Imprecision, structural complexity and the Gricean maxim of Manner

Abstract

Several recent approaches to imprecision in the plural domain entail that it is possible for a sentence with a definite plural and its alternative with an 'all'-type quantifier to express contextually equivalent truth conditions. This raises the question of why we can use 'all' in such contexts, given that “needless” structural complexity leads to unacceptability in other cases, such as Hurford disjunctions. This paper proposes an account in terms of trade-offs between pragmatic preferences, including a preference for simpler structures and a preference for avoiding imprecision. When combined with certain assumptions about when two sentences compete, this perspective can account for the markedness asymmetry between plural definites and 'all'-type QPs, and the lack of a similarly consistent asymmetry between definites and indefinites.