We are a community of linguists based in Asia, meeting (almost) weekly to present and discuss research on the syntax, semantics, and/or pragmatics of Asian languages. Most of our regular attendees are affiliated with institutions across Asia. A list of all institutions can be found at the bottom of the page, offering insight into the distribution of linguists in this community. The workshop also aims to foster the growth of the linguistics community in Asia and strengthen its connections with the global linguistics community. Anyone with an interest in SSP or Asian languages is welcome to join us.
The online workshop is a continued effort of International Conference on the Frontiers of Formal Linguistics held at Huazhong Agricultural University in 2024. Meeting dates are scheduled at the begining of each semester. For Fall 2024, we are meeting on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings. Each week's speaker is responsible for arranging an online meeting room for their session. Please note that all times are in UTC+8.
If you are interested in sharing your research with us or attending the online sessions, please feel free to reach out to any of the organizers listed below.
Organizers
XU Beibei Huazhong Agricultural University
ZHANG Linmin New York University Shanghai
LI Haoze Nanyang Technological University
Qiu Minghui Zhejiang University
Spring 2025
TBD
Fall 2024
Nov 16 10 am (Sat) (Cancelled)
Speaker: LI Haoze (NTU)
Topic: Relative menasurement and scope
Nov 9 10 am (Sat)
Speaker: LUO Zhuosi (BFSU)
Topic: Causaulity, modality, and contextual argument interpretation
Abstract: This talk addresses the puzzle that the animate causees across five Teochew periphrastic causatives demonstrate different thematic interpretation patterns, even when the embedded predicates are the same. I argue that both the lexical and syntactic listing approach cannot solve the puzzle. The alternative contextual approach is more favorable. Based on fieldwork data collected from 30 Teochew consultants (IRB approval from Georgetown), I propose a modal analysis to account for the complex causal relations featuring multidimensionality, which the monolithic CAUSE operator fails to capture. I argue for a two-step post-syntactic contextualization mechanism at the LF for the interpretation of a shared argument fed by the overall eventuality, showing that it can help account for the diverse causee interpretations, including its elusive agentive nature. Building on insights from cognitive philosophy, this study sheds light on two of the most important topics in cognitive science, i.e., causation and agency, and on the linking issue between syntax and semantics in argument interpretation with a focus on the most understudied external arguments. In addition, this study provides implications for two of the other major topics on argument structure, i.e., argument introduction and argument licensing, as well as the under-explored phasehood or domain sensitivity at LF.
Nov 2 9:30 am (Sat)
Speaker: HE Yuyin (Beijing Language and Culture University)
Topic: Finiteness, ICH, and Mandarin clausal complementation
Abstract: This talk recategorizes some of the significant properties argued to reflect the finiteness distinction in Mandarin into the scale of (in)dependency, complexity, and transparency. I will then demonstrate that clausal complementation in Mandarin also follows the Implicational Complementation Hierarchy (ICH) and how most of the properties argued to be finiteness relevant can be accounted for within a synthesis model of complementation (Wurmbrand and Lohninger 2023). Following a brief review of the finiteness debate in Mandarin, I suggest that the postulation of linking tense to finiteness in Mandarin (A. Li 1985, 1990, Sybesma 2007, T.-H. Lin 2015, He 2020, J. Huang 2022 etc.) is not only reasonable given independent evidence supporting a covert tense in the language, but also productive since the distribution of future modals and overt embedded subjects can be properly addressed with little theoretical cost. I will then demonstrate where Mandarin fits in the cross-linguistic picture regarding finiteness coding and show that the finiteness preference in Mandarin complementation also aligns with ICH.
Oct 26 10am (Sat)
Speaker: CAO Yaqing (UC Santa Cruz)
Topic: Scope Reconstruction in Head Movements as Featural Valuations
Abstract: This paper proposes that scope in head movement is by-product of agree. Scope of modals with respect to negation in English is determined in the place where ALL their polarity features are checked and valued. The empirical pattern addressed here is that the modals like need and can in John need/cannot come are interpreted below not but modals like must and should in John must/should not come are interpreted above not. The analysis proposed a featural geometry framework which implements Iatridou & Zeijlstra’s (2013) proposal of modal’s polarity sensitivity and Szabolci (2004)’s PPI featural specifications in the Upward Agree (Bjorkman & Zeijlstra, 2019). To be specific, NPI modals like need is interpreted below negation because it encodes one [uNeg:-] feature, which is checked by the [iNeg:NEG] feature on negation. Neutral modals like can is also interpreted low because it encodes one polarity [uΣ:-] feature, which is checked by the implicated [iΣ:NEG] feature on negation in featural geometry. PPI modals like must/should encode two [uNeg:-] features, which are checked by a higher [iNeg] operator and a lower [iNeg:NEG] on negation. Thus, it is only in the high position that agree finished checking all unvalued features, thus PPI modals are interpreted high and above negation. This proposal suggests that not only head movements of modals are syntax proper, but LF also has access to the location where a feature is checked and valued, paralleling to phrasal A- and A’-movements.
Oct 19 10am (Sat)
Speaker: ZHANG Linmin (NYU Shanghai)
Topic: A Degree-QUD Based Perspective on Informativeness
Abstract: In this talk, I propose a new perspective on informativeness. Informativeness is usually defined based on entailment. "Mary read 3 books" entails and is thus more informative than "Mary read 2 books". However, "Mary read exactly 3 books" does not entail "Mary read exactly 2 books". Yet in a context where we are interested in the issue of how hard-working Mary is, "Mary read exactly 3 books" can indicate a hard-working degree higher than "Mary read exactly 2 books" does. Thus, if Mary is as hard-working as indicated by the former sentence, she is definitely as hard-working as indicated by the latter sentence. In other words, under a relevant degree QUD, the former sentence shows a higher level of informativeness than the latter. I use this new, degree-QUD based perspective on informativeness to analyze three kinds of natural language phenomena: (i) the use of English "even", (ii) cumulative-reading sentences that address measurements along multiple dimensions, and (iii) multi-head comparatives. I show that the interpretation of all these phenomena assume a context-relevant, underlying degree QUD: the utterance, compared with its alternatives, represents maximal informativeness in addressing this underlying degree QUD.
Oct 12 9am (Sat)
Speaker: HE Rong (Tsinghua University) & LIU Mingming (Tsinghua University)
Topic: HAISHI and alternative questions in Mandarin
Abstract: It is widely assumed that Mandarin has two disjunctors huozhe and haishi, the latter used exclusively in questions. We challenge the standard view by proposing that haishi is not an interrogative disjunctor but the same adverb used in sentences like 我们还是去颐和园吧 'Let's go to the Summer Palace instead'. Specifically, we argue that both the hai and shi are semantically active, the former contributing additivity while the latter exhaustivity. As a result, when used in a juxtaposition of two sentences, haishi gives rise to a mutual exclusivity presupposition, and requires the juxtaposition be interpreted as a set, which is just the denotation of an alternative question.
Sept 27 7pm (Fri)
Speaker: QIU Minghui (Zhejiang University) & LI Xuping (Zhejiang University)
Topic: Mandarin DUO
Institutions and their acronyms
| Institution | Acronym | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Huazhong Agricultural University | HZAU | Wuhan, China |
| New York University Shanghai | NYU Shanghai | Shanghai, China |
| Nanyang Technological University | NTU | Singapore |
| Zhejiang University | ZJU | Hangzhou, China |
| Tsinghua University | Tsinghua | Beijing, China |
| University of California Santa Cruz | UCSC | Santa Cruz, USA |
| Beijing Language and Culture University | BLCU | Beijing, China |
| Guangdong University of Foreign Studies | GDUFS | Guangzhou, China |
| Fudan University | Fudan | Shanghai, China |