The paper “Obviate me (not): Obviation effects in Serbian main and complement clauses” by Magdalena Kaufmann, Neda Todorović (PhD 2016, now at Reed College), and Ivana Jovović (PhD 2023, now at Central Connecticut University) has just appeared in Vol. 31 of the Journal of Slavic Linguistics as part of the special issue of papers from the 30th conference on Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics (FASL 30). The full paper can be accessed here.

Abstract: In Serbian, complements of directive and desiderative predicates can be finite clauses headed by da. da-clauses also serve as matrix clauses conveying directives or expressing wishes. Unlike subjunctive complements in Romance, Slovenian, or Hungarian, embedded da-clauses do not show obviation effects, i.e., they allow for coreference between matrix and embedded subject. However, overt embedded pronominal subjects are banned in this case. We argue that this ban is a reflex of obviative modality in a particular complement type and disambiguation towards this type by an overt subject. The obviative construction also underlies the directive or desiderative matrix da-clauses, where obviation surfaces as a restriction on what conversational participants the subject can refer to.

The paper “Strategies for Anderson conditionals: Their implications for the typology of O-marking and X-marking” by recent alumni Teruyuki Mizuno (now at Ochanomizu University, Tokyo) has just been published as an early-access version in Semantics and Pragmatics. Congratulations Teru! The full paper can be accessed here.

Abstract: This paper contributes to the recent development of the research on O-/X-marking (von Fintel & Iatridou 2023) through providing novel data on so-called Anderson conditionals (Anderson 1951). While English has to use X-marking for Anderson conditionals, I show that Japanese Anderson conditionals cannot involve X-marking, thus suggesting a discrepancy across languages with respect to the way they express relevant constructions. I suggest that Japanese Anderson conditionals involve a perspectival shift analogous to the Historical Present, which I show to help bring the same semantic effects as X-marking would do. I discuss implications of my data for the uniformity hypothesis of X-marking submitted by von Fintel & Iatridou 2023. I also suggest that the availability of X-marking for Anderson conditionals and the availability of X-marking for Future Less Vivid conditionals (Iatridou 2000) seem to stand or fall together across languages.