An Explanation of the Veridical Uniformity Universal. (23rd December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Steinert-Threlkeld, Shane
• Is Part Of: Journal of semantics. Volume 37:Number 1(2020:Feb.)
• Page Start: 129
• Page End: 144
• Publication Date: 2019-12-23
• Subjects: Semantics -- Periodicals; Semantik; Semantics; Periodicals; 401.43
• DOI: 10.1093/jos/ffz019
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0167-5133

Abstract

Abstract: A semantic universal, which we here dub the Veridical Uniformity Universal, has recently been argued to hold of responsive verbs (those that take both declarative and interrogative complements). This paper offers a preliminary explanation of this universal: verbs satisfying it are easier to learn than those that do not. This claim is supported by a computational experiment using artificial neural networks, mirroring a recent proposal for explaining semantic universals of quantifiers. This preliminary study opens up many avenues for future work on explaining semantic universals more generally, which are discussed in the conclusion.