Existential propositions

This dissertation investigates the semantics of existential sentences (existentials) such as (1).; (1) There's whiskey in the jar.; Most semantic literature on existentials has focused on the so-called definiteness effect (DE), namely the observation that certain NP types do not easily occur in the construction. Here it is argued that it is profitable to set the DE aside and ask more directly what propositions are expressed by existentials and how such propositions are formed. In answer to this question an analysis is proposed in which the main predicate of an existential is the post-copular NP (the "pivot", e.g. whiskey in (1)). This predicate has a single argument which is implicit and which must be interpreted as a set. The value of this argument is determined by context or by contextual modifiers expressed by the constituent following the pivot (the "coda", e.g. in the jar in (1)). A formal semantics encoding this theory of existential propositions is developed and its advantages in accounting for the range of interpretations available to simple existentials is demonstrated. Various phenomena are analyzed, some of which have not been noted or have not been analyzed in the literature. These include existentials with quantified codas and multiple codas, adjectival codas, part-whole readings, codas with free relatives and the licensing of free choice items. An approach to the DE is presented which relates it to the predicative nature of pivots. An analysis of pivots quantifying over kinds (McNally 1992) is sketched out which in turn facilitates an analysis of the differential distribution of NP types in English and modern Hebrew.