Topics in Conditionals
S. Iatridou, 1991
This thesis is concerned with a number of issues that pertain to the syntax and semantics of conditional constructions.
In Chapter 1, there is a treatment of basic syntactic properties that characterize that relationship between the IF-clause and the matrix clause, as well as relationships internal to the IF-clause. Some similarities bewteen if and other elements that introduce clauses are discussed.
In Chapter 2, there is a typology of conditional constructions with respect to their meaning and syntactic properties. It is argues that there are three different types of conditionals, if the semantic and syntactic relationship between the IF-clause and the matrix clause is taken into account. The contrasts between two conditional types is assimiliated to the contrasts between appositive and restrictive relative clauses, and between BECAUSE- AND SINCE- clauses.
In Chapter 3, it is argued that conditional then has a meaning, and a specfic proposal is advanced to account for its distribution on semantic grounds.
In Chapter 4, there is a discussion of the syntactic properties of conditional then, and a general proposal is put forth to account for the syntactic environments in which it’s presence is restricted.
Thesis Supervisor: Noam Chomsky
Title: Institute Professor
Table of Contents
Chapter One Some Initial Syntactic Proposals 9
1.1 Positioning 9
1.2 Containment in the VP or I-bar adjunction? 15
1.3 How does the IF-clause appear sentence-initially? 24
1.4 Inside the IF-clause 33
1.4.1 What and where is if? 34
1.4.2 Does if have lower construals? 41
Chapter Two Types of Conditionals 50
2.1 The Relevance Conditional or Conditional Speech Act 50
2.2 The Factual Conditional 58
2.2.1 A first description 58
2.2.2 FC vs. RC 63
2.2.3 FC vs. HC 69
2.2.4 BECAUSE- and SINCE-clauses 81
2.2.5 Back to the FCs 91
2.2.6 Summary 96
Chapter Three The Semantic Contribution of “then” 99
3.1 The semantic contribution of then 99
3.1.1 Where then does not appear 103
3.1.2 Resumptive pronoun? 117
3.1.3 A modification of (2b) 121
3.2 Some more environments whree then is degraded 123
3.3 Two side-points 131
3.3.1 ‘Only/even CP’ needs Case 131
3.3.2 pro cannot refer to events 138
Chapter Four The Syntax of “then” 146
4.1 The syntax 146
4.1.1 What follows then 146
4.1.2 Positioning 147
4.1.3 Head or Specifier 156
4.2 Some more environments where then cannot appear 166
4.2.1 Negative contexts 166
4.2.2 Embedded contexts 171
4.2.3 Towards a solution 175