Strengthening, exhaustification, and rational inference

The literature in semantics and pragmatics provides extensive evidence for the strengthening of linguistic expressions, both in matrix positions and when embedded under various operators. We study the properties of such strengthening using a very simple setting. Specifically, we look at when the exp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Linguistics and philosophy 2024-08, Vol.47 (4), p.505-516
Main Authors: Asherov, Daniel, Fox, Danny, Katzir, Roni
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Inference
Linguistics
Logic
Operators
Original Research
Philosophy of Language
Pragmatics
Rationality
Semantics
Social Sciences
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The literature in semantics and pragmatics provides extensive evidence for the strengthening of linguistic expressions, both in matrix positions and when embedded under various operators. We study the properties of such strengthening using a very simple setting. Specifically, we look at when the expression “crate with a banana” can be understood as a unique crate even though two different crates have a banana in them. By varying the scenarios in which an expression such as “Pick the crate with a banana” is evaluated, we show that the strengthening of “crate with a banana” within the scope of the definite article parallels the entailments of “crate with only a banana” (with an overt exhaustivity operator, ‘only’). We use this observation to argue that strengthening in embedded positions follows the logic of an exhaustivity operator rather than that of rational inference. We then note that a similar pattern obtains in matrix positions.
ISSN:0165-0157
1573-0549
DOI:10.1007/s10988-023-09406-0