Gutzmann, Daniel. 2011. Expressive modifiers & mixed expressives. In: Bonami, Olivier & Cabredo Hofherr, Patricia (ed.): Empirical Issues in Syntax and Semantics 8. 123–141.

Abstract

In his work on expressives and conventional implicatures, Potts (2005, 2007b) develops the multidimensional logic LCI to formalize their main properties. In the type system of LCI, Potts implements two empirical claims. (i) There are no expressive modifiers, that is, expressions that have expressive type terms as their argument. (ii) There are no mixed expressives that contribute both descriptive and expressive content. I challenge both prohibitions by presenting data that speak in favor of the existence of expressive modifiers and mixed expressives. To overcome the restrictions built into LCI and to accommodate these cases, I extend the logic by adding new type definitions and corresponding composition rules.

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