Abstract
We offer an account of the semantics of count nouns based on the observation that for some count nouns, the set of atoms in the denotation of the singular predicate is contextually determined. The denotation of singular count nouns is derived relative to a context k, where k is a set of entities which count as atoms in a particular context. An operation COUNTk applies to the mass noun denotation and derives the count meaning: a set of ordered pairs <d,k> where d is a member of N ∩ k and k is the context relative to which d counts as one. Count nouns and mass nouns are thus typally distinct and the grammatical differences between them follow from this. We distinguish between naturally atomic predicates, which denote sets of inherently individuable entities or Boolean algebras generated from such sets, and semantically atomic predicates, which denote sets which are atomic relative to a particular context k. This distinction is orthogonal to the mass count distinction.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Chierchia, G.: Plurality of Mass Nouns and the Notion of Semantic Parameter. In: Rothstein, S. (ed.) Events and grammar, Kluwer, Dordrecht (1998)
Chierchia, G.: Mass Nouns, Vagueness and Semantic Variation. Synthese (in press)
Gillon, B.: Toward a Common semantics for English Count and Mass Nouns. Linguistics and Philosophy 15, 597–640 (1992)
Barner, D., Snedeker, J.: Quantity Judgments and Individuation: Evidence that Mass Nouns Count. Cognition 97, 41–66 (2005)
Rothstein, S.: Counting and the Mass Count Distinction. to appear in Journal of Semantics
Schwarzschild, R.: Stubborn Distributivity, Multiparticipant Nouns and The Count/Mass Distinction. In: Proceedings of NELS 39 (in press)
Pires de Oliveira, R., Rothstein, S.: Bare Singular is Really Mass in Brazilian Portuguese. Ms Universida de Federal de Santa Catarina and Bar-Ilan University (2009)
Krifka, M.: Thematic Relations as Links Between Nominal Reference and Temporal Constitution. In: Sag, I., Szabolsci, A. (eds.) Lexical matters, CSLI, Stanford (1992)
Mittwoch, A.: Aspects of English Aspect: On The Interaction of Perfect, Progressive and Durational Phrases. Linguistics and Philosophy 11, 203–254 (1988)
Rothstein, S.: Structuring Events. Blackwell, Oxford (2004)
Link, G.: The Logical Analysis of Plurals and Mass Terms: A Lattice-Theoretical Approach. In: Baüerle, R., Schwarze, C., von Stechow, A. (eds.) Meaning, Use and Interpretation, pp. 303–323. de Gruyter, Berlin (1983); Reprinted in Portner, P., Partee, B. (eds.): Formal Semantics: The Essential Readings. Blackwell, Oxford (2002)
Landman, F.: Groups II. Linguistics and Philosophy 12, 723–745 (1989)
Krifka, M.: Nominal Reference, Temporal Constitution and Quantification in Event Semantics. In: Bartsch, R., van Bentham, J., van Emde Boas, P. (eds.) Semantics and Contextual Expressions, pp. 75–155. Foris, Dordrecht (1989)
Krifka, M.: Common Nouns: A Contrastive Analysis of English and Chinese. In: Carlson, G., Pelletier, F.J. (eds.) The Generic Book. Chicago University Press, Chicago (1995)
Rothstein, S.: Individuating and Measure Readings of Classifier Constructions: Evidence From Modern Hebrew. In: Brill Annual of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics (BAALL), vol. 1, pp. 106–145 (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Rothstein, S. (2010). The Semantics of Count Nouns. In: Aloni, M., Bastiaanse, H., de Jager, T., Schulz, K. (eds) Logic, Language and Meaning. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6042. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14287-1_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14287-1_40
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-14286-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-14287-1
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)