TY - JOUR AU - Biezma, María PY - 2019/05/06 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Optatives: Deriving Desirability from Scalar Alternatives JF - Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung JA - SuB VL - 15 IS - 0 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/sub/index.php/sub/article/view/367 SP - 117-132 AB - <p>A compositional analysis of <em>optative</em> sentences is challenging for at<br />least two reasons: they encode desirability without having any overt marker, and they are <em>if</em>-clauses with or without consequents, raising the question of whether they are actually conditionals. In this paper I argue that optatives are conditionals even when they do not have overt consequents. With respect to desirability, I argue that in optatives modality is pragmatically derived. The investigation of optatives sheds light on the interaction between syntax, pragmatics and discourse.</p> ER -