@cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016} — Scalar Diversity #
@cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016} @cite{ronai-2024}
Theory-neutral empirical data and argumentation chain from @cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016}.
Central Question #
Do all scalar expressions yield scalar implicatures at comparable rates? The "uniformity assumption" — implicit in decades of SI research focused on ⟨some, all⟩ and ⟨or, and⟩ — predicts yes.
Argumentative Structure #
Scalar diversity is real (Exps 1–2, §2): SI rates vary continuously from 4% (⟨content, happy⟩) to 100% (⟨cheap, free⟩) across 43 scales. Experiment 1 (N=25) uses neutral content (pronouns); Experiment 2 (N=29) uses non-neutral content (full NPs). Results correlate highly (r=.91), confirming robustness to sentential context.
Availability does not explain diversity (Exp 3, §4): Four operationalisations of scale availability all fail to predict SI rates:
- Association strength (modified cloze task, Exp 3, N=60): β=0.16, n.s.
- Grammatical class (open vs closed): β=−0.38, n.s.
- Relative word frequency (corpus log-ratio): β=−0.15, n.s.
- Semantic relatedness (LSA cosine): β=0.01, n.s.
Distinctness does explain diversity (Exp 4, §5): Two measures of how easy it is to distinguish scalemates both predict SI rates:
- Semantic distance (7-point rating, Exp 4, N=24): β=0.65, p=.018
- Boundedness (stronger term is endpoint): β=−1.87, p<.001
Combined model (§6, Table 5): Mixed model with all six predictors explains R²=0.52 of variance (0.22 fixed effects, 0.30 random). Of the fixed-effects variance, boundedness alone accounts for 10.8%, distance for 2.7%, and all four availability measures combined for <1%.
Remaining variance (§6): ~78% of variance is unexplained, suggesting item-specific statistical learning from language use — hearers track frequencies of upper-bounding inferences for individual scales and use Gricean reasoning to combine prior likelihoods with the current context.
Grammatical category of a scale. Van Tiel et al. distinguish open vs closed classes for availability hypothesis.
- adjective : GrammaticalClass
- adverb : GrammaticalClass
- auxiliaryVerb : GrammaticalClass
- mainVerb : GrammaticalClass
- quantifier : GrammaticalClass
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Whether a scale is "open" or "closed" class. Closed class = smaller search space for alternatives (predicted more available).
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Complete data for each scale tested in @cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016}.
Fields capture all predictors tested in the paper:
- SI rates from Experiments 1 and 2
- Availability measures (cloze, frequency, LSA)
- Distinctness measures (semantic distance, boundedness)
- weakerTerm : String
Weaker scalar term
- strongerTerm : String
Stronger scalar term
- category : GrammaticalClass
Grammatical category
- siRateExp1 : ℕ
SI rate in Experiment 1 (neutral content, %)
- siRateExp2 : ℕ
SI rate in Experiment 2 (non-neutral content, %)
Cloze task: % mentioning stronger term (Exp3, neutral, lenient)
Cloze task: % mentioning stronger term (Exp3, non-neutral, lenient)
Log ratio of weaker/stronger term frequencies
LSA semantic relatedness (0-1)
- semanticDistance : Float
Mean semantic distance rating (1-7 scale, Exp4)
- bounded : Bool
Whether stronger term denotes an endpoint (bounded scale)
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⟨cheap, free⟩ - highest SI rate (100%)
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⟨sometimes, always⟩
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⟨some, all⟩ - the "workhorse" of SI research
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⟨possible, certain⟩
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⟨may, will⟩
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⟨difficult, impossible⟩
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⟨rare, extinct⟩
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⟨may, have to⟩
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⟨warm, hot⟩
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⟨few, none⟩
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⟨low, depleted⟩
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⟨hard, unsolvable⟩
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⟨allowed, obligatory⟩
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⟨try, succeed⟩
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⟨palatable, delicious⟩
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⟨memorable, unforgettable⟩
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⟨like, love⟩
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⟨good, perfect⟩
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⟨good, excellent⟩
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⟨cool, cold⟩
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⟨hungry, starving⟩
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⟨adequate, good⟩
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⟨unsettling, horrific⟩
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⟨dislike, loathe⟩
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⟨believe, know⟩
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⟨start, finish⟩
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⟨participate, win⟩
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⟨wary, scared⟩
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⟨old, ancient⟩
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⟨big, enormous⟩
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⟨snug, tight⟩
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⟨attractive, stunning⟩
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⟨special, unique⟩
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⟨pretty, beautiful⟩
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⟨intelligent, brilliant⟩
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⟨funny, hilarious⟩
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⟨dark, black⟩
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⟨small, tiny⟩
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⟨ugly, hideous⟩
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⟨silly, ridiculous⟩
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⟨tired, exhausted⟩
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⟨content, happy⟩ - lowest SI rate (4%)
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All 43 scales tested in @cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016}
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Number of scales tested
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Bounded scales
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Non-bounded scales
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Number of bounded scales
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Number of non-bounded scales
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SI rates span 96 percentage points: 4% to 100%. ⟨content, happy⟩ is the floor, ⟨cheap, free⟩ the ceiling.
Bounded scales yield far more SIs than non-bounded scales.
Total SI rate (Exp 1) across 21 bounded scales: 1287%. Total SI rate (Exp 1) across 22 non-bounded scales: 465%. Even though bounded scales have fewer items, their total is nearly 3× higher. The paper reports mean bounded ≈ 62% vs mean non-bounded ≈ 25%.
⟨some, all⟩ — the "workhorse" of SI research — sits near the top at 96%, far above the mean. Generalizing from ⟨some, all⟩ to all scales is unjustified.
In this sample, every closed-class scale is also bounded. This confound partially explains the nonsignificant grammatical-class effect: closed-class scales look high-SI because they're all bounded, not because the search space for alternatives is smaller.
Experiments 1 and 2 agree directionally: no scale reverses from high to low or vice versa (defined as >50% in one experiment and <15% in the other).
A row from the mixed-effects regression in Table 5.
The model predicts SI rates from Exps 1–2 using six fixed-effect predictors (four availability measures, two distinctness measures) plus random slopes and intercepts for participants and items.
- name : String
Name of the predictor
- beta : ℚ
Estimated coefficient
- se : ℚ
Standard error
- z : ℚ
z-statistic
- p : ℚ
p-value (two-tailed)
- r2 : ℚ
Marginal R² (variance explained by this predictor alone)
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Association strength (lenient cloze, Exp 3): β=0.16, p=.611.
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- Phenomena.ScalarImplicatures.Studies.VanTielEtAl2016.associationStrength = { name := "association_strength", beta := 16 / 100, se := 31 / 100, z := 51 / 100, p := 611 / 1000, r2 := 0 }
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Grammatical class (open/closed): β=−0.38, p=.606.
Confounded with boundedness — all closed-class scales in this sample
are also bounded (see closed_class_subsumes_bounded).
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- Phenomena.ScalarImplicatures.Studies.VanTielEtAl2016.grammaticalClass = { name := "grammatical_class", beta := -38 / 100, se := 74 / 100, z := -52 / 100, p := 606 / 1000, r2 := 1 / 1000 }
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Relative word frequency (log ratio weaker/stronger): β=−0.15, p=.461.
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- Phenomena.ScalarImplicatures.Studies.VanTielEtAl2016.relativeFrequency = { name := "relative_frequency", beta := -15 / 100, se := 21 / 100, z := -74 / 100, p := 461 / 1000, r2 := 3 / 1000 }
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Semantic relatedness (LSA cosine): β=0.01, p=.355.
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- Phenomena.ScalarImplicatures.Studies.VanTielEtAl2016.semanticRelatedness = { name := "semantic_relatedness", beta := 1 / 100, se := 1 / 100, z := 93 / 100, p := 355 / 1000, r2 := 6 / 1000 }
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Semantic distance (7-point rating, Exp 4): β=0.65, p=.018.
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- Phenomena.ScalarImplicatures.Studies.VanTielEtAl2016.semanticDistance = { name := "semantic_distance", beta := 65 / 100, se := 27 / 100, z := 236 / 100, p := 18 / 1000, r2 := 27 / 1000 }
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Boundedness (stronger term is endpoint): β=−1.87, p<.001. Negative β because the coding is bounded=1, so bounded scales are associated with higher SI rates (higher positive response = lower log-odds of "no"). Largest single predictor: R²=10.8%.
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- Phenomena.ScalarImplicatures.Studies.VanTielEtAl2016.boundedness = { name := "boundedness", beta := -187 / 100, se := 40 / 100, z := -472 / 100, p := 0, r2 := 108 / 1000 }
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All six predictor rows, for iteration.
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Both distinctness predictors are significant (p < .05).
No availability predictor is significant (all p > .05).
Boundedness alone explains more variance than all four availability predictors combined. R²(boundedness) = 0.108 > 0 + 0.001 + 0.003 + 0.006 = 0.010.
Distinctness explains >10× more variance than availability. (27 + 108)/1000 = 135/1000 vs (0 + 1 + 3 + 6)/1000 = 10/1000.