27.241, Qs: Existential

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LINGUIST List: Vol-27-241. Wed Jan 13 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.241, Qs: Existential

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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 11:07:50
From: Seiichi MYOGA [st_myoga at i.gmobb.jp]
Subject: Existential

 
Dear all,

I'd like you to help us with one of Chomsky's famous examples: Flying planes
can be dangerous (Chomsky 1975:288). Surprisingly, no one seems to have
pointed out so far that the modal here expresses existential possibility:
Flying planes is/are sometimes dangerous [=In some cases, flying planes is/are
dangerous].

Before moving on, let's have a look at this:
(1) a. Poinsettias can be red or yellow.
b. Poinsettias are red or yellow. (Huddleston and Pullum 2002:184-185)

According to Huddleston and Pullum (2002), (1a) and (1b) virtually mean the
same thing. In other words, the presence or absence of existential ''can''
doesn't affect the meaning of a sentence if the possibilities are exhaustively
listed (Let us suppose, as the speaker of (1a) does, that there are only two
colors the poinsettia can be: red or yellow).

I have two questions. One is about (1a). 
#1 Do you agree with my judgment?
(2) {The /*A} poinsettia can be red or yellow.
The same thing seems to apply to (3a).
#2 Do you think (3a) and (3b) sound like saying the same thing?
(3) a. Meteorites are not the only threat from the sky. Burned out satellites
crash every day. Flying planes can be dangerous. (M. G. Murphey, Philosophical
Foundations of Historical Knowledge)
b. Meteorites are not the only threat from the sky. Burned out satellites
crash every day. Flying planes are dangerous.

Thank you in advance
Seiichi MYOGA

Strangely enough, to my knowledge, no mention has been made of something like
(1a) in previous research with focus on existential ''can.'' 

As for #2, it would be much easier for you to understand my point if (3a) were
something like this:
There are threats that come from the sky. Flying planes can crash. Burned-out
satellites can fall to the ground. Meteorites can strike the earth. 

I'd appreciate it too if you could comment on the following pair:
(4) a. You can get killed in a lot of ways. Driving cars can be dangerous.
Flying planes can be dangerous. (M. G. Murphey, Philosophical Foundations of
Historical Knowledge)
b. You can get killed in a lot of ways. Driving cars is dangerous. Flying
planes is dangerous.
Let's suppose (4b) works. It seems that we should retain ''can'' in the first
sentence as it stands, but I don't know why.

And finally, do you happen to know how Chomsky interprets THE sentence? Here
is his interpretation (p.288-289):
175 flying planes can be dangerous
which can be understood in the sense of either 176 or 177:
176 flying planes is a dangerous sport for an untrained pilot
177 flying planes cast strange shadows

So, there appears no ''can'' in either paraphrase. This means that (whether
''flying'' is a gerund or a participle) what Chomsky is doing is envisaging
the existential possibility at issue as something chosen from the exhaustive
list of possibilities that are mutually exclusive, but not as something
independent.
 

Linguistic Field(s): Pragmatics
                     Semantics
                     Syntax

Subject Language(s): English (eng)



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