Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult Mandarin
The semantics of superordinate collectives (superordinates hereafter) such as English furniture are argued to be count or mass, or to allow both count and mass readings. When tested experimentally, however, it has repeatedly been reported that superordinates denote individuals in a wide range of typ...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Linguistics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2022-0048 |
| _version_ | 1827283651561259008 |
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| author | Huang Aijun Li Jingjing Meroni Luisa |
| author_facet | Huang Aijun Li Jingjing Meroni Luisa |
| author_sort | Huang Aijun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The semantics of superordinate collectives (superordinates hereafter) such as English furniture are argued to be count or mass, or to allow both count and mass readings. When tested experimentally, however, it has repeatedly been reported that superordinates denote individuals in a wide range of typologically distinct languages, including Mandarin. A close examination of the experimental method and design commonly used in previous research suggests, however, that the attested individual-denoting reading might only be the preferred reading in neutral contexts rather than the only reading that superordinates allow. In the present study, using a Truth Value Judgment Task we investigate the interpretation of Mandarin superordinates by Mandarin-speaking adults and 4–6-year-old children. We found that bare superordinates can convey both individual-denoting and non-individual-denoting readings depending on specific contexts provided, but such contextual manipulation cannot override morphosyntax (the presence of an individual classifier that selects an individual-denoting reading only). Taken together, our experimental data indicate that both contextual and morphosyntactic information play an important role in the interpretation of Mandarin superordinates, but that they function in different ways. In a word, the present study contributes new data and opens new perspectives for further investigation in the interpretation of superordinates in Mandarin as well as in other languages. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:40:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f002a91f254544b0883d3b748d8d640b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0024-3949 1613-396X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:40:28Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Linguistics |
| spelling | doaj.art-f002a91f254544b0883d3b748d8d640b2024-04-15T07:41:58ZengDe GruyterLinguistics0024-39491613-396X2022-07-0160493397210.1515/ling-2022-0048Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult MandarinHuang Aijun0Li Jingjing1Meroni Luisa2Department of English, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, P. R. ChinaSchool of Foreign Languages, Soochow University, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, P. R. ChinaOTS/ Italian, Utrecht University, Trans 10, 3512 JK Utrecht, The NetherlandsThe semantics of superordinate collectives (superordinates hereafter) such as English furniture are argued to be count or mass, or to allow both count and mass readings. When tested experimentally, however, it has repeatedly been reported that superordinates denote individuals in a wide range of typologically distinct languages, including Mandarin. A close examination of the experimental method and design commonly used in previous research suggests, however, that the attested individual-denoting reading might only be the preferred reading in neutral contexts rather than the only reading that superordinates allow. In the present study, using a Truth Value Judgment Task we investigate the interpretation of Mandarin superordinates by Mandarin-speaking adults and 4–6-year-old children. We found that bare superordinates can convey both individual-denoting and non-individual-denoting readings depending on specific contexts provided, but such contextual manipulation cannot override morphosyntax (the presence of an individual classifier that selects an individual-denoting reading only). Taken together, our experimental data indicate that both contextual and morphosyntactic information play an important role in the interpretation of Mandarin superordinates, but that they function in different ways. In a word, the present study contributes new data and opens new perspectives for further investigation in the interpretation of superordinates in Mandarin as well as in other languages.https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2022-0048child languagecount-mass semanticsmandarin chinesesuperordinate collectives |
| spellingShingle | Huang Aijun Li Jingjing Meroni Luisa Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult Mandarin Linguistics child language count-mass semantics mandarin chinese superordinate collectives |
| title | Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult Mandarin |
| title_full | Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult Mandarin |
| title_fullStr | Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult Mandarin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult Mandarin |
| title_short | Grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult Mandarin |
| title_sort | grammatical and contextual factors affecting the interpretation of superordinate collectives in child and adult mandarin |
| topic | child language count-mass semantics mandarin chinese superordinate collectives |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2022-0048 |
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