Documentation

Linglib.Fragments.English.MeasurePhrases

English Measure Phrase Fragment #

[BS22] [BS26a] [Cop21] [Sco14] [Dav79]

Lexical entries for English measure terms and the preposition per.

This fragment provides the English-specific data layer for measurement:

Architecture #

The Dimension / QuotientDimension / DimensionType taxonomies live in Features/Dimension.lean. The MeasureFn structure and MeasureFn.applyNumeral semantics live in Semantics/Measurement/Basic.lean. This file provides English lexical entries — pure data typed by those substrate types, following the Theories → Fragments dependency discipline.

A measure term entry: an English noun that names a specific measure function.

This is the Fragment-level data for measure terms. The Theory-level semantics (MeasureFn, MeasureFn.applyNumeral) is in Semantics.Measurement.Basic.

  • form : String

    Surface form (e.g., "gram", "milliliter", "mile").

  • formPlural : String

    Plural form.

  • Which dimension this term measures.

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                              A quantizing noun entry: an English noun that turns a mass term into a countable expression.

                              [Sco14] identifies three classes, each with different semantics:

                              • Measure terms (kilo, liter): type ⟨n, ⟨e,t⟩⟩, always quantity-uniform. Already covered by MeasureTermEntry above.
                              • Container nouns (glass, box, cup): ambiguous between a CONTAINER reading (individuated physical objects, NOT quantity-uniform) and a MEASURE reading (functions as a volume/mass unit, IS quantity-uniform).
                              • Atomizers (grain, piece, drop): impose a minimal-part structure on a mass noun, creating countable atoms without naming a measure function.

                              The Fragment entry captures the lexical form and class. The semantic distinction (quantity-uniformity, CONTAINER vs MEASURE reading) comes from the Theory types QuantizingNounClass and ContainerReading.

                              • form : String

                                Surface form (e.g., "glass", "grain").

                              • formPlural : String

                                Plural form.

                              • Which class of quantizing noun.

                              • measureDimension : Option Features.Dimension.Dimension

                                For container nouns in their MEASURE reading: which dimension they measure. A glass measures volume; a bag might measure volume or mass. Atomizers and pure containers have none.

                              • Available readings. Measure terms and atomizers have only one reading; container nouns are ambiguous between CONTAINER and MEASURE.

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                                    "glass" — prototypical container noun (Scontras §3.2).

                                    • CONTAINER: "three glasses of water" = three individual glasses containing water
                                    • MEASURE: "three glasses of water" = a quantity of water equal to three glass-volumes

                                    The CONTAINER reading is NOT quantity-uniform: three glasses ⊕ three glasses ≠ three glasses. The MEASURE reading IS quantity-uniform (like any measure term).

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                                              "grain" — atomizer (Scontras §3.3).

                                              "three grains of rice" imposes a minimal-part structure on the mass noun "rice". Unlike measure terms, "grain" does not name a standard measure function — it creates contextually-determined atoms.

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                                                      Interpretation mode for per-phrases.

                                                      Per exhibits a dual interpretive pattern:

                                                      • Compositional: when saturating measure predicates that select for simplex dimensions (weight, distance). The grammar computes meaning via multiplication.
                                                      • Math speak: when describing quotient dimensions (density, speed). The phrase verbalizes quantity calculus notation and gets its meaning from extra-grammatical conventions, parallel to mixed quotation.
                                                      • compositional : PerInterpretation

                                                        Grammatically composed: per interacts with a covert pronoun pro whose value is determined anaphorically ([BS22], eq. 16). ⟦per⟧ = λq. λx. μ_{dim(q)}(x) / q The result is a pure number that composes with the measure phrase via multiplication ([BS26a]: multiplication only).

                                                      • mathSpeak : PerInterpretation

                                                        Math speak: the per-phrase verbalizes a quantity calculus expression. Not derived from the syntactic structure of English.

                                                      • idiomatic : PerInterpretation

                                                        Non-compositional, idiomatic unit (e.g., "pounds per square inch" = psi). Speakers know the abbreviation without knowing the underlying ratio.

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                                                          Entry for the preposition per in measure phrases.

                                                          • form : String
                                                          • interpretations : List PerInterpretation

                                                            Per is ambiguous between compositional and math-speak interpretations.

                                                          • usesMultiplicationOnly : Bool

                                                            Compositional per composes via multiplication only (No Division Hypothesis).

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                                                                Which interpretation is available depends on the dimension type of the measure predicate. Simplex dimensions license compositional interpretation; quotient dimensions force math speak.

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                                                                  All measure terms have distinct dimensions appropriately assigned.

                                                                  Atomizers have no measure dimension (they don't name a measure function).

                                                                  Container nouns all have a measure dimension; atomizers never do.

                                                                  Compositional per uses multiplication only.

                                                                  When a verb selects for the same dimension as the per-phrase's unit, the interpretation is compositional.

                                                                  When the verb selects for a different dimension (or none), the interpretation is math speak.

                                                                  When no predicate dimension is available, the interpretation is math speak.