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New publication in Semantics of Natural Languages / @semnatlangs.bsky.social: "Sentiment-linked quantification among adjectives" by Lelia Glass (Lelia Glass):

doi.orgSentiment-linked quantification among adjectivesYoon (1996) observed that The cups are clean is taken by default to describe all the cups, while The cups are dirty might describe only some of them. This paper grounds Yoon's clean/dirty contrast in the sentiment (valence) of these adjectives: clean is desirable, dirty undesirable. Sentiment is linked to quantification through the longstanding idea, known as the Anna Karenina Principle, that a good situation must be all good, while any bad element makes it bad. Assuming that "Is the current situation okay?'' is a common Question Under Discussion across contexts, positive‐sentiment adjectives are easily taken to answer this question affirmatively, conveying that the current situation is all okay; while negative‐sentiment adjectives are taken to answer it negatively, conveying that there is at least something wrong. Using quantitative data, this analysis is argued to explain not just Yoon's clean/dirty contrast, but also further instances of variable quantificational force among adjectives in the domains of degrees and dimensions. This paper breaks new ground in deriving (a priori emotionless) logical inferences from sentiment, a relatively less‐explored topic in formal semantics.

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