Exclamatives are an intriguing case study of the syntax-semantics interface. Despite several attempts to define them and explain their properties, there has not yet been convergence on a general theory of the exclamative sentence type. This thesis aims to unify existing approaches to exclamatives and explain a wider range of data by modifying and extending Zanuttini and Portner (2003). The critical modification allows exclamatives to be formed via operators other than wh-, which, when combined with factivity, ultimately yields exclamativity. The implications of this proposed analysis are investigated for both familiar and previously unexplored data. The modified analysis has several advantages over previous accounts: its central postulates are independently motivated, it has substantially wider empirical coverage, and it provides a unified explanation of otherwise disparate exclamative types. Fundamentally, there is no “exclamative” force feature internal to the narrow syntax. Rather, exclamatives emerge naturally from independently attested components.
","abstract_html":"<p>Exclamatives are an intriguing case study of the syntax-semantics interface. Despite several attempts to define them and explain their properties, there has not yet been convergence on a general theory of the exclamative sentence type. This thesis aims to unify existing approaches to exclamatives and explain a wider range of data by modifying and extending Zanuttini and Portner (2003). The critical modification allows exclamatives to be formed via operators other than wh-, which, when combined with factivity, ultimately yields exclamativity. The implications of this proposed analysis are investigated for both familiar and previously unexplored data. The modified analysis has several advantages over previous accounts: its central postulates are independently motivated, it has substantially wider empirical coverage, and it provides a unified explanation of otherwise disparate exclamative types. Fundamentally, there is no “exclamative” force feature internal to the narrow syntax. Rather, exclamatives emerge naturally from independently attested components.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Niemann, Christa"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"English Language and Literature","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["T. Daniel Seely, Ph.D.","Eric Acton, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:53Z","subjects":["exclamatives","semantics","syntax","Linguistics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1294","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["T. Daniel Seely, Ph.D.","Eric Acton, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Niemann, Christa"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-06-19T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English Language and Literature"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["exclamatives","semantics","syntax","Linguistics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1294"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Exclamatives are an intriguing case study of the syntax-semantics interface. Despite several attempts to define them and explain their properties, there has not yet been convergence on a general theory of the exclamative sentence type. This thesis aims to unify existing approaches to exclamatives and explain a wider range of data by modifying and extending Zanuttini and Portner (2003). The critical modification allows exclamatives to be formed via operators other than wh-, which, when combined with factivity, ultimately yields exclamativity. The implications of this proposed analysis are investigated for both familiar and previously unexplored data. The modified analysis has several advantages over previous accounts: its central postulates are independently motivated, it has substantially wider empirical coverage, and it provides a unified explanation of otherwise disparate exclamative types. Fundamentally, there is no “exclamative” force feature internal to the narrow syntax. Rather, exclamatives emerge naturally from independently attested components.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A generative account of English exclamatives"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["T. Daniel Seely, Ph.D.","Eric Acton, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Niemann, Christa"],"dc:date.available":["2025-06-19T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Exclamatives are an intriguing case study of the syntax-semantics interface. Despite several attempts to define them and explain their properties, there has not yet been convergence on a general theory of the exclamative sentence type. This thesis aims to unify existing approaches to exclamatives and explain a wider range of data by modifying and extending Zanuttini and Portner (2003). The critical modification allows exclamatives to be formed via operators other than wh-, which, when combined with factivity, ultimately yields exclamativity. The implications of this proposed analysis are investigated for both familiar and previously unexplored data. The modified analysis has several advantages over previous accounts: its central postulates are independently motivated, it has substantially wider empirical coverage, and it provides a unified explanation of otherwise disparate exclamative types. Fundamentally, there is no “exclamative” force feature internal to the narrow syntax. Rather, exclamatives emerge naturally from independently attested components.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1294"],"dc:subject":["exclamatives","semantics","syntax","Linguistics"],"dc:title":["A generative account of English exclamatives"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English Language and Literature"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:53Z"}