Exhaustification Predictions for Semantic Scales #
@cite{spector-2016} @cite{fox-2007} @cite{hurford-1974} @cite{singh-2008}
Exhaustification predictions for the semantic scales defined in
Alternatives.Lexical: proves that exhIE(weaker) → ¬stronger for
each Horn scale, and derives Hurford rescue and Singh asymmetry predictions.
- HurfordSemantic: Disjunction rescue via exhaustification
- SinghSemantic: Asymmetry in disjunction order
Semantic structure for a Hurford configuration. Allows proving when exhaustification rescues the violation.
- disjunctA : Set World
First disjunct meaning
- disjunctB : Set World
Second disjunct meaning
- alts : Set (Set World)
Alternative set for exhaustification
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A Hurford violation is rescued iff after exhaustifying the weaker disjunct, the entailment no longer holds.
Equations
- h.isRescued = (¬Exhaustification.exhIE h.alts h.disjunctA ⊆ h.disjunctB ∨ ¬Exhaustification.exhIE h.alts h.disjunctB ⊆ h.disjunctA)
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For cases where B⊆A (stronger entails weaker), rescue requires exh(B) ⊄ A.
Equations
- h.isRescuedFromBA = ¬Exhaustification.exhIE h.alts h.disjunctB ⊆ h.disjunctA
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Semantic structure for Singh configurations.
- weaker : Set World
Weaker disjunct meaning
- stronger : Set World
Stronger disjunct meaning
- alts : Set (Set World)
Alternative set
- weakerFirst : Bool
Is weaker mentioned first?
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Fox & Spector's prediction: weak-first is felicitous because exh(weak) can break the entailment to strong.
Equations
- s.exhBreaksEntailment = ¬Exhaustification.exhIE s.alts s.weaker ⊆ s.stronger
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The asymmetry: felicitous iff (weak-first AND exh breaks entailment). Strong-first can't be rescued because exh(strong) is vacuous.
Equations
- s.predictedFelicitous = (s.weakerFirst = true ∧ s.exhBreaksEntailment)
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Prediction: exh(some) → ¬all.
Prediction: exh(or) → ¬and.
Prediction: exh(possible) → ¬necessary.
Main Result: Theory correctly predicts all three Horn scale implicatures.
For each scale, exh(weaker) → ¬stronger.
Semantic structure for "some or all" (rescued Hurford case).
Equations
- Exhaustification.someOrAll_semantic = { disjunctA := Alternatives.someQ, disjunctB := Alternatives.allQ, alts := {Alternatives.someQ, Alternatives.allQ} }
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Prediction: "some or all" is rescued because exh(some) doesn't entail all.
World type for hyponymy: 3 regions of people
- notAmerican : HyponymWorld
- americanOnly : HyponymWorld
- californian : HyponymWorld
Instances For
Equations
- Exhaustification.instDecidableEqHyponymWorld x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
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Equations
"American" predicate
Equations
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"Californian" predicate
Equations
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Californian entails American (hyponymy)
Semantic structure for "American or Californian" (true Hurford violation).
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
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Key Lemma: With no scalar alternatives, exh is vacuous.
Prediction: "American or Californian" is not rescued.
Semantic structure for "A or B, or both" (weak-first Singh case).
Equations
- Exhaustification.orThenBoth_semantic = { weaker := Alternatives.orConn, stronger := Alternatives.andConn, alts := {Alternatives.orConn, Alternatives.andConn}, weakerFirst := true }
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Semantic structure for "both, or A or B" (strong-first Singh case).
Equations
- Exhaustification.bothThenOr_semantic = { weaker := Alternatives.orConn, stronger := Alternatives.andConn, alts := {Alternatives.orConn, Alternatives.andConn}, weakerFirst := false }
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Prediction: exh(or) breaks entailment to and.
Prediction: "A or B, or both" (weak-first) is predicted felicitous.
Prediction: "both, or A or B" (strong-first) is not predicted felicitous.
Main Result: Theory correctly predicts Singh asymmetry.