Subjunctive Conditionals: A Linguistic Analysis

176 Pages·2013·1.601 MB·English

by  Michela Ippolito

Subjunctive Conditionals
LinguisticInquiryMonographs
SamuelJayKeyser,generaleditor
AcompletelistofbookspublishedintheLinguisticInquiryMonographsseries
appearsatthebackofthisbook.
Subjunctive Conditionals
ALinguisticAnalysis
MichelaIppolito
TheMITPress
Cambridge,Massachusetts
London,England
©2013MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans(includingphotocopying,recording,orinformation
storageandretrieval)withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
MITPressbooksmaybepurchasedatspecialquantitydiscountsforbusinessorsales
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writetoSpecialSalesDepartment,TheMITPress,55HaywardStreet,Cambridge,
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ThisbookwassetinSyntaxandTimesNewRomanbyWestchesterBookGroup.
PrintedandboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Ippolito,Michela,1970–
Subjunctiveconditionals:alinguisticanalysis/MichelaIppolito.
pagescm.—(Linguisticinquirymonographs)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-262-01948-4(hardcover:alk.paper)—
ISBN978-0-262-51964-9(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Grammar,Comparativeandgeneral—Conditionals. 2.Grammar,Comparativeand
general—Subjunctive. 3.Modality(Linguistics) 4.Semantics. I.Title.
P292.5.I662013
415'.6—dc23
2013001549
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
TomyfatherIgnazioIppolitoandtothememoryofmymotherAntonia

Contents
SeriesForeword ix
Preface xi
1 Introduction 1
1.1 WhatAreSubjunctiveConditionals? 1
1.2 CounterfactualsandPossibleWorlds 6
1.3 DoublyRelativeModality 11
1.4 ThePragmaticsofSubjunctiveConditionals 16
2 TemporalMismatchesinSubjunctiveConditionals 21
2.1 FutureCounterfactuals 21
2.2 TemporalMismatches 23
2.3 Ogihara’sProposal 27
2.4 IsAspecttheKeyIngredient? 31
2.5 CounterfactualsandPresuppositions 40
2.6 TheTemporalStructureofSubjunctiveConditionals 45
3 ACompositionalAnalysis 53
3.1 TheFacts 53
3.2 ABareConditional 56
3.3 SimplePastSubjunctiveConditionals 58
3.4 PastPerfectSubjunctiveConditionals 79
3.5 TheTemporalInterpretationofAntecedentandConsequentClauses 92
3.6 Past-as-PastProposals 102
3.7 PotentialRepercussionsofthePresentProposalfor
Will-Conditionals 112
4 Presuppositions 117
4.1 DefiniteDeterminers 118
4.2 AdditivePresuppositions 121
4.3 Change-of-StateVerbs 123
4.4 FactiveVerbs 127
4.5 Cleft-Sentences 128
viii Contents
5 AnAsymmetrybetweenthePastandtheFuture 131
6 Conclusion 137
Notes 141
References 151
Index 157
Series Foreword
Wearepleasedtopresentthesixty-fifthvolumeintheseriesLinguisticInquiry
Monographs. These monographs present new and original research beyond
the scope of the article. We hope they will benefit our field by bringing to it
perspectivesthatwillstimulatefurtherresearchandinsight.
Originallypublishedinlimitededition,theLinguisticInquiryMonographs
arenowmorewidelyavailable.Thischangeisduetothegreatinterestengen-
deredbytheseriesandbytheneedsofagrowingreadership.Theeditorsthank
thereadersfortheirsupportandwelcomesuggestionsaboutfuturedirections
fortheseries.
SamuelJayKeyser
fortheEditorialBoard