Talks by Kurt Erbach (Frankfurt/Saarbrücken), and Carolin Reinert (Frankfurt) and Carla Spellerberg (Amherst) in the Semantics Colloquium
We are happy to announce two talks in the Semantics Colloquium: one by Kurt Erbach (Frankfurt/Saarbrücken), and another by Carolin Reinert (Frankfurt) and Carla Spellerberg (Amherst).
The talks will take place on campus in IG 4.301.
If you wish to participate virtually via Zoom, please contact Lennart Fritzsche for the link.
Date: July 17, 2025
Time: 4 pm – 7 pm c.t.
Kurt Erbach (Frankfurt/Saarbrücken)
Title: Singular gestures and plural individuals
Abstract:
As it stands, gesture semantics (e.g. Ebert 2024, i.a.) assumes a similarity predicate between an utterance and a co-speech gesture—e.g. if a round shape is gestured while simultaneously uttering window, then the similarity predicate is interpreted as the window being similar to the gesture—i.e. that both are round, and the roundness is not-at-issue content. What has not yet been systematically examined is the use of singular co-speech gestures with plural individuals, namely what interpretations the similarity predicate might give rise to in such an utterance, for example whether collective or distributive predication is acceptable in such a context....