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SUMMARY:The Pragmatics of Numerically Quantified Expressions - Chris Cummi
 ns\, RCEAL
DTSTART:20091013T150000Z
DTEND:20091013T163000Z
UID:TALK20591@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Chris Cummins
DESCRIPTION:The semantics and pragmatics of number\, and numerical express
 ions\, has been debated in the literature for many years. The topic falls 
 within several strands of research: anthropological studies on the emergen
 ce of number systems\, work on children's acquisition of numerical concept
 s\, and philosophical investigation of the nature of numerical competence.
  Researchers aim to answer questions such as: what is the core meaning of 
 numerals? How is this meaning interpreted in context?  And how do children
  acquire the necessary semantic and pragmatic competence? \n\nRecently exp
 erimental pragmatics has begun to make a contribution to this research eff
 ort. This talk focuses on the topic of numerically quantified expressions\
 , and discusses the work recently undertaken on comparative and superlativ
 e quantifiers (those of the form 'more than n' and 'at least n' respective
 ly\, where n is a numeral). Experimental evidence is presented showing tha
 t the classical semantic treatment of these quantifiers is descriptively i
 nadequate\, and that an influential recent alternative (Geurts and Nouwen'
 s (2007) modal account of superlative quantifiers) is also problematic.\n\
 nI conclude by discussing whether a markedness-driven pragmatic account of
  these phenomena could prove explanatorily adequate\, and introducing a br
 oader constraint-based account of numerical quantifier usage. \n
LOCATION:GR-04\, English Faculty Building
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