Constraining imprecision via structural alternatives

Abstract

Most recent theories of homogeneity and non-maximality in plural predication take the two phenomena to be closely related. Conjunctions challenge this view because they show homogeneity while seemingly lacking non-maximal construals. This paper argues that conjunctions can nonetheless be given an underlying semantics compatible with non-maximality, if their non-maximal construals are blocked by a global constraint which requires weak construals of an imprecise expression to preserve certain inferences of the maximally strong construal. I tentatively suggest that the relevant class of inferences can be characterized in structural terms, as inferences towards alternatives derivable by deletion.