Spring 2015: Meeting 2

Hitomi Hirayama presented her work on May 26, 12-1:30 pm, the Cave.

Title: Japanese modified numerals and ignorance inferences

Abstract: This study investigates how (modified) numerals in Japanese interact with the particles wa and ga. First, I will point out some differences between English modified numerals and Japanese ones, and then give an analysis that explains the semantic similarities and differences between them. In particular, I claim that the contrast between comparatives and superlatives with respect to ignorance inferences is connected to the contrast between wa and ga in Japanese, adopting recent literature on comparatives and superlatives in English and Kuroda (2005) and Tomioka (2009)’s analyses of these particles.