Coordinate distributivity in Russian and other languages

Masha Esipova (NYU)

Abstract

I will talk about two types of coordinate constructions in Russian, the counterparts of which exist in Greek, Hungarian and possibly other languages, that are distinct from ordinary conjunction and disjunction in terms of the inferences they trigger, namely:

• there exist instantiations of the properties introduced by each coordinate (the existential inference)
• the coordinates hold at non-overlapping time intervals/locations or of disjoint sets of individuals (the non-overlap inference)
• the coordinates fully "cover" a contextually salient or explicitly provided time interval, location, set of individuals (the coverage inference)

In my attempt to provide a compositional semantics for these constructions I will follow the basic intuition that they are distributive constructions (CDCs) in which multiple coordinated Shares (things that are being distributed) are distributed over a single Key (thing that is being distributed over), and I will review two major options: analyzing CDCs as essentially disjunctive constructions and as essentially conjunctive ones.