In
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, a subsective modifier is an expression which
modifies another by delivering a
subset
In mathematics, Set (mathematics), set ''A'' is a subset of a set ''B'' if all Element (mathematics), elements of ''A'' are also elements of ''B''; ''B'' is then a superset of ''A''. It is possible for ''A'' and ''B'' to be equal; if they are ...
of its
denotation
In linguistics and philosophy, the denotation of an expression is its literal meaning. For instance, the English word "warm" denotes the property of being warm. Denotation is contrasted with other aspects of meaning including connotation. For inst ...
. For instance, the English
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Tra ...
"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.
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A modifier can be subsective without being
intersective. For instance, calling someone an "old friend" entailment, entails 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
intersective and non-intersectivity is sometimes treated as part of its definition.
There is no standard analysis for the
semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy
Philosophy (f ...
of (non-intersective) subsective modifiers. Early work such as
Montague (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,
vague
In linguistics and philosophy, a vague predicate is one which gives rise to borderline cases. For example, the English adjective "tall" is vague since it is not clearly true or false for someone of middling height. By contrast, the word "prime" is ...
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
natural class In phonology, a natural class is a set of phonemes in a language that share certain distinctive features. A natural class is determined by participation in shared phonological processes, described using the minimum number of features necessary for d ...
.
Adverbial readings
Subsectivity can arise when an adjective receives an adverbial reading. For instance, the subsective modifiers in the examples below do not express intrinsic qualities of the subject but rather the manner in which the subject typically performs a particular action. (Without the parenthetical, these examples would be ambiguous between an adverbial reading and a garden variety intersective reading.)
# Oleg is a ''beautiful'' dancer (even though he himself is ugly).
# Vanessa is a ''meticulous'' experimentalist (even though she's a slob).
# Shaggy is a ''fierce'' advocate of gluttony (even though he's a coward).
Examples of this sort have been analyzed within a
Davidsonian semantics as modifying an event variable introduced by the noun. In this analysis, an agentive noun such as "dancer" is formed by applying a
generic
Generic or generics may refer to:
In business
* Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark
* Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
quantifier to a
predicate) which is true of dancing events. The quantifier provides a
habitual-like meaning, taking a predicate of events and returning a predicate) which is true of an individual if they are the
agent
Agent may refer to:
Espionage, investigation, and law
*, spies or intelligence officers
* Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another
** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...
of the typical such event.
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#_
#
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In this analysis, adjectives such as "beautiful", "meticulous", and "fierce" can denote properties either of events or of individuals.
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When the adjective takes
scope (formal semantics), scope above it must be interpreted as a predicate of individuals; when it scopes below it must be interpreted as a predicate of events. In this latter case, the denotation of the adjective can still compose intersectively.
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Thus, on this analysis, to say that Oleg is a beautiful dancer is to say that he is the typical agent of typical beautiful dancing events. This is technically an intersective reading since it is derived by intersecting the modifier with the noun. However, it does not look like a typical intersective meaning since it does not require that Oleg himself be an element of that intersection—rather that he be the agent of certain events in that intersection.
See also
* Adjective
* Grammatical modifier
* Intersective modifier
* Privative adjective
References
{{formal semantics
Grammar
Semantics
Adjectives by type
Formal semantics (natural language)