Zero-Adjective Contrast in Much-less Ellipsis: The Advantage for Parallel Syntax.

ABSTRACT: This paper explores the processing of sentences with a much less coordinator (I don't own a pink hat, much less a red one). This understudied ellipsis sentence, one of several focus-sensitive coordination structures, imposes syntactic and semantic conditions on the relationship between the correlate (a pink hat) and remnant (a red one). We present the case of zero-adjective contrast, in which an NP remnant introduces an adjective without an overt counterpart in the correlate (I don't own a hat, much less a red one). Although zero-adjective contrast could in principle ease comprehension by limiting the possible relationships between the remnant and correlate to entailment, we find that zero-adjective contrast is avoided in production and taxing in online processing. Results from several stu

SUBMITTER: Carlson K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5798495 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature