Classifier Denotations à la Sudo (2016) #
A classifier denotation in Sudo's framework: at each world w, the classifier
takes a numeral n and an entity x, presupposes a sortal predicate P_w(x),
and asserts that x is the join of n atomic P-parts.
Concretely, Sudo (2016, eq. 4): ⟦-rin⟧ = λw. λn. λx : *flower_w(x). |{y ⊑ x : flower_w(y)}| = n
This contrasts with the Chierchia / Little-Moroney-Royer framework in
Classifier.Basic, where the classifier is a noun-side predicate
transformer (E → Prop) → (E → Prop) that atomizes the noun denotation
without reference to a numeral. The two views are different theoretical
commitments and coexist in this directory.
Key types #
ClassifierDenot W E— sortal + counting predicates (intensional)ClassifierDenot.apply— Sudo's body:sortal_w(x) ∧ |{y ≤ x : counted_w(y)}| = nClassifierDenot.ofSortal— atomic-sortal constructor (the common case)
Out of scope #
Non-atomic classifiers like -kumi (pair) and -daasu (dozen) per Sudo
(9a/b) require explicit mereological joins of disjoint pairs and are not
expressible via ofSortal. A separate constructor will be added when the
non-atomic case is needed.
A Sudo-style classifier denotation: at each world, a sortal presupposition
plus a predicate whose ⊑-atomic parts of x are counted.
For atomic-sortal classifiers (the common case: -rin, -hiki, -nin,
-mai, -hon, -ko, -tou), sortal = counted. For mensural
classifiers like -hai (cupful), the relationship is more nuanced and
handled by separate constructors.
- sortal : Intensional.Intension W (E → Prop)
The sortal presupposition. ⟦-rin⟧ presupposes
flower; ⟦-nin⟧ presupposeshuman; ⟦-hiki⟧ presupposesanimal ∧ small. - counted : Intensional.Intension W (E → Prop)
Instances For
The atom-count measure: the number of ⊑-atomic P-parts of x in world
w. Noncomputable (Set.ncard); this is the μ over which classifier
counting is ordinary numeral comparison (Comparison.eq.over), and the same
set the Sudo ∪/∩ operators (upNum/downNum) count.
Equations
- Semantics.Classifier.atomCount P w x = {y : E | y ≤ x ∧ P w y}.ncard
Instances For
Construct an atomic-sortal classifier from a single predicate.
The sortal and the counting base coincide — the standard case in
Sudo (4) for -rin, (8a) for -nin, (8b) for -hiki (with the
sortal being a conjunction small ∧ animal).
Equations
- Semantics.Classifier.ClassifierDenot.ofSortal P = { sortal := P, counted := P }
Instances For
The body of Sudo's denotation (eq. 4): apply cl w n x iff sortal_w(x)
AND the count of x's ⊑-atomic counted-parts equals n.
The counting clause is the exact (=) case of the shared
comparison-over-a-measure primitive Core.Order.Comparison.over, with the
measure being the atom-count λx. |{y ⊑ x : counted_w(y)}| — classifier
counting is numeral comparison with μ = atom-count, the same primitive
measure phrases and bare cardinals use. (Set.ncard returns 0 on infinite
sets; for natural-language counting the relevant sets are finite.)
Equations
- cl.apply w n x = (cl.sortal w x ∧ x ∈ Core.Order.Comparison.eq.over (Semantics.Classifier.atomCount cl.counted w) n)
Instances For
For atomic-sortal classifiers, the body reduces to the join of the
sortal presupposition and the cardinality constraint over P.