Numeral semantics

Language and Linguistics Compass, vol. 14

Abstract

Abstract Words for numbers, numerals, are a special lexical class, halfway between natural and mathematical language. One would expect them to have a relatively straightforward semantics. However, during the last several decades, numerals proved to be a rich source of debate in linguistics, especially in semantics and pragmatics. The reason is that the study of numerals requires taking into account core issues such as plurality, quantification, implicature/exhaustivity, degree, modality, imprecision and cross‐linguistic variation. In this article, we provide a thorough introduction to the issues connected to numeral semantics and pragmatics. We gradually develop analyses of meanings of numerals in natural language using a multitude of analytical tools. We evaluate the competing proposals in terms of empirical coverage and predictions.

Authors 2

1. Lisa Bylinina Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   LUCL Center for Linguistics Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands

   LUCL Center for Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

2. Rick Nouwen corresponding

   Utrecht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Languages, Literature and Communication Utrecht University Utrecht The Netherlands

   Department of Languages, Literature and Communication, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands