Neglect-Zero Effects in the Interpretation of Quantifiers and Disjunction

Abstract

This paper presents a cross-experimental comparison investigating the interpretation and processing of four semantic/pragmatic phenomena, for which natural language interpretation deviates from literal meaning. In particular, we compared so-called neglect-zero phenomena in the case of quantifier interpretation – both for empty restrictors and empty scope sets – as well as distributivity inferences of disjunction embedded under universal quantification to the interpretation of scalar implicature in the case of some. The experiments employed a timed question-answering task which allowed us to test the just-mentioned phenomena embedded in polar questions. The data lend support to a broad differentiation of the phenomena into 1) presupposition violation in the case of empty restrictors, 2) neglect-zero effects for empty quantifier scope and distributivity inferences, and 3) negation of scalar alternatives for some