1. Two ʺmanyʺ- words in Italian? : on molto-tanto and cross-linguistic differences in quantificationGreta Mazzaggio, Penka Stateva, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: This article investigates the variability in the meaning of vague quantifiers across different languages, focusing on Italian’s m(any)-words molto and tanto. The aim was to replicate a previous analysis conducted on Slovenian m-words – precej and veliko – examining whether the Italian ones exhibit a similar pragmatic strengthening effect. Using a sentence-picture verification task, we tested 88 Italian monolingual participants on their evaluation of sentences of the form “Quantifier X are Y”. Our results showed that, unlike Slovenian speakers, Italian speakers do not exhibit a difference in the evaluation of molto and tanto, suggesting that the two words have the same numerical bound and are interchangeable as amount modifiers. Our analysis suggests that there are underlying semantic distinctions between molto and tanto that require further investigation. These findings contribute to our understanding of the variability in the use of quantifiers across languages and highlight the importance of examining subtle differences in meaning when studying vague quantifiers.
Keywords: cross-linguistic differences, pragmatics, quantification, semantics, vague quantifiers
Published in RUNG: 03.10.2023; Views: 1563; Downloads: 10
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3. On the cost of scalar implicatures : an eye-tracking studyGreta Mazzaggio, Anne Colette Reboul, Jean-Baptiste van der Henst, Anne Cheylus, Paolo Lorusso, Penka Stateva, 2022, published scientific conference contribution abstract Keywords: scalar implicatures, experimental pragamtics, eye-tracker, quantifiers
Published in RUNG: 08.08.2022; Views: 1758; Downloads: 25
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6. A diminished propensityto compute scalar implicaturesis linked to autistic traitsGreta Mazzaggio, Luca Surian, 2018, original scientific article Abstract: We investigated whether there is an association between autistic traits in the broader pheno- type and the ability to compute scalar implicatures. Previous studies found that the frequency of autistic traits is higher in students of science than of humanities. Here we recorded the frequency of rejection of underinformative scalar items in students enrolled either in a science or in a humanities curriculum and assessed their autistic traits using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient questionnaire. We found that rejec- tions were less frequent in science curricula students than in humanities curricula students. Moreover, rejections were associated negatively with autistic traits and positively with performance on Theory- of-Mind tasks. These findings suggest that autism cognitive phenotype is negatively associated with a propensity to spontaneously derive scalar implicatures.
Keywords: scalar implicatures, quantifiers, Autism-spectrum Quotient, pragmatics, theory of mind
Published in RUNG: 17.09.2021; Views: 2333; Downloads: 0
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