Structurally underspecified semantics for distributive plural predication: Respectively constructions in Lexical Resource Semantics

This paper sets out to provide an apparatus for dealing with the semantics of some coordinated structures — specifically, with plain distributive and ‘respectively’ readings of predication over nominal phrases — within the underspecified formalism of Lexical Resource Semantics (LRS) for Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar. The proposed solution offers a method of providing ambiguous sentences that afford both regular distributive and ‘respectively’ readings with a structural, underspecified representation that resolves to both the licensed interpretations, and allows for an incremental introduction of constraints that limit the available readings. Additionally, a method for constructing representations of coordinated sentences, not previously available in LRS, is developed along the way.