On QUD-based Licensing of Strict and Sloppy Ambiguities

Abstract

According to standard theories of VP-ellipsis, possible readings are determined by constraints (syntactic, semantic, discoursal) that apply jointly to the antecedent and ellipsis clauses. Drawing on insights from a number of previous authors, I present two arguments for a model in which VP-ellipsis meanings are crucially dependent on the operative (and often implicitly resolved) question-under-discussion (QUD; Roberts 1998/2012), specifically requiring that the meaning of an ellipsis clause be a member of the QUD's alternative set.