Modal adverbs, conjunction reduction, and the structure of coordination

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Abstract

This article revisits Collins' (1988) analysis of coordinated constructions with a modal adverb, such as "John and perhaps Mary went to the store". I present a range of arguments supporting Collins' conclusion that the derivation of this type of construction does not involve conjunction reduction. However, unlike Collins, I argue that the adverb modifies the second conjunct locally, qualifying the inclusion of the second conjunct in the relevant set. If so, the distribution of modal adverbs like "perhaps" inside coordinate noun phrases should not be interpreted as motivating the head status of the conjunction, as Collins argued.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe title of this volume is shorter than its contributions are allowed to be
Subtitle of host publicationPapers in honour of Hotze Rullmann (University of British Columbia Occasional Papers in Linguistics)
EditorsM. Ryan Bochnak, Eva Csipak, Lisa Matthewson, Marcin Morzycki, Daniel K.E. Reisinger
Place of PublicationVancouver
PublisherUniversity of British Columbia
Pages405-416
Number of pages12
Volume9
ISBN (Electronic)978-0-88865-492-2
Publication statusPublished - 29-Nov-2024

Publication series

NameUniversity of British Columbia Occasional Papers in Linguistics
PublisherUniversity of British Columbia
Volume9

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