Since the earliest days of generative linguistics, the mechanism of selection has been the subject of intense scrutiny. Grimshaw (1979) famously argued that lexical items may impose both c(ategory)- and s(emantic)-selection; logically independent properties. Subsequent work by Pesetsky (1982) argued that many of Grimshaw (1979)’s observations framed as arguments for c-selection can instead be analyzed in terms of abstract case, thus raising the possibility of factoring c-selection out of the grammar completely. This pioneering work on selection has framed subsequent research in two ways. First, a debate ensued regarding whether it is possible to simplify Grimshaw (1979)’s system, by explaining selectional requirements in terms of other factors (Pesetsky 1991, 1993; Rothstein 1992; Odijk 1997). Second, these selectional requirements were used as a starting point for research into a range of empricial phenomena related to clausal embedding (Adger and Quer 2001; Moltmann 2004; Moulton 2009; Kastner 2015).
Recently developed resources may help shed new light on these questions. The current workshop will coincide with the launch of the ZAS Database of Clause Embedding Predicates1 an online database of predicates and the arguments they embed, which can be queried according to a variety of criteria (Stiebels et al. (2017)). Other resources, such as the MegaAttitude dataset2, can similarly inform large-scale computational investigations (White and Rawlins 2016a, 2016b).
The workshop aims to bring together researchers working on the selectional properties of predicates in an attempt to bring together the two lines of research mentioned above, as well as the specific topics below. We welcome theoretical, experimental, computational and typological work that bears on the selectional properties of predicates and the elements they embed. A non-exhaustive list of topics includes the following:
Division of labour between semantic and syntactic selectional mechanisms (Grimshaw 1979).
Question embedding and polarity (Adger and Quer 2001; Eckardt 2007; Schwabe and Fittler 2009; Mayr 2017).
Factivity and selection (Kiparsky and Kiparsky 1970; Kastner 2015).
Embedding and aspect (Todorović 2015; Lekakou and Quer 2016).
The semantics of declarative vs.interrogative clausal embedding (Lahiri 2002; Theiler 2014; Uegaki 2015; Theiler, Roelofsen, and Aloni 2016).
Re-examination of elimination of c-selection (Pesetsky 1982) in light of challenges to traditional Case theory (Marantz 1991; McFadden 2004; Baker 2015).
How selection interacts with case, control, finiteness and embedded clause-size (Sundaresan and McFadden 2009; Stiebels 2010; Wurmbrand 2014).
The correlation between embedding predicate and type of embedded complement (Takahashi 2010; Moltmann 2013).
Formalizations of selection and their theoretical or empirical consequences (Adger 2013; Bruening 2013; Collins and Stabler 2016).
Which elements impose selectional restrictions (Harley 2014; Merchant 2016).
Computational modeling (White and Rawlins 2016a) and computational resources (White and Rawlins 2016b; Stiebels et al. 2017).
Event structure and selection (Grano 2016; Rawlins and White 2017).
Submissions should be anonymous, and submitted via Easychair. Please ensure that your abstract fulfills the following requirements:
.pdf formatsubmission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=selfest2017
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Stiebels, Barbara, Thomas McFadden, Kerstin Schwabe, Torgrim Solstad, Elisa Kellner, Livia Sommer, and Katarzyna Stoltmann. 2017. “ZAS Database of Clause-embedding Predicates, Release 0.2 (Public Beta).” In OWIDplus. Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim.
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White, Aaron Steven, and Kyle Rawlins. 2016a. “A Computational Model of S-Selection.” In Semantics and Linguistic Theory 26, 641–63. Ithaca, NY: CLC Publications.
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Wurmbrand, Susi. 2014. “Tense and Aspect in English Infinitives.” Linguistic Inquiry 45: 403–47.