[GS25]: the English Phrase-as-Lemma (PAL) construction

PALs are phrases used in slots typically reserved for single words ("a trickle-down policy", "the 'both sides do it' argument"). Treating a phrase as if it were a word invites a lemma-like construal: the PAL names a situation type presumed familiar to speaker and addressee, with wit and sarcasm as derived rhetorical effects of discussing the presumed-familiar. The paper's Figure 5 network relates the prenominal PAL construction by normal-mode inheritance to both the NN compound construction (tight phonological/semantic unit, PAL-internal stress) and adjectival modification (prenominal slot, no recursive embedding), with four experimentally confirmed conventional subtypes.

Main declarations

• GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstruction, palConstructicon: the Figure 5 network
• GoldbergShirtz2025.nn_adjN_incompatible, pal_resolves, palSpec_eq, palConstructicon_resolvesAll: the paper's two-mothers argument for normal-mode inheritance, computed through the network's links
• GoldbergShirtz2025.palMeaning: familiarity presupposition + head-noun assertion
• GoldbergShirtz2025.pal_irreducible: PAL is not fully compositional
• GoldbergShirtz2025.pal_load_bearing: the network licenses phrase-in-word-slot tokens only through PAL
• GoldbergShirtz2025.subtypes_inherit_familiarity: every conventional subtype's familiarity presupposition is derived through the links
• GoldbergShirtz2025.palExamples, crossLinguisticPALs: attested examples

Experimental results

Five preregistered 2AFC surveys (statistics quoted from the paper's results; 700 recruited, 685 retained across the four surveys of studies 1–3). PAL sentences vs. close paraphrases were judged to imply more common knowledge (1a: M = 77.3%, β = 1.69, z = 4.80, p < 0.0001) and more shared background (1b: M = 74.3%, β = 1.78, z = 4.62, p < 0.001), and to be wittier (2: M = 82.2%, β = 2.58, z = 8.48, p < 0.001) and more sarcastic (3: M = 84.5%, β = 2.71, z = 8.54, p < 0.001). Study 4 (high-frequency PALs only, n = 70) replicated all three effects (common knowledge M = 72.88%; wit M = 79.81; sarcasm M = 84.46). Study 5 (n = 74) confirmed four conventional subtypes: instances were judged more natural than minimally different foils (M = 86.09%, β = 2.28, z = 6.09, p < 0.0001).

The Figure 5 constructicon

def GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstruction : ConstructionGrammar.Construction

The prenominal PAL construction: a zero-level PAL whose internal syntax is phrasal modifies a head N, forming an N′ (the paper's structure (7), [N′ PAL⁰ N], vs. the NN compound's [N⁰ N⁰ N⁰]). The head N's bar level is left underspecified since PALs may modify nouns with complements ("a 'don't mess with me' type of driver").

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.mustVerbConstruction : ConstructionGrammar.Construction

The semiproductive must-V subtype, frequently instantiated by must-read, must-see, must-have. Study 5 tested only rare tokens (≤ 10 COCA hits) against should-V foils.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.aSimplePALConstruction : ConstructionGrammar.Construction

The a simple ⟨PAL⟩ subtype: the PAL is itself the head noun ("Could've tried a simple 'I'm sorry.'"). Study 5's foils used a short.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.dontPALmeConstruction : ConstructionGrammar.Construction

The Don't ⟨PAL⟩ me subtype: the PAL fills a V slot, must quote the immediately preceding discourse, and occurs in an interdiction context ("A: you're welcome. B: No, don't 'you're welcome' me."). Study 5's foils broke exactly the quote-from-context or interdiction condition.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.theOldPALConstruction : ConstructionGrammar.Construction

The the old ⟨PAL⟩ (N) subtype, with optional head N ("my dad pulled the old 'I'm going to the store for smokes, be back in five'"). Study 5's foils used the tired.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.nnCompound : ConstructionGrammar.Construction

NN compound construction (parent: PAL-internal stress, tight unit).

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.adjNModification : ConstructionGrammar.Construction

Adjectival modification construction (parent: prenominal slot).

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstructicon : ConstructionGrammar.Constructicon

The PAL constructicon (the paper's Figure 5): the prenominal PAL construction partially inherits, in normal mode, from both the NN compound and adjectival modification constructions; the four conventional subtypes confirmed by study 5 inherit from it. The figure's caption labels all arrows "motivation and (normal mode) inheritance links", so no Goldberg-1995 link type is assigned.

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Two mothers force normal-mode inheritance (§6)

The paper's argument for normal-mode over complete inheritance, derived with the CxnSpec algebra from ConstructionGrammar.Inheritance: PAL's two mothers conflict — the NN compound construction yields an N⁰ with modifier-internal stress, adjectival modification an N′ with head stress — so strict unification of the parents is impossible (nn_adjN_incompatible), and the network is well-formed only because the PAL construction's own specification legislates exactly the conflicting fields (pal_resolves). The rest is genuinely inherited: the prenominal modifier slot from both mothers, non-self-embedding from Adj+N (palSpec_eq).

def GoldbergShirtz2025.nnCompoundSpec : ConstructionGrammar.CxnSpec

NN compound specification: zero-level output, prenominal modifier, compound stress within the modifier.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.adjNSpec : ConstructionGrammar.CxnSpec

Adj+N modification specification: N′ output, prenominal modifier, phrasal (head) stress; per §6, "like Adj + N combinations, the PAL N construction cannot be recursively embedded within another PAL N construction", so Adj+N carries the non-self-embedding value PAL inherits.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.palOwnSpec : ConstructionGrammar.CxnSpec

The PAL construction's own specification: exactly the two fields its mothers conflict on, resolved as the paper describes — N′ output (with Adj+N, against the compound) and PAL-internal stress (with the compound, against Adj+N).

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.palOwnSpec = { level := some ConstructionGrammar.BarLevel.bar, stress := some ConstructionGrammar.StressLocus.modifier }

def GoldbergShirtz2025.figure5Spec (c : ConstructionGrammar.Construction) : ConstructionGrammar.CxnSpec

Own-specification assignment for the Figure 5 network: the two mothers carry their specifications, PAL legislates exactly its mothers' conflicts, and the conventional subtypes add no form-side constraints of their own.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.palSpec : ConstructionGrammar.CxnSpec

PAL's full specification, computed through the network's links by normal-mode inheritance.

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.palSpec = GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstructicon.derivedSpec GoldbergShirtz2025.figure5Spec GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstruction

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstructicon_wellFormed : palConstructicon.WellFormed

No dangling links: every Figure 5 link endpoint names a construction of the network.

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.pal_parents : palConstructicon.parentsOf "PAL" = [nnCompound, adjNModification]

The links, not a hand-written list, determine PAL's mothers.

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstructicon_resolvesAll : palConstructicon.ResolvesAll figure5Spec

The whole network is normal-mode well-formed: every construction legislates every field its parents conflict on.

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.nn_adjN_incompatible : ¬nnCompoundSpec.IsCompatible adjNSpec

The two mothers conflict (bar level and stress), so complete-mode inheritance cannot relate PAL to both parents — the formal content of §6's observation that complete inheritance "is unsuitable whenever a node is allowed more than a single mother, since specifications in two mother nodes may conflict with one another".

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.pal_resolves : palOwnSpec.Resolves [nnCompoundSpec, adjNSpec]

The Figure 5 network is normal-mode well-formed: PAL's own specification legislates every field its mothers conflict on. Delete either field of palOwnSpec and this fails.

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.palSpec_eq : palSpec = { level := some ConstructionGrammar.BarLevel.bar, modPosition := some ConstructionGrammar.ModPosition.prenominal, stress := some ConstructionGrammar.StressLocus.modifier, selfEmbedding := some ConstructionGrammar.SelfEmbedding.banned }

The derived PAL specification, computed rather than stipulated: the prenominal slot is inherited from both mothers (they agree), non-self-embedding is inherited from Adj+N alone, and N′-hood and PAL-internal stress come from PAL's own conflict resolutions.

Licensing: PAL is load-bearing

A minimal demonstration with the network's licensing relation (Constructicon.Licenses): the attested "a must-do task" (the paper's ex. (1b), determiner elided) parses as a phrase-daughter in the modifier slot plus a head noun. The network licenses it through the PAL construction, and rejects it when PAL is removed — the phrase-in-word-slot configuration has no other license.

def GoldbergShirtz2025.demoLexicon : String → Option UD.UPOS

Toy POS lexicon for the licensing demonstration.

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.demoLexicon "do" = some UD.UPOS.VERB
• GoldbergShirtz2025.demoLexicon "task" = some UD.UPOS.NOUN
• GoldbergShirtz2025.demoLexicon x✝ = none

def GoldbergShirtz2025.mustVCore : ConstructionGrammar.Construction

The internal syntax of the must-do PAL: must-V (cf. mustVerbConstruction, which is the full prenominal construction).

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.demoNetwork : ConstructionGrammar.Constructicon

The Figure 5 network plus the must-V-internal construction.

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.demoNetwork = { constructions := GoldbergShirtz2025.mustVCore :: GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstructicon.constructions, links := GoldbergShirtz2025.palConstructicon.links }

def GoldbergShirtz2025.mustDoTask : ConstructionGrammar.Token

"must-do task" (ex. (1b), determiner elided): the PAL phrase as a constituent daughter in the word-level modifier slot.

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theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.demo_licenses_mustDoTask : demoNetwork.Licenses demoLexicon mustDoTask

The network licenses the PAL token.

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.pal_load_bearing : ¬(have __src := demoNetwork; { constructions := List.filter (fun (x : ConstructionGrammar.Construction) => x.name != "PAL") demoNetwork.constructions, links := __src.links }).Licenses demoLexicon mustDoTask

Remove the PAL construction and the token is rejected: nothing else licenses a phrase in a word-level modifier slot. PAL is load-bearing.

Lemma-like meaning

def GoldbergShirtz2025.palMeaning (W : Type u_1) (situationType headNoun : W → Prop) : Semantics.Presupposition.PartialProp W

A PAL utterance's two-part meaning: the head noun's denotation is at-issue (an instance of the situation type); the lemma-like construal contributes that the situation type itself is presumed familiar.

The paper treats the familiarity as an invited as-if construal rather than a hard definedness condition: speakers exploit the construction precisely for situation types that are not antecedently familiar (observational humor, sniglets), so common-ground satisfaction is typically reached by accommodation or pretense, not antecedent entailment.

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.palMeaning W situationType headNoun = { presup := situationType, assertion := headNoun }

Typed pragmatics: familiarity inherits through the network

The four subtype links' shared property — "lemma-like construal: presumed familiarity" — as a computed fact rather than a string: only PAL itself carries a pragmatic contribution (palMeaning); the conventional subtypes carry none of their own, and the network derives theirs by normal-mode inheritance through the links. Their at-issue increments ('simple' marks routine-ness, the interdiction of Don't ⟨PAL⟩ me, etc.) are not modeled; the presupposition component is the inherited content.

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.pal_children : palConstructicon.childrenOf "PAL" = [mustVerbConstruction, aSimplePALConstruction, dontPALmeConstruction, theOldPALConstruction]

The links determine PAL's conventional subtypes.

def GoldbergShirtz2025.figure5Pragmatics (W : Type u_1) (situationType headNoun : W → Prop) : ConstructionGrammar.Construction → Option (Semantics.Presupposition.PartialProp W)

Own pragmatic contributions for the Figure 5 network: only PAL itself carries one — the familiarity-presupposing meaning.

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.figure5Pragmatics W situationType headNoun c = if (c.name == "PAL") = true then some (GoldbergShirtz2025.palMeaning W situationType headNoun) else none

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.subtypes_inherit_familiarity (W : Type u_1) (situationType headNoun : W → Prop) (c : ConstructionGrammar.Construction) : c ∈ palConstructicon.childrenOf "PAL" → Option.map (fun (x : Semantics.Presupposition.PartialProp W) => x.presup) (palConstructicon.derivedField (figure5Pragmatics W situationType headNoun) c) = some situationType

Every conventional subtype inherits the familiarity presupposition through the network: each child of PAL has a derived pragmatic contribution whose presupposition is the situation type.

Irreducibility

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.pal_irreducible : ConstructionGrammar.isFullyCompositional palConstruction = false

The PAL construction is not fully compositional: pairing phrase-in-a-word-slot form with a presumed-familiarity function is a construction-specific pragmatic function, so PAL cannot be decomposed into the three universal combination schemata (see isFullyCompositional).

theorem GoldbergShirtz2025.pal_form_phrase_in_word_slot : ∃ s ∈ palConstruction.form, s.IsPhraseInWordSlot

The PAL modifier slot is a phrase in a word-level position — the typed content of "phrase-as-lemma". The NN compound's modifier slot is the minimal contrast: same zero-level position, word filler.

Attested distribution

PALs prototypically modify nouns but are attested as head Nouns, predicative Adjectives, and Verbs (the paper's Table 2), and take word-level inflection in those slots — plural -s, progressive -ing (Table 3).

inductive GoldbergShirtz2025.PALPosition : Type

Syntactic positions where PALs are attested (the paper's Table 2).

• prenominalModifier : PALPosition
• headNoun : PALPosition
• predicativeAdj : PALPosition
• verb : PALPosition

def GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALPosition.repr : PALPosition → ℕ → Std.Format

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@[implicit_reducible]

instance GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALPosition : Repr PALPosition

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALPosition = { reprPrec := GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALPosition.repr }

@[implicit_reducible]

instance GoldbergShirtz2025.instDecidableEqPALPosition : DecidableEq PALPosition

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.instDecidableEqPALPosition x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

structure GoldbergShirtz2025.PALExample : Type

An attested PAL example with its syntactic position.

• pal : String
• position : PALPosition
• sentence : String

def GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALExample.repr : PALExample → ℕ → Std.Format

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@[implicit_reducible]

instance GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALExample : Repr PALExample

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALExample = { reprPrec := GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALExample.repr }

def GoldbergShirtz2025.palExamples : List PALExample

Attested examples (the paper's ex. (1), Table 2, and Table 3; COCA unless noted).

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Comparable constructions in other languages (§7)

inductive GoldbergShirtz2025.PALHostFrame : Type

Host frame of a comparable PAL construction. West Germanic and Turkish PALs occur in compound(-like) frames (Turkish marks the host with the compound marker on the head noun); Hebrew and Brazilian Portuguese PALs occur as complements of a preposition (ʃel / de) — showing the PAL construction need not resemble a compound, only occupy a slot typical of single words.

• compound : PALHostFrame
• prepositionComplement : PALHostFrame

def GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALHostFrame.repr : PALHostFrame → ℕ → Std.Format

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@[implicit_reducible]

instance GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALHostFrame : Repr PALHostFrame

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALHostFrame = { reprPrec := GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprPALHostFrame.repr }

@[implicit_reducible]

instance GoldbergShirtz2025.instDecidableEqPALHostFrame : DecidableEq PALHostFrame

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.instDecidableEqPALHostFrame x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

structure GoldbergShirtz2025.CrossLinguisticPAL : Type

A reported PAL-comparable construction in another language.

• language : String
• family : String
• exemplar : String
• gloss : String
• hostFrame : PALHostFrame

@[implicit_reducible]

instance GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprCrossLinguisticPAL : Repr CrossLinguisticPAL

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• GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprCrossLinguisticPAL = { reprPrec := GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprCrossLinguisticPAL.repr }

def GoldbergShirtz2025.instReprCrossLinguisticPAL.repr : CrossLinguisticPAL → ℕ → Std.Format

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.german : CrossLinguisticPAL

German (the paper's ex. (8a), from [Mei07]:250). [Mei07] also found German PALs judged wittier than relative-clause paraphrases — the effect study 2 replicates for English.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.dutch : CrossLinguisticPAL

Dutch (ex. (15a), from [Mei07]:235).

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.afrikaans : CrossLinguisticPAL

Afrikaans (ex. (15b), from [Mei07]:235, as printed there).

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.turkish : CrossLinguisticPAL

Turkish (ex. (15c), from [TK15]:307); the compound marker on the head noun signals the compound-like frame.

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.hebrew : CrossLinguisticPAL

Modern Hebrew (ex. (16b), the paper's own observation, from Twitter).

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.brazilianPortuguese : CrossLinguisticPAL

Brazilian Portuguese (ex. (18b), the paper's own observation, from the NOW corpus).

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def GoldbergShirtz2025.crossLinguisticPALs : List CrossLinguisticPAL

All cross-linguistic attestations reported in §7.

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