Clarification Ellipsis: Empirical Data

@cite{ginzburg-cooper-2004}

Theory-neutral data on clarification ellipsis (CE) — bare fragments used to request clarification of a preceding utterance.

The Phenomenon

After any utterance, a hearer can produce a bare fragment echoing part of it to request clarification:

A: "Did Bo finagle a raise?" B: "Bo?" → two readings: (i) "Are you asking if BO finagled a raise?" (clausal) (ii) "Who is Bo? / What does 'finagle' mean?" (constituent)

Key Properties (@cite{ginzburg-cooper-2004} §1.2)

1. Any sub-constituent can be clarified (NPs, Vs, PPs — not just referential NPs)
2. Two readings typically available: clausal and constituent
3. Syntactic parallelism: CE fragment must categorially match the antecedent sub-utterance (ex. 10)
4. No phonological identity required for either reading (ex. 8): "Did Bo leave?" / "My cousin?" is a valid CE
5. Clausal readings require shared belief about the sub-utterance's content; constituent readings do not (ex. 11–13)
6. No island constraints: CE antecedents can come from inside relative clauses, conjuncts, etc. (ex. 14)

Distinction from Other Ellipsis Types

• Fragment answers: fill an argument slot in a question
• Sluicing: wh-phrase + elided TP
• CE: echoed fragment requesting clarification — no wh-movement, no island sensitivity

inductive Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.CEReading : Type

The two readings of a clarification ellipsis. ex. 4b–c.

• clausal : CEReading

  "Are you asking whether p?" — polar question about propositional content. Paraphrasable as a polar interrogative. Presupposes shared belief about the sub-utterance's content.

• constituent : CEReading

  "Who/what do you mean by X?" — wh-question about the referent/predicate. Paraphrasable as a wh-interrogative. No shared-belief presupposition.

def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprCEReading.repr : CEReading → Nat → Std.Format

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instance Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprCEReading : Repr CEReading

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• Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprCEReading = { reprPrec := Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprCEReading.repr }

instance Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instDecidableEqCEReading : DecidableEq CEReading

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• Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instDecidableEqCEReading x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

instance Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instBEqCEReading : BEq CEReading

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• Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instBEqCEReading = { beq := Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instBEqCEReading.beq }

def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instBEqCEReading.beq : CEReading → CEReading → Bool

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• Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instBEqCEReading.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)

structure Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.CEDatum : Type

A clarification ellipsis datum.

• antecedent : String

  The antecedent utterance being clarified

• fragment : String

  The CE fragment

• readings : List CEReading

  Available readings

• phonIdentical : Bool

  Whether the fragment is phonologically identical to the antecedent sub-utterance

• category : String

  Syntactic category of the fragment

• notes : String

  Notes

• source : String

  Source

def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprCEDatum.repr : CEDatum → Nat → Std.Format

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instance Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprCEDatum : Repr CEDatum

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• Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprCEDatum = { reprPrec := Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprCEDatum.repr }

def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.ceProperName : CEDatum

CE of a proper name: the running example. ex. 4a.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.ceRareWord : CEDatum

CE of a rare word: clarifying lexical content. ex. 4a.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.ceNonIdentical : CEDatum

Non-identical CE: fragment is not phonologically identical to antecedent. ex. 8a.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.ceNonIdenticalVerb : CEDatum

Non-identical CE with category switch. ex. 8c.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.ceDistinctLocations : CEDatum

CE of an indexical with distinct locations: constituent reading only. ex. 11.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.ceIndexicalI : CEDatum

CE of an indexical pronoun across speakers: constituent reading only. ex. 13a.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.ceSpunyarn : CEDatum

BNC example: CE of an unknown word. ex. 6a.

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structure Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.SyntacticParallelismDatum : Type

Syntactic parallelism: CE fragment must categorially match antecedent sub-utterance. ex. 10.

• antecedent : String
• fragment : String
• acceptable : Bool

  Is this CE form acceptable?

• notes : String
• source : String

def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprSyntacticParallelismDatum.repr : SyntacticParallelismDatum → Nat → Std.Format

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instance Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprSyntacticParallelismDatum : Repr SyntacticParallelismDatum

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• Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprSyntacticParallelismDatum = { reprPrec := Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprSyntacticParallelismDatum.repr }

def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.accMatchOK : SyntacticParallelismDatum

Accusative pronoun matching accusative antecedent: acceptable. ex. 10a.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.nomMismatchBad : SyntacticParallelismDatum

Nominative pronoun for accusative antecedent: unacceptable. ex. 10a.

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structure Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.SharedBeliefDatum : Type

Clausal readings require shared belief about the sub-utterance's content; constituent readings do not. This is the key condition that distinguishes the two readings. §1.2, ex. 11–13.

• antecedent : String
• fragment : String
• sharedBelief : Bool

  Do A and B share a belief about the fragment's content?

• readings : List CEReading

  Which readings are available?

• notes : String
• source : String

instance Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprSharedBeliefDatum : Repr SharedBeliefDatum

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• Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprSharedBeliefDatum = { reprPrec := Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprSharedBeliefDatum.repr }

def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.instReprSharedBeliefDatum.repr : SharedBeliefDatum → Nat → Std.Format

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.sameLocation : SharedBeliefDatum

Same location: shared belief → both readings. ex. 12.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.differentLocations : SharedBeliefDatum

Different locations: no shared belief → constituent only. ex. 11.

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.coreExamples : List CEDatum

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def Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.parallelismData : List SyntacticParallelismDatum

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• Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.parallelismData = [Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.accMatchOK, Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.nomMismatchBad]

theorem Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.all_have_readings : (coreExamples.all fun (d : CEDatum) => !d.readings.isEmpty) = true

CE typically has at least one reading available.

theorem Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.phon_identity_not_required : (coreExamples.any fun (d : CEDatum) => !d.phonIdentical) = true

CE does NOT require phonological identity. Some valid CEs have non-identical fragments.

theorem Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.syntactic_parallelism_required : accMatchOK.acceptable = true ∧ nomMismatchBad.acceptable = false

Syntactic parallelism is required: matching case is acceptable, mismatched case is not.

theorem Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.shared_belief_conditions : sameLocation.readings.length > differentLocations.readings.length

Shared belief blocks clausal readings when absent: same-location context has both, different-location has constituent only.

theorem Phenomena.Ellipsis.ClarificationEllipsis.indexical_shift_blocks_clausal : ceIndexicalI.readings = [CEReading.constituent]

Indexicals with reference shift yield constituent-only readings.