Edited by Laure Gardelle, Laurence Vincent-Durroux and Hélène Vinckel-Roisin
[Studies in Language Companion Series 228] 2023
► pp. 71–87
Research on generic bare plurals has frequently pointed out that even though they refer to the whole class, in characterizing sentences (e.g. birds fly) they commonly license exceptions (Krifka et al. 1995). While quantification and probability models have failed to account for all uses, the present chapter argues that the “generics-as-default” approach of psychologists (e.g. Leslie 2007) provides a more convincing frame. It further argues that generalization does not concern just generic plurals, but also specific ones: plurals convey “homogenization.” The study introduces the key notion of “negligibility” for exception management. Analyses of examples in context show the role of speaker knowledge and beliefs, as well as contextual perspective, in establishing what is negligible or not.