Using the lower bound set by the universal modal to investigate the status of partial objects and count nouns
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3765/elm.3.5826Keywords:
partial objects, modals, numerals, gradability, context-sensitivity, count noun semanticsAbstract
Prior research has demonstrated that when given objects (e.g., forks) broken into pieces, children deviate from adults by counting each discrete object-piece as on par with a whole. A recent proposal ties this behavior to the vagueness and context-sensitivity inherent to count noun semantics. The present study leverages the universal modal have to in order to investigate how a linguistic context, one which sets lower bounds on numerals in its scope, regulates nominal application. Our results show that for children, who prefer the ‘exact’ reading of numerals, the partial object not only serves to meet the lower bound, but also exceeds a numerical upper bound. Adults, on the other hand, do not consider the partial object as meeting the lower bound induced by the modal. Because we cannot determine the explanation for this finding with our current design, we plan to adapt it to use the existential modal allowed to.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Premvanti Patel, Kristen Syrett, Athulya Aravind

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Published by the LSA with permission of the author(s) under a CC BY 4.0 license.