Subsective modifier

In <a href="/facts/Linguistics/oQuamvf2">linguistics</a>, a subsective modifier is an expression which <a href="/facts/Grammatical_modifier/BRk4Hoxs">modifies</a> another by delivering a <a href="/facts/Subset/SJGERmbA">subset</a> of its <a href="/facts/Denotation/oABEtLtA">denotation</a>. For instance, the English <a href="/facts/Adjective/0ohBjtmT">adjective</a> "skilled" is subsective since being a skilled surgeon entails being a surgeon. By contrast, the English adjective "alleged" is non-subsective since an "alleged spy" need not be an actual spy.

<ol><li>
 
 
 
 [
 
 [
 
 skilled surgeon
 
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 ⊆
 [
 
 [
 
 surgeon
 
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 {\displaystyle [\![{\text{skilled surgeon}}]\!]\subseteq [\![{\text{surgeon}}]\!]}
 
</li></ol>
A modifier can be subsective without being <a href="/facts/Intersective_modifier/L8CRUJWe">intersective</a>. For instance, calling someone an "old friend" <a href="/facts/Entailment/AyDXp4dn">entails</a> that they are a friend but does not entail that they are elderly. The term "subsective" is most often applied to modifiers which are not <a href="/facts/Intersective_modifier/L8CRUJWe">intersective</a> and non-intersectivity is sometimes treated as part of its definition.
There is no standard analysis for the <a href="/facts/Formal_semantics_/FlWb7Hxp">semantics</a> of (non-intersective) subsective modifiers. Early work such as <a href="/facts/Richard_Montague/oaBs5m51">Montague</a> (1970) took subsective adjectives as evidence that adjectives do not denote properties which compose intersectively but rather functions which take and return a property which may or may not make an intersective semantic contribution. However, subsequent work has shown that variants of the property-based analysis can in fact account for the data. For instance, <a href="/facts/Vague/BUlktmmr">vague</a> predicates often pass standard tests for nonintersectivity, e.g. "Neutrons are big subatomic particles" doesn't entail that neutrons are actually big but have in fact be analyzed as intersective using degree semantics. Current work tends to assume that the phenomenon of subsectivity is not a <a href="/facts/Natural_class/MAUrMQHS">natural class</a>.

Subsective modifier open-in-new

Subsective modifier