Part-whole structures

p 2023

Part-whole structures

WĄGIEL, Marcin

Basic information

Original name

Part-whole structures

Authors

WĄGIEL, Marcin

Edition

Eastern Generative Grammar (EGG) 2023, 31/07-04/08/2023, University of Novi Sad, 2023

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Vyžádané přednášky

Field of Study

60203 Linguistics

Country of publisher

Serbia

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords in English

part-whole structures; mereology; mereotopology; partitives; collectives; singulatives; roles

Abstract

V originále

The category of part-whole is one of the key cognitive notions in human mind. In this class, we will explore various grammatical devices expressing this concept in natural language. I will investigate syntactic constructions and lexical categories that encode different kinds of part-whole structures across languages, e.g., partitives, plurals, proportional quantifiers, whole-adjectives, collective nouns and singulatives. For instance, I will explore how `Half the flag is red' differs semantically from `A/One half of the flag is red' (Wągiel 2018) and consider why `I raked the leaves into a pile' is felicitous, whereas `#I raked the foliage into a pile' is not (Grimm 2012). I will compare two theories of parts and wholes, specifically standard mereology introduced to linguistics in the seminal paper by Link (1983) and a newer development called mereotopology, which extends mereology with topological notions such as connectedness, and thus enables for modelling different kinds of spatial configurations within a part-whole structure (Grimm 2021, Lima 2014, Scontras 2014, Wągiel 2018, 2021, Igel 2021). As a result, a mereotopological approach will allow us to distinguish ontologically between three types of entities: integrated wholes (e.g., the referents of the singular count noun `pebble') arbitrary sums (e.g., the referents of the plural nouns `pebbles') and clusters, i.e., pluralities structured in a particular topological configurations (e.g., the typical referents of the granular noun `gravel'). Finally, I will consider part-whole structures in more abstract domains including eventualities and roles.

Links

MUNI/A/1249/2022, interní kód MU

Name: Lexikon a gramatika češtiny III - 2023

Investor: Masaryk University

Citovat

WĄGIEL, Marcin. Part-whole structures. In Eastern Generative Grammar (EGG) 2023, 31/07-04/08/2023, University of Novi Sad. 2023.

@misc{2351437,
   author = {Wągiel, Marcin},
   booktitle = {Eastern Generative Grammar (EGG) 2023, 31/07-04/08/2023, University of Novi Sad},
   keywords = {part-whole structures; mereology; mereotopology; partitives; collectives; singulatives; roles},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Part-whole structures},
   url = {https://www.eggschool.org/classes/marcin-wagiel-part-whole-structures/},
   year = {2023}
}

TY  - SLIDE
ID  - 2351437
AU  - Wągiel, Marcin
PY  - 2023
TI  - Part-whole structures
KW  - part-whole structures
KW  - mereology
KW  - mereotopology
KW  - partitives
KW  - collectives
KW  - singulatives
KW  - roles
UR  - https://www.eggschool.org/classes/marcin-wagiel-part-whole-structures/
N2  - The category of part-whole is one of the key cognitive notions in human mind. In this class, we will explore various grammatical devices expressing this concept in natural language. I will investigate syntactic constructions and lexical categories that encode different kinds of part-whole structures across languages, e.g., partitives, plurals, proportional quantifiers, whole-adjectives, collective nouns and singulatives. For instance, I will explore how `Half the flag is red' differs semantically from `A/One half of the flag is red' (Wągiel 2018) and consider why `I raked the leaves into a pile' is felicitous, whereas `#I raked the foliage into a pile' is not (Grimm 2012). I will compare two theories of parts and wholes, specifically standard mereology introduced to linguistics in the seminal paper by Link (1983) and a newer development called mereotopology, which extends mereology with topological notions such as connectedness, and thus enables for modelling different kinds of spatial configurations within a part-whole structure (Grimm 2021, Lima 2014, Scontras 2014, Wągiel 2018, 2021, Igel 2021). As a result, a mereotopological approach will allow us to distinguish ontologically between three types of entities: integrated wholes (e.g., the referents of the singular count noun `pebble') arbitrary sums (e.g., the referents of the plural nouns `pebbles') and clusters, i.e., pluralities structured in a particular topological configurations (e.g., the typical referents of the granular noun `gravel'). Finally, I will consider part-whole structures in more abstract domains including eventualities and roles.
ER  -

WĄGIEL, Marcin. Part-whole structures. In \textit{Eastern Generative Grammar (EGG) 2023, 31/07-04/08/2023, University of Novi Sad}. 2023.

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