On the Generic Use of Indefinite Singulars
Identifieur interne : 000869 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 000868; suivant : 000870On the Generic Use of Indefinite Singulars
Auteurs : Ariel CohenSource :
- Journal of Semantics [ 0167-5133 ] ; 2001-08.
English descriptors
- Teeft :
- Ariel, Ariel cohen, Bare plurals, Brave astronauts, Camel, Carlson, Carlson pelletier, Chicago press, Cobuild dictionary, Cohen, Dangerous challenge, Differentia, Dinosaur, Direct kind predication, Dromedary, Essential property, Extinct, Favourite, Favourite composer, Generic, Generic book, Generic reading, Generic readings, Generic sentences, Genericity, Inductivist, Inductivist reading, Inductivist view, Krifka, Logical form, Madrigal, Madrigal polyphonic, Manned space mission, Messy room, Narrow scope reading, Noun, Other hand, Plural, Polyphonic, Popular song, Potential rules, Predicate, Predication, Scope ambiguity, Semantics, Stork, Topic constraint, Wide scope.
Abstract
The distribution of indefinite singular generics is much more restricted than that of bare plural generics. The former, unlike the latter, seem to require that the property predicated of their subject be, in some sense, ‘definitional’. Moreover, the two constructions exhibit different scopal behaviour, and differ in their felicity in conjunctions, questions, and expressions describing the speaker's confidence. I propose that the reason is that the two expressions, in fact, have rather different meanings. Carlson (1995) makes a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations theories of generics. Instead, I draw a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations readings of generics. On one reading, a generic expresses the way things are, and its logical form involves quantification; on the other reading, a generic refers to some rule or regulation (often a definition), and states that it is in effect. While bare plurals are ambiguous between the two readings, indefinite singulars can only refer to a rule or a regulation. This difference between the two constructions follows from the fact that bare plurals, but not (nonspecific) indefinite singulars, are acceptable topics. The topic of bare plural generics, then, is the bare plural itself. It is mapped onto the restrictor of the generic quantifier, hence an inductivist reading is available. In contrast, this option is not open to indefinite singular generics. Thus, an inductivist reading is ruled out, and the only possible topic is a rule or regulation. The various differences between the two types of generic are then shown to follow.
Url:
DOI: 10.1093/jos/18.3.183
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ISTEX:935C7ED4EFFFED1356EB386E2F2B46ED5523BD75Le document en format XML
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The former, unlike the latter, seem to require that the property predicated of their subject be, in some sense, ‘definitional’. Moreover, the two constructions exhibit different scopal behaviour, and differ in their felicity in conjunctions, questions, and expressions describing the speaker's confidence. I propose that the reason is that the two expressions, in fact, have rather different meanings. Carlson (1995) makes a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations theories of generics. Instead, I draw a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations readings of generics. On one reading, a generic expresses the way things are, and its logical form involves quantification; on the other reading, a generic refers to some rule or regulation (often a definition), and states that it is in effect. While bare plurals are ambiguous between the two readings, indefinite singulars can only refer to a rule or a regulation. This difference between the two constructions follows from the fact that bare plurals, but not (nonspecific) indefinite singulars, are acceptable topics. The topic of bare plural generics, then, is the bare plural itself. It is mapped onto the restrictor of the generic quantifier, hence an inductivist reading is available. In contrast, this option is not open to indefinite singular generics. Thus, an inductivist reading is ruled out, and the only possible topic is a rule or regulation. The various differences between the two types of generic are then shown to follow.</div></front></TEI><istex><corpusName>oup</corpusName><keywords><teeft><json:string>generic</json:string><json:string>predication</json:string><json:string>direct kind predication</json:string><json:string>predicate</json:string><json:string>inductivist</json:string><json:string>ariel</json:string><json:string>polyphonic</json:string><json:string>logical form</json:string><json:string>ariel cohen</json:string><json:string>dromedary</json:string><json:string>favourite</json:string><json:string>plural</json:string><json:string>generic reading</json:string><json:string>generic sentences</json:string><json:string>stork</json:string><json:string>krifka</json:string><json:string>semantics</json:string><json:string>dinosaur</json:string><json:string>genericity</json:string><json:string>other hand</json:string><json:string>generic readings</json:string><json:string>differentia</json:string><json:string>brave astronauts</json:string><json:string>manned space mission</json:string><json:string>camel</json:string><json:string>madrigal</json:string><json:string>wide scope</json:string><json:string>topic constraint</json:string><json:string>chicago press</json:string><json:string>essential property</json:string><json:string>generic book</json:string><json:string>extinct</json:string><json:string>scope ambiguity</json:string><json:string>inductivist reading</json:string><json:string>dangerous challenge</json:string><json:string>carlson pelletier</json:string><json:string>bare plurals</json:string><json:string>favourite composer</json:string><json:string>messy room</json:string><json:string>cohen</json:string><json:string>noun</json:string><json:string>popular song</json:string><json:string>inductivist view</json:string><json:string>potential rules</json:string><json:string>narrow scope reading</json:string><json:string>cobuild dictionary</json:string><json:string>madrigal polyphonic</json:string><json:string>carlson</json:string><json:string>genus</json:string></teeft></keywords><author><json:item><name>Ariel Cohen</name><affiliations><json:string>Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. e-mail: arikc@bgumail.bgu.ac.il</json:string></affiliations></json:item></author><arkIstex>ark:/67375/HXZ-1LW89GFT-N</arkIstex><language><json:string>eng</json:string></language><originalGenre><json:string>research-article</json:string></originalGenre><abstract>The distribution of indefinite singular generics is much more restricted than that of bare plural generics. The former, unlike the latter, seem to require that the property predicated of their subject be, in some sense, ‘definitional’. Moreover, the two constructions exhibit different scopal behaviour, and differ in their felicity in conjunctions, questions, and expressions describing the speaker's confidence. I propose that the reason is that the two expressions, in fact, have rather different meanings. Carlson (1995) makes a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations theories of generics. Instead, I draw a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations readings of generics. On one reading, a generic expresses the way things are, and its logical form involves quantification; on the other reading, a generic refers to some rule or regulation (often a definition), and states that it is in effect. While bare plurals are ambiguous between the two readings, indefinite singulars can only refer to a rule or a regulation. This difference between the two constructions follows from the fact that bare plurals, but not (nonspecific) indefinite singulars, are acceptable topics. The topic of bare plural generics, then, is the bare plural itself. It is mapped onto the restrictor of the generic quantifier, hence an inductivist reading is available. In contrast, this option is not open to indefinite singular generics. Thus, an inductivist reading is ruled out, and the only possible topic is a rule or regulation. 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(1995)</json:string><json:string>Erteschik-Shir 1997</json:string><json:string>Cohen & Erteschik-Shir 1997</json:string></ref_bibl><bibl></bibl></unitex></namedEntities><ark><json:string>ark:/67375/HXZ-1LW89GFT-N</json:string></ark><categories><wos><json:string>social science</json:string><json:string>linguistics</json:string></wos><scienceMetrix><json:string>arts & humanities</json:string><json:string>communication & textual studies</json:string><json:string>languages & linguistics</json:string></scienceMetrix><scopus><json:string>1 - Physical Sciences</json:string><json:string>2 - Computer Science</json:string><json:string>3 - Artificial Intelligence</json:string><json:string>1 - Social Sciences</json:string><json:string>2 - Social Sciences</json:string><json:string>3 - Linguistics and Language</json:string><json:string>1 - Social Sciences</json:string><json:string>2 - Arts and Humanities</json:string><json:string>3 - Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)</json:string></scopus><inist><json:string>sciences humaines et sociales</json:string><json:string>philosophie</json:string></inist></categories><publicationDate>2001</publicationDate><copyrightDate>2001</copyrightDate><doi><json:string>10.1093/jos/18.3.183</json:string></doi><id>935C7ED4EFFFED1356EB386E2F2B46ED5523BD75</id><score>1</score><fulltext><json:item><extension>pdf</extension><original>true</original><mimetype>application/pdf</mimetype><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/935C7ED4EFFFED1356EB386E2F2B46ED5523BD75/fulltext/pdf</uri></json:item><json:item><extension>zip</extension><original>false</original><mimetype>application/zip</mimetype><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/935C7ED4EFFFED1356EB386E2F2B46ED5523BD75/fulltext/zip</uri></json:item><istex:fulltextTEI uri="https://api.istex.fr/document/935C7ED4EFFFED1356EB386E2F2B46ED5523BD75/fulltext/tei"><teiHeader><fileDesc><titleStmt><title level="a" type="main" xml:lang="en">On the Generic Use of Indefinite Singulars</title><respStmt><resp>Références bibliographiques récupérées via GROBID</resp><name resp="ISTEX-API">ISTEX-API (INIST-CNRS)</name></respStmt></titleStmt><publicationStmt><authority>ISTEX</authority><publisher scheme="https://publisher-list.data.istex.fr">Oxford University Press</publisher><availability><licence><p>Copyright Oxford University Press 2001</p></licence><p scheme="https://loaded-corpus.data.istex.fr/ark:/67375/XBH-GTWS0RDP-M">oup</p></availability><date>2001</date></publicationStmt><notesStmt><note type="research-article" scheme="https://content-type.data.istex.fr/ark:/67375/XTP-1JC4F85T-7">research-article</note><note type="journal" scheme="https://publication-type.data.istex.fr/ark:/67375/JMC-0GLKJH51-B">journal</note><note>Received 01.09.00. Accepted 01.09.00.</note></notesStmt><sourceDesc><biblStruct type="inbook"><analytic><title level="a" type="main" xml:lang="en">On the Generic Use of Indefinite Singulars</title><author xml:id="author-0000"><persName><forename type="first">Ariel</forename><surname>Cohen</surname></persName><affiliation>Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. e-mail: arikc@bgumail.bgu.ac.il</affiliation></author><idno type="istex">935C7ED4EFFFED1356EB386E2F2B46ED5523BD75</idno><idno type="ark">ark:/67375/HXZ-1LW89GFT-N</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1093/jos/18.3.183</idno><idno type="local">180183</idno></analytic><monogr><title level="j">Journal of Semantics</title><title level="j" type="abbrev">J Semantics</title><idno type="pISSN">0167-5133</idno><idno type="eISSN">1477-4593</idno><idno type="publisher-id">semant</idno><idno type="PublisherID-hwp">semant</idno><imprint><publisher>Oxford University Press</publisher><date type="published" when="2001-08"></date><biblScope unit="volume">18</biblScope><biblScope unit="issue">3</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" from="183">183</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" to="209">209</biblScope></imprint></monogr></biblStruct></sourceDesc></fileDesc><profileDesc><creation><date>2001</date></creation><langUsage><language ident="en">en</language></langUsage><abstract xml:lang="en"><p>The distribution of indefinite singular generics is much more restricted than that of bare plural generics. The former, unlike the latter, seem to require that the property predicated of their subject be, in some sense, ‘definitional’. Moreover, the two constructions exhibit different scopal behaviour, and differ in their felicity in conjunctions, questions, and expressions describing the speaker's confidence. I propose that the reason is that the two expressions, in fact, have rather different meanings. Carlson (1995) makes a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations theories of generics. Instead, I draw a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations readings of generics. On one reading, a generic expresses the way things are, and its logical form involves quantification; on the other reading, a generic refers to some rule or regulation (often a definition), and states that it is in effect. While bare plurals are ambiguous between the two readings, indefinite singulars can only refer to a rule or a regulation. This difference between the two constructions follows from the fact that bare plurals, but not (nonspecific) indefinite singulars, are acceptable topics. The topic of bare plural generics, then, is the bare plural itself. It is mapped onto the restrictor of the generic quantifier, hence an inductivist reading is available. In contrast, this option is not open to indefinite singular generics. Thus, an inductivist reading is ruled out, and the only possible topic is a rule or regulation. 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<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1093/jos/18.3.183</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Article</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>On the Generic Use of Indefinite Singulars</article-title></title-group><contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Cohen</surname><given-names>Ariel</given-names></name>
<xref rid="AFF1">1</xref>
</contrib><aff> <target target-type="aff" id="AFF1"></target><label>1</label>Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. e-mail: <ext-link xlink:href="arikc@bgumail.bgu.ac.il" ext-link-type="email"> arikc@bgumail.bgu.ac.il</ext-link></aff></contrib-group><pub-date pub-type="ppub"><month>08</month><year>2001</year></pub-date><volume>18</volume><issue>3</issue><fpage>183</fpage><lpage>209</lpage><permissions><copyright-statement>Copyright Oxford University Press 2001</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2001</copyright-year></permissions><abstract xml:lang="en">
<p>The distribution of indefinite singular generics is much more restricted than that of bare plural generics. The former, unlike the latter, seem to require that the property predicated of their subject be, in some sense, ‘definitional’. Moreover, the two constructions exhibit different scopal behaviour, and differ in their felicity in conjunctions, questions, and expressions describing the speaker's confidence. I propose that the reason is that the two expressions, in fact, have rather different meanings.</p>
<p>Carlson (1995) makes a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations <italic>theories</italic> of generics. Instead, I draw a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations <italic>readings</italic> of generics. On one reading, a generic expresses the way things are, and its logical form involves quantification; on the other reading, a generic refers to some rule or regulation (often a definition), and states that it is in effect. While bare plurals are ambiguous between the two readings, indefinite singulars can only refer to a rule or a regulation.</p>
<p>This difference between the two constructions follows from the fact that bare plurals, but not (nonspecific) indefinite singulars, are acceptable topics. The topic of bare plural generics, then, is the bare plural itself. It is mapped onto the restrictor of the generic quantifier, hence an inductivist reading is available. In contrast, this option is not open to indefinite singular generics. Thus, an inductivist reading is ruled out, and the only possible topic is a rule or regulation. The various differences between the two types of generic are then shown to follow.</p>
</abstract><custom-meta-wrap><custom-meta><meta-name>hwp-legacy-fpage</meta-name><meta-value>183</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>hwp-legacy-dochead</meta-name><meta-value>Article</meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-wrap></article-meta><notes><p content-type="arthw-misc">Received 01.09.00. Accepted 01.09.00. </p></notes></front>
</article></istex:document></istex:metadataXml><mods version="3.6"><titleInfo lang="en"><title>On the Generic Use of Indefinite Singulars</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="alternative" lang="en" contentType="CDATA"><title>On the Generic Use of Indefinite Singulars</title></titleInfo><name type="personal"><namePart type="given">Ariel</namePart><namePart type="family">Cohen</namePart><affiliation>Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. e-mail: arikc@bgumail.bgu.ac.il</affiliation></name><typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource><genre type="research-article" displayLabel="research-article" authority="ISTEX" authorityURI="https://content-type.data.istex.fr" valueURI="https://content-type.data.istex.fr/ark:/67375/XTP-1JC4F85T-7">research-article</genre><originInfo><publisher>Oxford University Press</publisher><dateIssued encoding="w3cdtf">2001-08</dateIssued><copyrightDate encoding="w3cdtf">2001</copyrightDate></originInfo><language><languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</languageTerm><languageTerm type="code" authority="rfc3066">en</languageTerm></language><abstract lang="en">The distribution of indefinite singular generics is much more restricted than that of bare plural generics. The former, unlike the latter, seem to require that the property predicated of their subject be, in some sense, ‘definitional’. Moreover, the two constructions exhibit different scopal behaviour, and differ in their felicity in conjunctions, questions, and expressions describing the speaker's confidence. I propose that the reason is that the two expressions, in fact, have rather different meanings. Carlson (1995) makes a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations theories of generics. Instead, I draw a distinction between inductivist and rules‐and‐regulations readings of generics. On one reading, a generic expresses the way things are, and its logical form involves quantification; on the other reading, a generic refers to some rule or regulation (often a definition), and states that it is in effect. While bare plurals are ambiguous between the two readings, indefinite singulars can only refer to a rule or a regulation. This difference between the two constructions follows from the fact that bare plurals, but not (nonspecific) indefinite singulars, are acceptable topics. The topic of bare plural generics, then, is the bare plural itself. It is mapped onto the restrictor of the generic quantifier, hence an inductivist reading is available. In contrast, this option is not open to indefinite singular generics. Thus, an inductivist reading is ruled out, and the only possible topic is a rule or regulation. The various differences between the two types of generic are then shown to follow.</abstract><note>Received 01.09.00. Accepted 01.09.00.</note><relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>Journal of Semantics</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="abbreviated"><title>J Semantics</title></titleInfo><genre type="journal" authority="ISTEX" authorityURI="https://publication-type.data.istex.fr" valueURI="https://publication-type.data.istex.fr/ark:/67375/JMC-0GLKJH51-B">journal</genre><identifier type="ISSN">0167-5133</identifier><identifier type="eISSN">1477-4593</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID">semant</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID-hwp">semant</identifier><part><date>2001</date><detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption><number>18</number></detail><detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption><number>3</number></detail><extent unit="pages"><start>183</start><end>209</end></extent></part></relatedItem><identifier type="istex">935C7ED4EFFFED1356EB386E2F2B46ED5523BD75</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1093/jos/18.3.183</identifier><identifier type="local">180183</identifier><accessCondition type="use and reproduction" contentType="copyright">Copyright Oxford University Press 2001</accessCondition><recordInfo><recordContentSource authority="ISTEX" authorityURI="https://loaded-corpus.data.istex.fr" valueURI="https://loaded-corpus.data.istex.fr/ark:/67375/XBH-GTWS0RDP-M">oup</recordContentSource><recordOrigin>Copyright Oxford University Press 2001</recordOrigin></recordInfo></mods><json:item><extension>json</extension><original>false</original><mimetype>application/json</mimetype><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/935C7ED4EFFFED1356EB386E2F2B46ED5523BD75/metadata/json</uri></json:item></metadata><serie></serie></istex></record>Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
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