Event-related relative measurement

Abstract

This paper is concerned with relative measurement, which is expressed by percentage nouns and fractions. It has been observed that in some languages a sentence with relative measurement is ambiguous between two readings. I argue that these two readings involve two types of measurement—individual-related measurement and event-related measurement. I also provide a compositional analysis for the ambiguity of relative measurement. My analysis is able to capture many intriguing contrasts between the two readings of relative measurement, including those related to counting recycled individuals, compatibility with verbal affixes, structural distribution and scope.