Witnessable quantifiers license type-e meaning: Evidence from contrastive topic, equatives and supplements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3765/salt.v22i0.2652Keywords:
quantifier, choice function, exceptional wide scope, wide-scope indefinite, contrastive topic, equative, supplementAbstract
This paper presents three novel ways of testing which plural quantificational phrases can denote individuals (type e). Specifically, it is argued that only type-e expressions can (i) be marked as a contrastive topic in a discourse contrasting individuals, (ii) be equated with another type-e expression in an equative frame, and (iii) anchor supplementing material. The main empirical finding is that the class of quantifiers allowing type-e nominal denotations is larger than assumed on classic accounts like Reinhart 1997. Furthermore, this class is characterizable in semantic terms. The quantifiers that give rise to type-e meanings are "witnessable" in the sense of entailing the existence of an individual satisfying both their restrictor and their nuclear scope.Downloads
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2012-09-03
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Articles appearing in SALT are published under an author agreement with the Linguistic Society of America and are made available to readers under a Creative Commons Attribution License.