Bare sentences

The Bare Metaphysical Possibility of Bare Dispositions

Many philosophers hold that all dispositions must have independent causal bases. I challenge this view, hence defending the possibility of bare dispositions. In part 1, I explain more fully what I mean by "disposition," "causal basis," and "bare disposition." In part 2, I consider the claim that the concept of a disposition entails that dispositions are not bare. dispositions necessarily have d...

Bare Plurals, Bare Conditionals, and Only

The compositional semantics of sentences like Only mammals give live birth and The flag flies only if the Queen is home is a tough problem. Evidence is presented to show that only here is modifying an underlying proposition (its 'prejacent'). After discussing the semantics of only, the question of the proper interpretation of the prejacent is explored. It would be nice if the prejacent could be...

"Linguistic" sentences and "real" sentences

This p~$r Id~ntift~ iwe klr¢ds of sentences: "llngulsUc" sentences ~ J "r~al" a~-ntence~. "l't~,~ former is a kind of sentel~'~,e~ that ar~ often discussed in (cemputatkmal) Ungulstlc literatures, sucll as the:re In i:lgure 1. The latter, on the other hand, is a kind of senteace=~ that appear in practical applications, such as those In Flgu='e 2. Where~ts both are grammatical English sentences,...

Clustering Sentences - Making Sense of Synonymous Sentences

Bare Resultatives

This paper provides a complex-predicate analysis of resultatives in terms of bare phrase structure. Our main claim is that the predicate types and thematic mapping rules required for simplex verbs can be used to explain core properties of resultative constructions if a strict versions of Chomsky’s inclusiveness condition is adopted. The analysis supports a view of subjects as external arguments...