Contextual restrictions on cumulativity

This paper revisits the semantic variability of sentences with simple plural (in)definites in English and German, which permit distributive, cumulative and paired-cover construals. I argue that this variability reflects context-dependency rather than LF ambiguity (Schwarzschild 1996) and that the selection of a particular construal in context is driven by the QUD in the same way as the choice between maximal and non-maximal construals of plural definites (Malamud 2012; Križ 2015; Križ & Spector 2020). I then develop a new semantics for plural predication on which non-distributive and non-maximal construals form a natural class. The system extends the idea that non-maximality involves truth-value gaps (e.g. Križ 2015) to non-distributive construals by making use of Schmitt’s (2019) ‘plural projection’ framework, in which plural sentences involve special composition rules.

Multiple Events and ‘N Preposition N’

This chapter discusses structures like ‘Sandy wrote book after book’, in which a central preposition is combined with two identical nouns. The interpretation is a plurality of events, in the example a plurality of writing books. The semantic properties of the construction are discussed. An analysis is offered in terms of event pluralization, with ‘N-Preposition-N’ a pluractional modifier. This is embedded in a general theory of plural predication.

Interpreting plural predication: homogeneity and non-maximality

Plural definite descriptions across many languages display two well-known properties. First, they can give rise to so-called non-maximal readings, in the sense that they ‘allow for exceptions’ (Mary read the books on the reading list, in some contexts, can be judged true even if Mary didn’t read all the books on the reading list). Second, while they tend to have a quasi-universal quantificational force in affirmative sentences (‘quasi-universal’ rather than simply ‘universal’ due to the possibility of exceptions we have just mentioned), they tend to be interpreted existentially in the scope of negation (a property often referred to as homogeneity, cf. Löbner in Linguist Philos 23:213–308, 2000). Building on previous works (in particular Krifka in Proceedings of SALT VI, Cornell University, pp 136–153, 1996 and Malamud in Semant Pragmat, 5:1–28, 2012), we offer a theory in which sentences containing plural definite expressions trigger a family of possible interpretations, and where general principles of language use account for their interpretation in various contexts and syntactic environments. Our theory solves a number of problems that these previous works encounter, and has broader empirical coverage in that it offers a precise analysis for sentences that display complex interactions between plural definites, quantifiers and bound variables, as well as for cases involving non-distributive predicates. The resulting proposal is briefly compared with an alternative proposal by Križ (Aspects of homogeneity in the semantics of natural language, University of Vienna, 2015), which has similar coverage but is based on a very different architecture and sometimes makes subtly different predictions.

Seuren/Rullmann ambiguities as plural comparisons

This paper reexamines ambiguous comparatives of a kind made famous in Rullmann's (1995) dissertation, e.g. The helicopter was flying less high than a plane can fly. There is some disagreement in the semantic literature regarding whether the ambiguity is limited to less or also shows up in more-comparatives. Accordingly, the analyses suggested differ substantially, ranging from structural to pragmatic. My primary goal is to provide a more solid empirical basis for building semantic theories of the phenomenon. I report the results from a series of questionnaire studies that show (i) that the difference between more- and less-comparatives is not clear cut, and (ii) that we need to make more fine-grained distinctions among less-comparatives. I propose an analysis in terms of plural predication that captures the major effects found in the studies, and I begin to approach the more subtle data points.

Seuren/Rullmann ambiguities as plural comparisons

This paper reexamines ambiguous comparatives of a kind made famous in Rullmann's (1995) dissertation, e.g. The helicopter was flying less high than a plane can fly. There is some disagreement in the semantic literature regarding whether the ambiguity is limited to less or also shows up in more-comparatives. Accordingly, the analyses suggested differ substantially, ranging from structural to pragmatic. My primary goal is to provide a more solid empirical basis for building semantic theories of the phenomenon. I report the results from a series of questionnaire studies that show (i) that the difference between more- and less-comparatives is not clear cut, and (ii) that we need to make more fine-grained distinctions among less-comparatives. I propose an analysis in terms of plural predication that captures the major effects found in the studies, and I begin to approach the more subtle data points.