Type-shifting operations from @cite{partee-1987} / @cite{dayal-2004}.
These convert between semantic types:
- ∩ (down/cap): Property → Kind (nominalization)
- ι (iota): Property → Individual (definite description)
- ∃ (exists): Property → GQ (existential quantification)
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Meaning Preservation Ranking (@cite{dayal-2004}: 408)
{∩, ι} > ∃
The key insight: ∩ and ι both preserve the full semantic content of the property, while ∃ introduces existential quantification that "loses" some information.
∩P preserves P's intension (the full function from worlds to extensions) ιP preserves P's intension (picks unique satisfier per world) ∃P only preserves existence of some satisfier (loses identity)
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- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.meaningPreservationRank Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.TypeShift.down = 1
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.meaningPreservationRank Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.TypeShift.iota = 1
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.meaningPreservationRank Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.TypeShift.exists = 2
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Type shifts with equal rank are equally preferred
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t1 is more preferred than t2 if it has lower rank
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Instantiation set of a kind at a world.
The instantiation set is the collection of actual instances of the kind. For "dog-kind" at world w, this is the set of all dogs in w.
Key insight: Number morphology constrains the instantiation set:
- Singular: instantiation set is singleton OR inaccessible
- Plural: instantiation set has multiple accessible members
For computational purposes, we represent this abstractly.
- count : ℕ
Count of instances (0 = empty, 1 = singleton, >1 = multiple)
- accessible : Bool
Whether instances are "accessible" (epistemically available)
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Accessibility of instantiation sets.
An instantiation set is "inaccessible" when:
- The kind is extinct (no actual instances exist)
- The instances are not salient/distinguishable in context
- The kind is treated as atomic (collective reading)
Inaccessible instantiation sets allow singular morphology even for kinds with "conceptually plural" members.
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- is.isSingleton = decide (is.count ≤ 1)
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- is.allowsSingular = (!is.accessible || is.isSingleton)
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- is.allowsPlural = is.accessible
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Number feature on nominals.
Key insight from Dayal: Number is NOT about semantic plurality vs singularity. It's about whether the instantiation set is conceptualized as:
- Atomic/unitary (singular)
- Non-atomic/multiple (plural)
- sg : NumberFeature
- pl : NumberFeature
- mass : NumberFeature
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License for singular morphology on kinds.
- singleton : SingularLicense
Singleton instantiation set (unique in context)
- inaccessible : SingularLicense
Inaccessible instantiation set (extinct, collective)
- taxonomic : SingularLicense
Taxonomic reading (sub-kinds, not individuals)
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Singular Kinds (@cite{dayal-2004}: 411-423)
Grammatically singular but denoting kinds:
- "The lion is a predator" (taxonomic)
- "The dodo is extinct" (no living instances)
- "The computer has revolutionized communication" (collective)
These are possible when the instantiation set is:
- Singleton (unique species/type in context)
- Inaccessible (extinct, conceptualized as atomic)
The ι operator applies to KIND-LEVEL properties, not individual-level.
- kind : String
The underlying kind
- singularLicense : SingularLicense
Why singular is allowed
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Taxonomic readings (@cite{dayal-2004}: 426-433)
Common nouns can denote:
- Properties of INDIVIDUALS: dog(x) = "x is a dog individual"
- Properties of SUB-KINDS: dog(k) = "k is a dog sub-kind"
Example: "The dog evolved from the wolf"
- Individual reading: Some specific dog evolved (anomalous)
- Taxonomic reading: Dog-kind evolved from wolf-kind (natural)
The taxonomic reading treats sub-kinds as the "atoms" of predication.
- individual : CNDenotation
Property of individuals: λx. P(x)
- taxonomic : CNDenotation
Property of sub-kinds: λk. P(k) where k ranges over sub-kinds
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When a CN has a taxonomic reading, "the CN" can be singular even when the kind has multiple sub-kinds.
"The dog" (taxonomic) = ιk[dog-kind(k)] where k ranges over basic-level kinds
The uniqueness is at the TAXONOMIC level (one dog-kind), not the instance level.
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Taxonomic hierarchy: kinds can have sub-kinds.
"Dogs" can mean:
- All dog individuals (individual reading)
- All dog breeds (taxonomic reading)
The taxonomic reading explains why some kind-level predicates work with "the NP" even when there are many instances.
- superKind : String
The super-kind
Sub-kinds (breeds, species, etc.)
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Type-shift availability given number and blocking.
Dayal's system: type-shifts are constrained by:
- Meaning preservation ranking: prefer ∩/ι over ∃
- Number morphology: sg requires singleton/inaccessible instantiation
- Blocking: overt D blocks covert equivalent
- ∩ definedness: requires kind-compatible property
- number : NumberFeature
Number feature on the NP
- downDefined : Bool
Is ∩ defined (is this a kind-compatible property)?
- iotaBlocked : Bool
Is ι blocked by an overt definite article?
- existsBlocked : Bool
Is ∃ blocked by an overt indefinite article?
- instantiationAccessible : Bool
Is the instantiation set accessible?
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Available type-shifts given context.
Returns shifts in preference order (most preferred first).
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Select the best available type-shift.
Follows Meaning Preservation: choose highest-ranked available shift.
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Language-specific parameters for kind reference (@cite{dayal-2004}: 433-445).
Languages differ in:
- Whether they have definite/indefinite articles
- Whether bare nominals can denote kinds
- Whether singular kinds require "the"
- hasDefiniteArticle : Bool
Does this language have a definite article?
- hasIndefiniteArticle : Bool
Does this language have an indefinite article?
- bareKindsOK : Bool
Can bare nominals denote kinds (∩ unblocked)?
- definiteSingularKinds : Bool
Can singular kinds use "the"?
- definitePluralKinds : Bool
Can plural kinds use "the"?
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English kind reference:
- Bare plurals for kinds: "Dogs are mammals"
- "The" for singular kinds: "The lion is a predator"
- "The" for plural kinds is marked: ?"The dogs are mammals"
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Romance (French, Italian, Spanish) kind reference:
- Definite article required for kinds: "Les chiens sont des mammifères"
- Both singular and plural kinds use definite article
- Bare nominals restricted to special contexts
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Determiner-less languages (Hindi, Russian, Chinese) kind reference:
- Bare nominals freely denote kinds
- No definite/indefinite distinction in morphology
- All interpretations available in context
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German kind reference (intermediate):
- Bare plurals OK for kinds: "Hunde sind Säugetiere"
- Definite optional for plural/mass kinds
- Similar to English but with more flexibility
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DKP (Derived Kind Predication) - Dayal's version.
When an object-level predicate applies to a kind, introduce existential quantification over instances:
P(k) = ∃x[∪k(x) ∧ P(x)]
Key insight: DKP is only invoked when NECESSARY. If the predicate is kind-level, no coercion needed.
- kindLevel : PredicateType
Kind-level predicates: extinct, widespread, evolve
- objectLevel : PredicateType
Object-level predicates: bark, be in the garden
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Does this predicate require DKP when applied to a kind?
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Kind-level predicates (@cite{dayal-2004}: 401-403):
- be extinct, be widespread, be rare
- evolve, originate, die out
- be invented, be discovered
These directly predicate of kinds without coercion.
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- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "extinct" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "widespread" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "rare" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "common" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "evolve" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "originate" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "die_out" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "invented" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate "discovered" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isKindLevelPredicate x✝ = false
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Well-established kinds (@cite{dayal-2004}: 417-420)
For ι to apply to a kind (giving "the NP"), the kind must be "well-established" - a recognized natural class.
- "The lion is a predator" - lion is well-established kind ✓
- *"The lion sitting here is a predator" - not a natural kind ✗
This explains why modified NPs resist the singular kind reading.
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- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "lion" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "tiger" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "dog" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "cat" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "dodo" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "mammoth" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "dinosaur" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "computer" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "telephone" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "automobile" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "wheel" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind "printing_press" = true
- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.isWellEstablishedKind x✝ = false
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Why modification blocks singular kind reading:
"The tall lion" cannot mean "the lion-kind" because:
- "Tall lion" does not denote a well-established kind
- Modification restricts the extension, breaking kind status
- ι must apply at object-level → definite description of individual
- base : String
Base noun (well-established kind)
- modifier : String
Modifier
- stillKind : Bool
Result is still a well-established kind?
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- Semantics.Lexical.Noun.Kind.Dayal2004.modificationBlocksKind = { base := "lion", modifier := "tall" }
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Meaning preservation ranking is transitive
∩ and ι are always preferred over ∃
English bare plurals use ∩ (most preferred available shift)
English singular kinds use ι
Convert Chierchia's BlockingPrinciple + noun info to Dayal's TypeShiftContext.
This shows how Dayal's framework generalizes Chierchia's:
- Chierchia: BlockingPrinciple + MassCount + isPlural → bare argument OK?
- Dayal: TypeShiftContext → which type-shift is selected?
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English-like blocking principle: has "the" and "a", so ι and ∃ blocked.
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Dayal's framework is consistent with Chierchia's for English.
When Chierchia predicts bare plurals are licensed (∩ defined and not blocked), Dayal's selectShift returns.down (the kind-forming shift).
When ∩ is undefined (singular count) and ι/∃ are blocked (English), both frameworks predict bare singular is OUT.
Mass nouns: both frameworks predict bare mass nouns are OK (use ∩).
Dayal subsumes Chierchia: When a type-shift is available, selectShift finds it.
Verified for the key cases via the concrete theorems above. The general pattern: selectShift returns Some iff at least one of:
- ∩ is defined (bare plural/mass)
- ι is not blocked
- ∃ is not blocked
Romance-like blocking: has definite article, so bare kinds need "the". But for kind reference, the definite is used (not blocked for that purpose).
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In Romance, bare plurals are also predicted to use ∩ when available.
Meaning Preservation explains Chierchia's blocking.
When both ∩ and ∃ are available, Dayal selects ∩ (more meaning-preserving). This derives Chierchia's observation that bare plurals prefer kind readings.
Related Theory #
Theories/Semantics/Lexical/Noun/Kind/Chierchia1998.lean- Chierchia's NMP, ∩/∪ operators, DKPTheories/Semantics/Lexical/Noun/Kind/Generics.lean- GEN operator for generic readings
Empirical Data #
Phenomena/Generics/KindReference.lean- cross-linguistic patterns, singular kinds, scopelessness