Across Greek, German, and English, wh-exclamatives, that-exclamatives, and declarative exclamations are structurally and semantically allied with emotive-verb complements.

Across Greek, German, and English, wh-exclamatives, that-exclamatives, and declarative exclamations are structurally and semantically allied with emotive-verb complements.

• Among Greek complementizers, only pu occurs after verbs of emotion; Greek exclamatives therefore resemble complements selected by emotive verbs.
  Evidence for this premise (3)

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  Of these, only pu appears after verbs of emotion

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p3

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  Of these, only pu appears after verbs of emotion

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p3

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  Of these, only pu appears after verbs of emotion

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p3
• Emotive verbs do not objectively factively presuppose their complements, but their subject is doxastically committed to the complement proposition (subjective veridicality).
  Evidence for this premise (3)

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  emotive verbs need not be veridical in the objective sense

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p5

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  emotive verbs need not be veridical in the objective sense

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p5

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  emotive verbs need not be veridical in the objective sense

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p5
• The Greek ti-plus-adjective pattern is not an ordinary degree-question form: neutral degree questions require poso ‘how much’, and are incompatible with pu.
  Evidence for this premise (3)

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  the degree question requires, like in English, a how wh -phrase

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p4

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  the degree question requires, like in English, a how wh -phrase

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p4

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  the degree question requires, like in English, a how wh -phrase

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p4
• Greek wh-exclamatives use ti ‘what’ plus an adjective and the complementizer pu; pu is optional but strongly preferred in this construction.
  Evidence for this premise (3)

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  Pu is optional, but strongly preferred.

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p2

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  Pu is optional, but strongly preferred.

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p2

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  Pu is optional, but strongly preferred.

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p2
• Exclamatives can have descriptive/assertive content and can answer information-seeking questions when the information-structural and discourse context makes that content the main point.
  Evidence for this premise (3)

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  exclamatives can indeed be used as answers to information-seeking questions

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p1

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  exclamatives can indeed be used as answers to information-seeking questions

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p1

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  exclamatives can indeed be used as answers to information-seeking questions

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p1
• Contrary emotives such as be surprised and be amazed carry counterexpectation: the attitude holder believed the contrary immediately before and through utterance time.
  Evidence for this premise (3)

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  carry a presupposition of disbelief

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p6

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  carry a presupposition of disbelief

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p6

  Exclamation, intensity, and emotive assertion — Greek evidence and the syntax-semantics of emotive assertions

  carry a presupposition of disbelief

  https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2024-2022#unit-3-p6
• German embedded word order, dass distribution, the contrast with ob-interrogatives, and modal-particle distribution support treating German exclamatives as elliptical emotive-matrix structures and as non-interrogative emotive assertions.

These are challenges this argument’s reasoning pattern must still withstand. Answering them on Isonomia strengthens the argument.

• Is there a plausible alternative hypothesis that has not been considered or that would explain the facts at least as well?Open
• Could the facts be jointly explained by a conjunction of weaker causes rather than a single dominant H?Open
• Could the body of facts F itself be an artifact of selection, measurement, or reporting bias rather than a real phenomenon needing causal explanation?Open
• Does H actually explain the full body of facts F, or only a salient subset?Open
• Are the criteria used to judge H 'best' (scope, simplicity, mechanism, prior probability) appropriate for this domain, and are they applied consistently across the alternatives?Open

Cited by 1 · 0 contests