Whamit!

Speaker: Alma Frischoff (MIT)
Title: Non-maximal readings of definite plurals with positive and negative predicates
Time: Wednesday, March 4th, 1pm – 2pm
Location: 32-D461

 

Abstract: I discuss the availability of non-maximal readings of sentences with definite plurals, focusing on antonym pairs of predicates. First, I draw attention to the observation that antonyms like clean/dirty and healthy/sick differ in whether they favor existential or universal interpretations, particularly when combined with definite plurals (e.g., Krifka 1996; Yoon 1996). Second, I point out that presupposition triggers like stop and start exhibit similar patterns in both their presupposed and asserted content. I argue that if these pairs are analyzed as consisting of a predicate and its negation (at least at some abstract level), both phenomena can be understood in terms of the asymmetry between positive and negative sentences in the availability of non-maximal interpretations, as observed by Bar-Lev (2021). Therefore, such an analysis points to a broader, systematic asymmetric pattern of non-maximality, sharpening the question of whether this pattern follows from the mechanism deriving non-maximality or from more general cognitive tendencies.