Disjunction in Alternative Semantics 论文

摘要

I came to Amherst in 1998 fleeing a small provincial university in rainy Northern Spain. A year before, on my own, I had come across a handbook paper on modality by Angelika Kratzer. It had been my first encounter with formal semantics. I still remember the fasci-nation. I also remember the disappointment: I knew nothing about formal linguistics and didn’t understand a word. Who would have imagined back then that I would be writing this dissertation? This dissertation owes its existence to the dedicated effort, contagious energy, and in-fectious optimism of my many teachers and friends at South College. I am truly indebted to everybody who makes the Department of Linguistics at UMass Amherst such a utopian learning environment. The members of my dissertation committee — Kai von Fintel, Lyn Frazier, Kevin Klement, Barbara Partee, Chris Potts — and quite especially its chair — An-gelika Kratzer — have played an important role in my education and deserve my deepest gratitude. Kai von Fintel’s work has always mesmerized me. I spent one of my University Fel-lowships commuting from South College to MIT to take his (and Irene Heim’s) pragmatics