Speaker: Yoad Winter (Utrecht University)
Title: Countability and measurement in comparatives
Time: Friday, May 5th, 3:30pm – 5pm
Location: 32-141
Abstract: The mass-count distinction can strongly affect meanings of nominal comparatives: ‘more stones/fruits/packs’ trigger counting; ‘more stone/fruit/sugar’ trigger measuring. This simple pattern often breaks down. One such case is counting in comparatives with mass nouns like ‘furniture’, ‘baggage’ and ‘weaponry’. Another is measuring with count nouns in mass-count comparatives like ‘more gold than diamonds’ and ‘more friends than money’. We report new results indicating that counting in comparatives is primed by both perceived discreteness and a grammatical ‘count’ status, but neither of these factors forces it. In cases of mismatch between grammar and perception, last resort operations come into play. This provides a unified picture on the grammatical, lexical and semantic-pragmatic effects on discrete and non-discrete meanings.