Giorgos Spathas
Researcher at Leibniz - Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
I am a theoretical linguist currently working as the Principal Investigator of the DFG-funded project 'Measures of change in the grammar of verbal predication' at the Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft in Berlin.
My primary research interests are the syntax and semantics of natural language, the interface between these two components of grammar and their connection to prosody.
My primary research interests are the syntax and semantics of natural language, the interface between these two components of grammar and their connection to prosody.
Recent
*New project*
'Measures of change in the grammar of verbal predication'
Since 01/10/2022 I am working as the Principal Investigator of the DFG-funded project 'Measures of change in the grammar of verbal predication.' You can find the project's website here. The project will run until at least 30/09/2025. Here is a short description.
Verbs of Change like, e.g., open (also eat, fix, fall, a.o.) describe states-of-affairs in which some entity undergoes change to one of its inherent or accidental properties. One common way to describe change is as a process leading to a new state-of-affairs. In, e.g., Mary opened the door, a process of opening leading to a state of the door being open. Alternatively, change can be seen as progression along an ordered scale, e.g. as the door progressively becomes more and more open. The scale represents values of different measurements of the ‘openness’ of the door as it is being opened. This project investigates the interaction between these two ways of understanding change by comparing and contrasting for the first time the behavior of Verbs of Change in two major empirical domains: their interaction with diagnostics of event structure and their behavior in various types of measurement constructions. In doing so, we exploit the most recent developments in the grammar of Verbs of Change, which have established that sub-types of Verbs of Change differ in their event structure, with the most recent developments in the grammar of measurement, which provide new ways to distinguish between different types of measures. The objectives of the project are (a) to establish the first comprehensive list of measurable domains in the grammar of Verbs of Change, (b) to identify the different types of measures that appear in the grammar of Verbs of Change, and (c) to reveal the principles that regulate the division of labor between encyclopedic and templatic/ functional verbal meaning in the case of measures. The project will contribute to the formulation of a comprehensive theory of both verbal decomposition and the grammar of measurement, and also promises to improve our understanding of the interface between verbal meaning and the cognitive system representing quantities.
Verbs of Change like, e.g., open (also eat, fix, fall, a.o.) describe states-of-affairs in which some entity undergoes change to one of its inherent or accidental properties. One common way to describe change is as a process leading to a new state-of-affairs. In, e.g., Mary opened the door, a process of opening leading to a state of the door being open. Alternatively, change can be seen as progression along an ordered scale, e.g. as the door progressively becomes more and more open. The scale represents values of different measurements of the ‘openness’ of the door as it is being opened. This project investigates the interaction between these two ways of understanding change by comparing and contrasting for the first time the behavior of Verbs of Change in two major empirical domains: their interaction with diagnostics of event structure and their behavior in various types of measurement constructions. In doing so, we exploit the most recent developments in the grammar of Verbs of Change, which have established that sub-types of Verbs of Change differ in their event structure, with the most recent developments in the grammar of measurement, which provide new ways to distinguish between different types of measures. The objectives of the project are (a) to establish the first comprehensive list of measurable domains in the grammar of Verbs of Change, (b) to identify the different types of measures that appear in the grammar of Verbs of Change, and (c) to reveal the principles that regulate the division of labor between encyclopedic and templatic/ functional verbal meaning in the case of measures. The project will contribute to the formulation of a comprehensive theory of both verbal decomposition and the grammar of measurement, and also promises to improve our understanding of the interface between verbal meaning and the cognitive system representing quantities.
Paper on object experiencer verbs
'Interpretability, aspectual coercion and event structure in object experiencer verbs: an experimental study'
Joint work with Jeannique Darby, Artemis Alexiadou, and Michael Walsh.
This paper discusses an experimental, processing-based approach to English Object-Experiencer verbs and argues that any investigation of the event structural properties of these verbs must crucially take into account not only considerations on the level of the verb, but also the influence of processes which take place when a verb is interpreted in context.
Paper on relative measurement
'Domain Restricted Measure Functions and the Extent Readings of Relative Measures.'
This paper, written for a volume in honour of Stephanie Solt, discusses cases of relative measurement with percentages in predicational structures. After disentangling the various readings that arise, I propose an account based on (a) a quantificational analysis of n percent, (b) a partitive function of a functional head Meas that introduces measure functions, and (c) a Neo-Davidsonian analysis of gradable adjectives.
Paper published Open Access in NLLT
'States in the decomposition of verbal predicates: evidence from additive operators.'
Joint work with Dimitris Michelioudakis (AUTH).
In this paper we propose a new diagnostic for the detection of stative sub-events in the decomposition of verbal predicates, based on the Stative Presuppositions generated by additive operators like Greek ke ‘also’. Based on the distribution of such Stative Presuppositions, we propose a non-uniform analysis of result verbs that integrates event-decompositional and scalarity-/ incrementality-based analyses.
Paper to appear in Catalan Journal of linguistics
'Gender on animal nouns in Greek.'
Joint work with Yasu Sudo (UCL).
This paper discusses the syntax and semantics of gender on animal nouns in Greek.
Sinn und Bedeutung 25
UCL/QMUL, September 3-9, 2020
I will be giving a virtual talk at SuB 25.
The title of the talk is 'Ratio modifiers and the scale structure of negative adjectives'.
The title of the talk is 'Ratio modifiers and the scale structure of negative adjectives'.
A snippet for Uli
'Plural anaphoric reference and non-conservativity.'
This snippet was written for a special issue of Snippets celebrating Uli Sauerland's 50th birthday.
You can find the issue here.
You can find the issue here.
Sinn und Bedeutung 24
Universität Osnabrück, September 4-7, 2019
I gave a talk at SuB 24.
The title of the talk was 'Proportional modification of gradable adjectives: the case of percentages'.
The title of the talk was 'Proportional modification of gradable adjectives: the case of percentages'.
Invited talk
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, May 30, 2019
I will be giving an invited talk at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.
The title of my talk is 'Relational modification of gradable predicates'.
The title of my talk is 'Relational modification of gradable predicates'.
XPrag-ADJ19
University of Cologne, May 23-24, 2019
I gave a talk at the workshop XPrag-ADJ19 ' The semantics and pragmatices of gradable adjectives: Integrating perspectives from linguistic theory, psycholinguistics and modelling'.
The title of the talk was 'Proportional modification of gradable adjectives: the case of percentages'.
You can find more information on the workshop here.
The title of the talk was 'Proportional modification of gradable adjectives: the case of percentages'.
You can find more information on the workshop here.
GLOW42
University of Oslo, May 7-11, 2019
I gave a poster presentation at GLOW 42.
The title of the poster was 'On the grammar of gender inferences'.
You can find more information on the conference here.
The title of the poster was 'On the grammar of gender inferences'.
You can find more information on the conference here.
AMGL40
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, April 5-6, 2019
I presented joint work with Artemis Alexiadou (Leibniz ZAS/ Humboldt Universität zu Berlin) at AMGL 40.
The title of our talk was 'Greek percentages at the syntax-semantics interface'.
You can find more information on the conference here.
The title of our talk was 'Greek percentages at the syntax-semantics interface'.
You can find more information on the conference here.
Invited talk
University of Gothenburg, March 12, 2019
I gave an invited talk at the University of Gothenburg.
The title of my presentation was 'Proportional modification of gradable adjectives: the case of percentages'.
The title of my presentation was 'Proportional modification of gradable adjectives: the case of percentages'.
NELS49
Cornell University, October 5-7, 2018
I gave a poster presentation at this year's NELS conference.
The title of my presentation is 'An ambiguity account of Degree Achievements: evidence from additive operators'.
You can find the poster here and a handout here.
The title of my presentation is 'An ambiguity account of Degree Achievements: evidence from additive operators'.
You can find the poster here and a handout here.