Bernhard Schwarz

ProfessorDepartment of LinguisticsMcGill University1085 Dr. PenfieldMontreal, QC H3A 1A7Canadabernhard.schwarz@mcgill.ca

research and teaching interests
- natural language semantics, pragmatics, syntax; German
research output
- - Bernhard Schwarz and Michael Wagner. 2023. "Resolving symmetry without formal alternatives", Talk at Sinn und Bedeutung (SuB) 28, Ruhr Universität Bochum, September 6-8, 2023. [handout]
  - Alonso-Ovalle, Luis and Bernhard Schwarz. 2023. "On the natural language metaphysics of numbers", Poster presented at Sinn und Bedeutung (SuB) 28, Ruhr Universität Bochum, September 6-8, 2023. [poster]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2023. "Quantity division in semantic composition?" Invited talk at workshop “Degrees and questions at the interfaces”, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; June 28, 2023; based on joint research with Alan Bale. [handout]
  - Hirsch, Aron and Bernhard Schwarz. In 2023. "Type disambiguation and logical strength." In Suet-Ying Lam and Satoru Ozaki, editors, Proceedings of 53d annual meeting of the North East Linguistic Society (NELS 53). GLSA (Graduate Linguistics Student Association), Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts. [paper]
  - Alonso-Ovalle, Luis and Bernhard Schwarz. 2023. "Structural ambiguity in pseudo-partitives: the case of quantity nouns." In Juhyae Kim and Burak Oney, editors, Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 33. Linguistic Society of America. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard. 2023. "Structure preservation in complex prefields: A note on Müller (2018)." Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. [article]
  - Hirsch, Aron and Bernhard Schwarz. 2022. "Cumulative readings in focus contexts." In Daniel Gutzmann and Sophie Repp, editors, Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 26. Universität zu Köln. [paper]
  - Bale, Alan and Bernhard Schwarz. 2022. "Measurements from per without complex dimensions." In John R. Starr, Juhyae Kim, and Burak Oney, editors, Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 32. Linguistic Society of America. [paper]
  - Hirsch, Aron and Bernhard Schwarz. 2022. "Reconciling maximality with cumulativity in questions." In Breanna Pratley, Özge Bakay, and Eva Neu, editors, Proceedings of the 52nd annual meeting of the North East Linguistic Society (NELS 52). GLSA (Graduate Linguistics Student Association), Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts. [paper]
  - Göbel, Alexander and Bernhard Schwarz. 2022. "Discourse particles in semantic composition: the case of German denn." In Breanna Pratley, Özge Bakay, and Eva Neu, editors, Proceedings of the 52nd annual meeting of the North East Linguistic Society (NELS 52). GLSA (Graduate Linguistics Student Association), Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts. [paper]
  - Bale, Alan, Bernhard Schwarz, and David Shanks. 2021. "Monotonicity revisited: mass nouns and comparisons of purity." Journal of Semantics, 38(4), 681–708, 2021. (supersedes Bale, Schwarz and Shanks 2019.) [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard. 2021. "Comparisons of concentration and the composition of dimensions". Talk at University College London, February 10, 2021. (Based on joint work with Alan Bale and David Shanks.) [handout]
  - Socolof, Michaela, Bernhard Schwarz, and Aron Hirsch. 2020. "Which-questions, uniqueness, and answerhood: evidence from disjunction". In Mariam Asatryan, Yixiao Song, and Ayana Whitmal, editors, Proceedings of 50th annual meeting of the North East Linguistic Society (NELS 50), University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Graduate Linguistics Student Organization (GLSA). 156-168 [paper]
  - Bale, Alan and Bernhard Schwarz. 2020. "Proportional readings of many and few: the case for an underspecified measure function". Linguistics and Philosophy 43, 673–699. (supersedes Bale and Schwarz 2019) [paper]
  - Gentile, Francesco and Bernhard Schwarz. 2020. "Higher-order quantification and free choice in how many-questions". Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 24 [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard. 2020. "Non-local adjectival modification: the wrong number", The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Semantics, edited by Daniel Gutzmann, Lisa Matthewson, Cécile Meier, Hotze Rullmann, and Ede Zimmermann, John Wiley & Sons [draft; doi]
  - Hirsch, Aron and Bernhard Schwarz. 2019. "Singular which, mention-some, and variable scope uniqueness". In Katherine Blake, Forrest Davis, Kaelyn Lamp, and Joseph Rhyne, editors, Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 29, pages 748–767. Linguistic Society of America. [paper]
  - Bale, Alan, Bernhard Schwarz, and David Shanks. 2019. "Monotonicity restored: more never means purer". In Julian Schlöder, Dean McHugh, and Floris Roelofsen, editors, Proceedings of the 22nd Amsterdam Colloquium, pages 445–454. Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam. [paper] (superseded by Bale, Schwarz and Shanks, to appear.)
  - Schwarz, Bernhard, Alexandra Simonenko, and David Y. Oshima. 2019. "Factive islands from necessary blocking". Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 29 [paper]
  - Paillé, Mathieu and Bernhard Schwarz. 2019. "Knowing whether and ignorance inferences." Proceedings of West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (WCCFL) 36. [paper]
  - Bale, Alan and Bernhard Schwarz. 2019. "Reverse proportionality without context dependent standards". in Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 23. [paper] (superseded by Bale and Schwarz 2020)
  - Schwarz, Bernhard and Alexandra Simonenko. 2018. "Wh-restrictor plurality and question pragmatics". Talk at Generative Linguistics in the Old World (GLOW) 41 workshop "The grammar and pragmatics of interrogatives and their (special) uses", Budapest, April 14, 2018. [handout]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard and Alexandra Simonenko. 2018. "Factive islands and meaning-driven unacceptability". Natural Language Semantics 26 (3-4), 253–279 (supersedes Schwarz and Simonenko 2016) [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard and Alexandra Simonenko. 2018. "On the logical makeup of how- and why-questions". Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 28 [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard. 2018. "On the locus of question exhaustification". In Hucklebridge, Sherry and Max Nelson, editors, Proceedings of the 48th annual meeting of the North East Linguistic Society (NELS 48). GLSA, Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts. [paper]
  - Rouillard, Vincent and Bernhard Schwarz. 2018. "Presuppositional implicatures: Quantity or Maximize Presupposition?", in Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 22. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard and Alexandra Simonenko. 2018. "Decomposing universal projection in questions", in Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 22. [paper]
  - Gentile, Francesco and Bernhard Schwarz. 2018. "A uniqueness puzzle: how many-questions and non-distributive predication". in Robert Trusswell, editor, in Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 21. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard. 2017. "On question exhaustivity and NPI licensing". In Proceedings of the 21st Amsterdam Colloquium, edited by Alexandre Cremers, Thom van Gessel, and Floris Roelofsen, pp. 405-415. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard. 2017. "Negative polarity items: a case for questions as licensers". In Dan Burgdorf and Jacob Collard (eds.) Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 27. [paper]
  - Rouillard, Vincent and Bernhard Schwarz. 2017. "Epistemic narrowing for Maximize Presupposition". In Andrew Lamont and Katerina A. Tetzloff, editors, Proceedings of the 47th annual meeting of the North East Linguistic Society (NELS 47). GLSA, Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, pp. 49-62 [prefinal draft]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard and Alexandra Simonenko. 2016. "Two accounts of factive islands". in Brandon Prickett and Christopher Hammerly (eds.), Proceedings of 46th Meeting of the North East Linguistic Society (NELS 46), Vol. 3, pp. 169-178. GLSA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. [paper] (superseded by Schwarz and Simonenko 2017)
  - Schwarz, Bernhard. 2016a. "At least and ignorance: a reply to Coppock and Brochhagen (2013)". Semantics and Pragmatics. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard. 2016b. "Consistency preservation in Quantity implicature: the case of at least". Semantics and Pragmatics. [paper] (supersedes Schwarz 2013)
  - Shimoyama, Junko, Alex Drummond, Bernhard Schwarz and Michael Wagner. 2015. "Movement and ellipsis in afterthought right dislocation, sluicing and fragments". In Proceedings of the 2015 annual conference of the Canadian Linguistic Association (CLA). [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2013, "At least and Quantity Implicature: Choices and Consequences", in Proceedings of the 19th Amsterdam Colloquium, Edited by Maria Aloni, Michael Franke and Floris Roelofsen. [paper] (superseded by Schwarz 2016b).
  - Schwarz, Bernhard, Brian Buccola, and Michael Hamilton: 2012. "Two types of class B numeral modifiers: a reply to Nouwen (2010)", Semantics and Pragmatics, Volume 5, Article 1: 1–25. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2011, "Long distance indefinites and choice functions". Language and Linguistics Compass 5: 880–897. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2011, “Remarks on class B numeral modifiers”. Handout for talk at workshop Indefinites and Beyond, University of Göttingen, November 18-19, 2011. [handout]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard and Junko Shimoyama: 2011, “Negative Islands and Obviation by Wa in Japanese Degree Questions”, in Nan Li and David Lutz (eds.), Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 20, pp. 684–701. [paper]
  - Nissenbaum, Jon and Bernhard Schwarz: 2011, “Parasitic Degree Phrases”, Natural Language Semantics 19: 1-38 (supersedes Nissenbaum and Schwarz 2009) [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2010, “A note on for-phrases and derived scales”. Handout for talk at Sinn und Bedeutung 15, Universität des Saarlandes, September 9-11, 2010. [handout]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2010. “German noch so: Scalar Degree Operator and Negative Polarity Item”. In M. Aloni, H. Bastiaanse, T. de Jager and K. Schulz (eds.) Amsterdam Colloquium 2009 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 6042), Springer, Berlin, pp. 426-435 [paper]
  - Nissenbaum, Jon and Bernhard Schwarz: 2009, “Infinitivals with too: Degree operator scope and parasitic gap licensing”, in Tova Friedman and Satoshi Ito (eds.), Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 18, pp. 551-568. [paper]
  - Gualmini, Andrea and Bernhard Schwarz: 2009, “Solving learnability problems in the acquisition of semantics”, Journal of Semantics 26, 185-215. [paper]
  - Nissenbaum, Jon and Bernhard Schwarz: 2008, “Two Puzzles about Infinitivals with Too”, in Natasha Abner, Jason Bishop, and Kevin Ryan (eds.), Proceedings of the 27th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, pp. 344-352. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2007, “Reciprocal Equatives”, in E. Puig-Waldmüller (ed.) Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 11, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, pp.568-582. [paper]
  - Gualmini, Andrea and Bernhard Schwarz: 2007, “Negation and Downward Entailingness: Consequences for Learnability Theory”, in Hedde Zeijlstra and Jan-Phillip Soehn (eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Negation and Polarity, University of Tübingen, Collaborative Research Center 441, pp. 65-70. (superseded by Gualmini and Schwarz 2009) [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2006a, “Covert Reciprocity and Strawson-Symmetry”, Snippets 13, 9-10. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2006b, “Attributive wrong”, in Donald Baumer, David Montero, and Michael Scanlon (eds.), Proceedings of the 25th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, pp. 362-370. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard and Rajesh Bhatt: 2006, “Light negation and Polarity”, in Zanuttini, Raffaella, Héctor Campos, Elena Herburger and Paul H. Portner (eds.), Cross-Linguistic Research in Syntax and Semantics: Negation, Tense and Clausal Architecture, Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC, pp. 175-198. [book]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2006c, "When counterfactuality rescues positive polarity items: A note on Szabolcsi (2004)", unpublished manuscript, McGill University [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2005a, “Scalar additive particles in negative contexts”, Natural Language Semantics 13, 125-168. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2005b, “Modal Superlatives”, in Effi Georgala and Jonathan Howell (eds.), Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 15, CLC Publications, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, pp. 187-204. [paper]
  - Bhatt, Rajesh and Bernhard Schwarz: 2004, “Deriving Negative Polarity”, poster presented at GURT 2004, Georgetown University. [slides]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2004, “Indefinites in Verb Phrase Ellipsis”, Linguistic Inquiry 35, 344-353. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2001a, “Two kinds of long distance indefinites”, in R. van Rooy and M. Stokhof, Proceedings of the Thirteenth Amsterdam Colloquium, Amsterdam University, pp. 192-197. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2001b, “Two kinds of long distance indefinites”, unpublished manuscript, Stuttgart University. (long version of Schwarz 2001a) [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2000a, “A note on exclusive disjunction”, unpublished manuscript, MIT. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 2000b, “Notes on even”, unpublished manuscript, Stuttgart University. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 1999, "On the Syntax of either...or", Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 17, 339-370. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 1998a, "On Odd Coordinations in German", The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 2, 191-219. [paper]
  - Schwarz, Bernhard: 1998b, "Reduced Conditionals in German: Event Quantification and Definiteness", Natural Language Semantics 6, 271-301. [paper]

PhD thesis
Schwarz, Bernhard: 2000, Topics in Ellipsis, PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. [pdf]