An individual is a non-empty set of atoms. Atoms are singletons {a},
pluralities are larger sets. The part-of relation (⊆) and join (∪)
are inherited from Mathlib's Set instances, giving us Link's
complete atomic join semilattice.
Equations
Instances For
Construct a singular individual from an atom.
Instances For
A property (intension): function from worlds to sets of individuals.
This is Core.Intension World (Set (Individual Atom)).
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.Property World Atom = Core.Intension World (Set (Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.Individual Atom))
Instances For
An individual concept: function from worlds to individuals.
This is Core.Intension World (Individual Atom).
Equations
Instances For
Kinds are a special subset of individual concepts.
A kind is an individual concept that maps each world to the totality of instances (a set of atoms) and represents a "natural" class with regular behavior.
Not every individual concept is a kind. Only those corresponding to natural properties qualify.
- concept : IndividualConcept World Atom
The underlying individual concept
Instances For
The "down" operator ∩ (cap): nominalize a property to a kind.
∩P = λs. ιPₛ
That is, at each world s, take the largest individual in the extension of P. For plural/mass properties, this is the fusion of all instances.
Note: ∩ is only semantically defined for plural/mass nouns (see
downDefinedFor). This function computes the nominalization for any
property; the partiality constraint is enforced externally.
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.down World Atom P = { concept := fun (w : World) => {a : Atom | Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.Individual.atom a ∈ P w} }
Instances For
The "up" operator ∪ (cup): predicativize a kind to a property.
∪k = λx[x ⊆ kₛ]
The extension is the ideal generated by the kind's instances: all individuals that are "part of" the totality of instances.
Property: ∪ applied to a kind yields a MASS denotation. This is because the extension includes both atoms and pluralities.
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.up World Atom k w = {x : Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.Individual Atom | x ⊆ k.concept w}
Instances For
A property is mass iff its extension at every world is determined by
atomic content: x ∈ P w ↔ ∀ a ∈ x, {a} ∈ P w (@cite{chierchia-1998} §2.2).
This implies both cumulative reference (CUM) and divisive reference (DIV): mass extensions are closed under union and subset.
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
Mass properties have divisive reference: if x ∈ P w and y ⊆ x,
then y ∈ P w. Every part of a mass-noun instance is also an instance.
Mass properties have cumulative reference: if x ∈ P w and y ∈ P w,
then x ∪ y ∈ P w. Combining mass-noun instances yields an instance.
Plural closure of a property: close extensions under join (⊔) at each world.
This is @cite{link-1983}'s *P operator, Krifka's ⊔ superscript: the smallest
superset of P(w) closed under set union. Singular count nouns like spider
are not cumulative, so pluralClosure(⟦spider⟧) adds pluralities — the
denotation of the bare plural spiders.
Mass nouns like mold are already cumulative, so plural closure is a
no-op: pluralClosure(⟦mold⟧) = ⟦mold⟧ (see pluralClosure_mass).
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.pluralClosure World Atom P w = Mereology.AlgClosure (P w)
Instances For
Plural closure is idempotent for mass nouns: ⊔P = P when P is cumulative. This is Krifka's absorption rule ⊔⊔S = ⊔S from @cite{krifka-2026} (16).
A property is contained in its plural closure.
Plural closure is always cumulative.
Kind anaphor for [MASS] concepts: ⟦it⟧ = λP[MASS]. λi. ∩P(i).
Mass nouns are already cumulative, so ∩ applies directly without plural closure. The singular pronoun it picks up a mass concept dref and derives the corresponding kind individual.
Example: John noticed mold. He is allergic against it. ⟦it⟧(⟦mold⟧) = ∩⟦mold⟧ = the mold-kind
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.kindAnaphorMass World Atom P = Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.down World Atom P
Instances For
Kind anaphor for [COUNT] concepts: ⟦they⟧ = λP[COUNT]. λi. ∩(⊔P)(i).
Count nouns need plural closure (⊔) before nominalization (∩). The plural pronoun they picks up a count concept dref, applies plural closure to get a cumulative predicate, then derives the kind individual via ∩.
Example: John noticed a spider. He has a phobia against them. ⟦they⟧(⟦spider⟧) = ∩(⊔⟦spider⟧) = ∩⟦spiders⟧ = the spider-kind
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
For mass nouns, the two anaphors yield the same kind (up to absorption). This is why it and they are interchangeable for mass concepts — except that the morphosyntactic [MASS] feature blocks they.
Key theorem: ∪(∩P) = P for mass properties.
Going down and then up returns the original property (for suitable P).
The mass-noun condition IsMass ensures that the extension at each world
is determined by its atomic content, which is exactly what down extracts
and up reconstructs.
Derived Kind Predication: coerce object-level predicates to accept kinds.
When an object-level predicate P applies to a kind k, introduce existential quantification over instances:
P(k) = ∃x[∪k(x) ∧ P(x)]
This is a type-coercion triggered by sort mismatch.
Example: "Lions are roaring in the zoo"
- "lions" denotes a kind
- "roaring in the zoo" is an object-level predicate
- DKP yields: ∃x[lion(x) ∧ roaring-in-the-zoo(x)]
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.DKP World Atom P k w = ∃ x ∈ Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.up World Atom k w, P x = true
Instances For
DKP as a type-shifting operation on predicates.
Takes an object-level predicate and returns a kind-level predicate.
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.liftToKind World Atom P k w = Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.DKP World Atom P k w
Instances For
Derived Property Predication: coerce a property to yield an existential.
When a property P (rather than a kind) composes with a predicate Q, introduce low-scoped existential quantification:
DPP(Q)(P) = ∃x[P(x) ∧ Q(x)]
This is the mirror image of DKP. Where DKP applies to kinds (via ∪), DPP applies to properties directly. @cite{guerrini-2026} §5.3: the existential reading of bare plurals in episodic sentences arises from property-level LFs via DPP, not from kind-level DKP.
Example: "Bears are destroying my garden" (existential reading)
- "bears" denotes a property (λx.bear(x))
- "destroying my garden" is a predicate
- DPP yields: ∃x[bear(x) ∧ destroying-my-garden(x)]
DPP applies locally (like DKP), so it yields obligatory low scope.
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.DPP Atom property predicate = ∃ (x : Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.Individual Atom), property x = true ∧ predicate x = true
Instances For
The Nominal Mapping Parameter.
Languages vary in what they let their NPs denote:
- [+arg]: NPs can be argumental (type e, denoting kinds)
- [+pred]: NPs can be predicative (type ⟨e,t⟩)
The combination determines the language's nominal system.
- argOnly : NominalMapping
[+arg, -pred]: All nouns are kinds (Chinese-like)
- All nouns are mass-like
- No plural morphology
- Generalized classifier system
- Bare arguments everywhere
- argAndPred : NominalMapping
[+arg, +pred]: Nouns can be kinds or predicates (Germanic-like)
- Mass/count distinction
- Bare plurals and mass nouns as arguments
- Singular count nouns require D
- predOnly : NominalMapping
[-arg, +pred]: All nouns are predicates (Romance-like)
- Mass/count distinction
- Bare arguments restricted (need licensing)
- D must be projected for argumenthood
Instances For
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
Language family classification
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.languageFamily Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.argOnly = "Chinese, Japanese (classifier languages)"
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.languageFamily Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.argAndPred = "English, German, Slavic (bare argument languages)"
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.languageFamily Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.predOnly = "French, Italian, Spanish (Romance languages)"
Instances For
Whether a nominal can denote a kind, given the language's mapping parameter and whether an overt determiner (D) is present.
- [+arg] languages: nouns can denote kinds without D (covert ∩ available)
- [-arg, +pred] languages: D is required to map predicates to arguments; without D, nouns remain predicates (properties)
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.canDenoteKind Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.argOnly hasD = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.canDenoteKind Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.argAndPred hasD = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.canDenoteKind Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.predOnly hasD = hasD
Instances For
Whether a nominal can denote a property, given the mapping parameter.
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.canDenoteProperty Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.argOnly = false
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.canDenoteProperty Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.argAndPred = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.canDenoteProperty Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.NominalMapping.predOnly = true
Instances For
Pluralization / mass extension: the set of non-empty sub-individuals.
For count nouns, PL(F) = { s | s.Nonempty ∧ s ⊆ F } — the set of
pluralities whose atomic parts are all in the original extension.
Mass nouns come out of the lexicon "already pluralized": a mass noun like
"furniture" is true of individual pieces AND pluralities of pieces, without
distinction. Its extension has the same form: { s | s.Nonempty ∧ s ⊆ atoms }.
Equations
Instances For
The Blocking Principle: covert type shifting is blocked when an overt determiner has the same meaning.
For any type shifting operation τ and any X: *τ(X) if there is a determiner D such that D(X) = τ(X)
In English:
- ι (iota) is blocked by "the" → can't use ι covertly
- ∃ is blocked by "a/some" for singulars → can't use ∃ covertly for singulars
- ∩ is NOT blocked → can use ∩ freely for bare plurals/mass
This explains why English allows bare plurals but not bare singulars.
Available overt determiners
- iotaBlocked : Bool
Whether ι (definite) is blocked
- existsBlocked : Bool
Whether ∃ (indefinite singular) is blocked
- downBlocked : Bool
Whether ∩ (kind formation) is blocked
Instances For
Bare argument is licensed iff the required type shift is not blocked
Equations
Instances For
The key insight: ∩ is undefined for singular count nouns.
∩ applied to a singular property would need to yield a kind. But kinds necessarily have plurality of instances (across worlds). A property that is necessarily instantiated by just one individual does not qualify as a kind.
Therefore:
- ∩(dogs) = the dog-kind ✓
- ∩(dog) = undefined ✗
This, combined with blocking of ι and ∃ by articles, explains why bare singular count nouns cannot occur as arguments in English.
Equations
Instances For
Why bare plurals are OK but bare singulars are not (in languages with articles).
Given a language where:
- ι is blocked (has "the")
- ∃ is blocked for singulars (has "a")
- ∩ is not blocked
Then:
- Bare plurals OK: ∩ is defined and not blocked
- Bare singulars OUT: ∩ is undefined, and ι/∃ are blocked
Language-specific configurations live in Fragments/{Language}/Nouns.lean.
Bare plurals are scopeless because DKP introduces a LOCAL existential.
The existential reading from DKP cannot scope out because the coercion applies inside the predicate abstract.
See Phenomena/Generics/KindReference.lean for empirical scope data.
Instances For
When ∩ is undefined (NP doesn't denote a kind), we fall back to ∃.
For non-kind-denoting NPs like "parts of that machine":
- ∩ is undefined (no corresponding natural kind)
- ∃ is available (not blocked for plurals)
- Result: these NPs behave like regular existential GQs
Equations
Instances For
Computational DKP #
@cite{krifka-2004} @cite{chierchia-1998}
Simplified, decidable formalization of Chierchia's DKP for concrete
scrambling comparisons with @cite{krifka-2004}. Uses List Entity and Bool
(rather than Set Atom and Prop) so that examples reduce by rfl.
The parallel Krifka machinery is in Krifka2004.lean; both are
instantiated side-by-side in Phenomena/Generics/Compare.lean.
See Theories/Comparisons/KindReference.lean for the formal comparison.
A kind's extension at each world (the instances)
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.KindExtension Entity World = (World → List Entity)
Instances For
A VP meaning (intensional)
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.ChierchiaVP Entity World = (Entity → World → Bool)
Instances For
A sentence meaning (proposition)
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.ChierchiaSent World = (World → Bool)
Instances For
DKP (Derived Kind Predication): Coerce a kind to work with object-level predicates.
Given a kind (represented by its extension at each world) and an object-level VP, DKP introduces existential quantification:
DKP(VP)(k) = λw. ∃x ∈ k(w). VP(x)(w)
Property: The ∃ is introduced HERE, at the point of composition, not at a syntactic position. This makes DKP position-invariant.
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.dkpApply kind vp w = (kind w).any fun (x : Entity) => vp x w
Instances For
Chierchia's derivation for "[niet [BP V]]" (unscrambled).
- BP = kind k
- VP = λx.V(x)
- DKP: ∃x[k(x) ∧ V(x)]
- Negation: ¬∃x[k(x) ∧ V(x)]
Equations
Instances For
Chierchia's derivation for "[BP [niet V]]" (scrambled).
In Chierchia's system, scrambling doesn't change the derivation. DKP still applies when the kind meets the predicate, and the ∃ is introduced at that point (the trace position in LF).
Result: Same as unscrambled — ¬∃x[k(x) ∧ V(x)]
Equations
Instances For
Chierchia's DKP is position-invariant.
Scrambled and unscrambled derivations yield the same meaning. This is the source of Chierchia's incorrect prediction for Dutch scrambling.
Related Theory #
Theories/Semantics/Lexical/Noun/Kind/Krifka2004.lean- Alternative: Bare NPs as propertiesTheories/Semantics/Lexical/Noun/Kind/Dayal2004.lean- Meaning Preservation, singular kindsTheories/Semantics/Lexical/Noun/Kind/Generics.lean- GEN operator for generic readings
Empirical Data #
For empirical patterns (cross-linguistic data, scope judgments, predicate class effects), see:
Phenomena/Generics/KindReference.lean- unified kind reference phenomenaPhenomena/Generics/BarePlurals.lean- generic vs existential readingsPhenomena/Generics/Data.lean- generic sentence patterns
An equivalence relation on atoms partitions them into subkinds.
- rel : Atom → Atom → Prop
The salient equivalence relation
- isEquiv : Equivalence self.rel
Must be an equivalence
Instances For
Subkind relation: k₁ is a subkind of k₂ iff every entity instantiating k₁ also instantiates k₂.
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.isSubkindOf k₁ k₂ = (k₁ ⊆ k₂)
Instances For
@cite{carlson-1977}'s Disjointness Condition: subkinds induced by an equivalence relation are pairwise disjoint in any context.
Mathematical number system taxonomy: NUMBER has subkinds ℕ, ℤ, ℚ, ℝ, etc. TWO has subkinds 2_ℕ, 2_ℤ, 2_ℚ, 2_ℝ (Snyder §4.3).
Named MathSystem to avoid confusion with grammatical number
(UD.Number, Word.Number).
- nat : MathSystem
- int : MathSystem
- rat : MathSystem
- real : MathSystem
Instances For
Equations
Instances For
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Two twos from different systems are distinct subkinds of TWO.
Equations
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Chierchia1998.twoSubkinds x1✝ x2✝ = (x1✝ ≠ x2✝)
Instances For
The four mathematical number systems.
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
NUMBER has four subkinds (ℕ, ℤ, ℚ, ℝ). This is what makes taxonomic predication ("two comes in several varieties") felicitous: the kind TWO has genuinely distinct subkinds.
All pairs of distinct number systems yield distinct subkinds.