On the analysis of English exhaustive conditionals

Abstract

So-called ``Exhaustive Conditionals'' (ECs, also known as ``Unconditionals'') have been an important focus of recent research. We develop an HPSG analysis of governed ECs (e.g. `no matter how intelligent the students are ...'), sketch an approach to ungoverned ECs (e.g. `however intelligent the students are...'), and evaluate three possible analyses of reduced ECs (e.g. `no matter how intelligent the students ...', `however intelligent the students...').