hohaus, Vera
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
T1  - Comparisons of equality with German so ... wie, and the relationship between degrees and properties
JF  - Journal of semantics
N2  - We present a compositionally transparent, unified semantic analysis of two kinds of so ... wie-equative constructions in German, namely degree equatives and property equatives in the domain of individuals or events. Unlike in English and many other European languages (Haspelmath & Buchholz 1998, Rett 2013), both equative types in German feature the parameter marker so, suggesting a unified analysis. We show that the parallel formal expression of German degree and property equatives is accompanied by a parallel syntactic distribution (in predicative, attributive, and adverbial position), and by identical semantic properties: Both equative types allow for scope ambiguities, show negative island effects out of context, and license the negative polarity item uberhaupt 'at all' in the complement clause. As the same properties are also shared by German comparatives, we adopt the influential quantificational analysis of comparatives in von Stechow (1984ab), Heim (1985, 2001, 2007), and Beck (2011), and treat both German equative types in a uniform manner as expressing universal quantification over sets of degrees or over sets of properties (of individuals or events). Conceptually, the uniform marking of degree-related and property-related meanings is expected given that the abstract semantic category degree (type ) can be reconstructed in terms of equivalence classes, i.e., ontologically simpler sets of individuals (type ) or events (type ). These are found in any language, showing that whether or not a language makes explicit reference to degrees (by means of gradable adjectives, degree question words, degree-only equatives) does not follow on general conceptual or semantic grounds, but is determined by the grammar of that language.
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/jos/ffaa011
SN  - 0167-5133
SN  - 1477-4593
VL  - 38
IS  - 1
SP  - 95
EP  - 143
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fanselow, Gisbert
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
A1  - Philipp, Mareike
T1  - Assessing the availability of inverse scope in German in the covered box paradigm
JF  - Glossa : a journal of general linguistics
N2  - This paper presents the results of a novel experimental approach to relative quantifier scope in German that elicits data in an indirect manner. Applying the covered-box method (Huang et al. 2013) to scope phenomena, we show that inverse scope is available to some extent in the free constituent order language German, thereby validating earlier findings on other syntactic configurations in German (Rado & Bott 2018) and empirical claims on other free constituent order languages (Japanese, Russian, Hindi), as well as recent corpus findings in Webelhuth (2020). Moreover, the results of the indirect covered-box experiment replicate findings from an earlier direct-query experiment with comparable target items, in which participants were asked directly about the availability of surface scope and inverse scope readings. The configuration of interest consisted of canonical transitive clauses with deaccented existential subject and universal object QPs, in which the restriction of the universal QP was controlled for by the context.
KW  - inverse scope
KW  - covered-box
KW  - free constituent order
KW  - German
KW  - experimental semantics
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.5766
SN  - 2397-1835
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
SP  - 1
EP  - 24
PB  - Open Library of Humanities
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - De Veaugh-Geiss, Joseph P.
A1  - Toennis, Swantje
A1  - Onea, Edgar
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
T1  - That’s not quite it
BT  - an experimental investigation of (non‑)exhaustivity in clefts
JF  - Semantics and pragmatics
N2  - We present a novel empirical study on German directly comparing the exhaustivity inference in es-clefts to exhaustivity inferences in definite pseudoclefts, exclusives, and plain intonational focus constructions. We employ mouse-driven verification/falsification tasks in an incremental information-retrieval paradigm across two experiments in order to assess the strength of exhaustivity in the four sentence types. The results are compatible with a parallel analysis of clefts and definite pseudoclefts, in line with previous claims in the literature (Percus 1997, Buring & Kriz 2013). In striking contrast with such proposals, in which the exhaustivity inference is conventionally coded in the cleft-structure in terms of maximality/homogeneity, our study found that the exhaustivity inference is not systematic or robust in es-clefts nor in definite pseudoclefts: Whereas some speakers treat both constructions as exhaustive, others treat both constructions as non-exhaustive. In order to account for this unexpected finding, we argue that the exhaustivity inference in both clefts and definite pseudoclefts-specifically those with the compound definite derjenige - is pragmatically derived from the anaphoric existence presupposition that is common to both constructions.
KW  - experimental study
KW  - exhaustivity
KW  - es-clefts
KW  - definite pseudoclefts
KW  - anaphoric existence presupposition
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3765/sp.11.3
SN  - 1937-8912
VL  - 11
PB  - Linguistic Society of America
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
A1  - De Veaugh-Geiss, Joseph P.
A1  - Tönnis, Swantje
A1  - Onea, Edgar
T1  - (Non-)exhaustivity in focus partitioning across languages
JF  - Approaches to Hungarian
N2  - We present novel experimental evidence on the availability and the status of exhaustivity inferences with focus partitioning in German, English, and Hungarian. Results suggest that German and English focus-background clefts and Hungarian focus share important properties, (É. Kiss 1998, 1999; Szabolcsi 1994; Percus 1997; Onea & Beaver 2009). Those constructions are anaphoric devices triggering an existence presupposition. EXH-inferences are not obligatory in such constructions in English, German, or Hungarian, against some previous literature (Percus 1997; Büring & Križ 2013; É. Kiss 1998), but in line with pragmatic analyses of EXH-inferences in clefts (Horn 1981, 2016; Pollard & Yasavul 2016). The cross-linguistic differences in the distribution of EXH-inferences are attributed to properties of the Hungarian number marking system.
KW  - clefts
KW  - definite pseudoclefts
KW  - Hungarian focus
KW  - exhaustivity
KW  - experimental evidence
KW  - semantics-pragmatics interface
Y1  - 2020
VL  - 16
PB  - John Benjamins
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
A1  - De Veaugh-Geiss, Joseph P.
A1  - Tönnis, Swantje
A1  - Onea, Edgar
T1  - (Non-)exhaustivity in focus partitioning across languages
T2  - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe
N2  - We present novel experimental evidence on the availability and the status of exhaustivity inferences with focus partitioning in German, English, and Hungarian. Results suggest that German and English focus-background clefts and Hungarian focus share important properties, (É. Kiss 1998, 1999; Szabolcsi 1994; Percus 1997; Onea & Beaver 2009). Those constructions are anaphoric devices triggering an existence presupposition. EXH-inferences are not obligatory in such constructions in English, German, or Hungarian, against some previous literature (Percus 1997; Büring & Križ 2013; É. Kiss 1998), but in line with pragmatic analyses of EXH-inferences in clefts (Horn 1981, 2016; Pollard & Yasavul 2016). The cross-linguistic differences in the distribution of EXH-inferences are attributed to properties of the Hungarian number marking system.
T3  - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 724 
KW  - clefts
KW  - definite pseudoclefts
KW  - Hungarian focus
KW  - exhaustivity
KW  - experimental evidence
KW  - semantics-pragmatics interface
Y1  - 2020
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-524677
SN  - 1866-8364
VL  - 16
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ronasi, Golnoush
A1  - Fischer, Martin H.
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
T1  - Language and Arithmetic
BT  - a failure to find cross cognitive domain semantic priming between exception phrases and subtraction or addition
JF  - Frontiers in psychology
N2  - We examined cross-domain semantic priming effects between arithmetic and language. We paired subtractions with their linguistic equivalent, exception phrases (EPs) with positive quantifiers (e.g., "everybody except John") while pairing additions with their own linguistic equivalent, EPs with negative quantifiers (e.g., "nobody except John"; Moltmann, 1995). We hypothesized that EPs with positive quantifiers prime subtractions and inhibit additions while EPs with negative quantifiers prime additions and inhibit subtractions. Furthermore, we expected similar priming and inhibition effects from arithmetic into semantics. Our design allowed for a bidirectional analysis by using one trial's target as the prime for the next trial. Two experiments failed to show significant priming effects in either direction. Implications and possible shortcomings are explored in the general discussion.
KW  - cross-domain priming
KW  - language
KW  - arithmetic
KW  - information integration
KW  - cognitive module
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01524
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 9
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
T1  - Wird Schon Stimmen!
BT  - A Degree Operator Analysis of Schon
JF  - Journal of semantics
N2  - The article puts forward a novel analysis of the German modal particle schon as a modal degree operator over propositional content. The proposed analysis offers a uniform perspective on the semantics of modal schon and its aspectual counterpart meaning ‘already’: Both particles are analyzed as denoting a degree operator, expressing a scale-based comparison over relevant alternatives. The alternatives are determined by focus in the case of aspectual schon (Krifka 2000), but are restricted to the polar alternatives p and ¬p in the case of modal schon. Semantically, modal schon introduces a presupposition to the effect that the circumstantial conversational background contains more factual evidence in favor of p than in favor of ¬p⁠, thereby making modal schon the not at-issue counterpart of the overt comparative form eher ‘rather’ (Herburger & Rubinstein 2014). The analysis incorporates basic insights from earlier analyses of modal schon in a novel way, and it also offers new insights as to the underlying workings of modality in natural language as involving propositions rather than possible worlds (Kratzer 1977, 2012).
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/jos/ffy010
SN  - 0167-5133
SN  - 1477-4593
VL  - 35
IS  - 4
SP  - 687
EP  - 739
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
T1  - Im Korpus gibt’s keine Vögel nicht
BT  - A corpus study on Negative Concord in Eastern German dialects
JF  - Of trees and birds. A Festschrift for Gisbert Fanselow
KW  - Festschrift
KW  - Informationsstruktur
KW  - Linguistik
KW  - Morphologie
KW  - Syntax
KW  - festschrift
KW  - information structure
KW  - linguistics
KW  - morphology
KW  - syntax
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-432541
SN  - 978-3-86956-457-9
SP  - 287
EP  - 306
PB  - Universitätsverlag Potsdam
CY  - Potsdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
T1  - Predicate focus
JF  - The Oxford handbook of information structure
Y1  - 2016
SN  - 978-0-19-964267-0
SP  - 314
EP  - 335
PB  - Oxford University Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - BOOK
A1  - Olsen, Susan
A1  - Stiebels, Barbara
A1  - Bierwisch, Manfred
A1  - Zimmermann, Ilse
A1  - Cavar, Damir
A1  - Georgi, Doreen
A1  - Bacskai-Atkari, Julia
A1  - Alexiadou, Artemis
A1  - Błaszczak, Joanna
A1  - Müller, Gereon
A1  - Šimík, Radek
A1  - Meinunger, André
A1  - Thiersch, Craig
A1  - Arnhold, Anja
A1  - Féry, Caroline
A1  - Bayer, Josef
A1  - Titov, Elena
A1  - Fominyam, Henry
A1  - Tran, Thuan
A1  - Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina D.
A1  - Schlesewsky, Matthias
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
A1  - Häussler, Jana
A1  - Mucha, Anne
A1  - Schmidt, Andreas
A1  - Weskott, Thomas
A1  - Wierzba, Marta
A1  - Stede, Manfred
A1  - Skopeteas, Stavros
A1  - Gafos, Adamantios I.
A1  - Haider, Hubert
A1  - Wunderlich, Dieter
A1  - Staudacher, Peter
A1  - Rauh, Gisa
ED  - Brown, Jessica M. M.
ED  - Schmidt, Andreas
ED  - Wierzba, Marta
T1  - Of Trees and Birds
BT  - A Festschrift for Gisbert Fanselow
N2  - Gisbert Fanselow’s work has been invaluable and inspiring to many ­researchers working on syntax, morphology, and information ­structure, both from a ­theoretical and from an experimental perspective. This ­volume comprises a collection of articles dedicated to Gisbert on the occasion of his 60th birthday, covering a range of topics from these areas and beyond. The contributions have in ­common that in a broad sense they have to do with language structures (and thus trees), and that in a more specific sense they have to do with birds. They thus cover two of Gisbert’s major interests in- and outside of the linguistic world (and ­perhaps even at the interface).
KW  - Festschrift
KW  - Linguistik
KW  - Syntax
KW  - Morphologie
KW  - Informationsstruktur
KW  - festschrift
KW  - linguistics
KW  - syntax
KW  - morphology
KW  - information structure
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-426542
SN  - 978-3-86956-457-9
PB  - Universitätsverlag Potsdam
CY  - Potsdam
ER  -