TY - JOUR AU - Cohen, Ariel PY - 2019/08/15 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Bare Nominals and Optimal Inference JF - Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung JA - SuB VL - 10 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - 10.18148/sub/2006.v10i1.675 UR - https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/sub/index.php/sub/article/view/675 SP - 71-84 AB - <p>In this paper I discuss four type of bare nominal, and note that, in some sense, all of them appear to imply stereotypicality. I consider an account in terms of Bidirectional Optimality Theory: unmarked (bare) forms give rise to unmarked (stereotypical) interpretations. However, it turns out that, while the form of bare numerals is unmarked, the interpretation sometimes is not. I suggest that the crucial notion is not unmarkedness, but optimal inference: unmarked forms give rise &nbsp;to interpretations that are best used for drawing inferences. I propose a revision of Bidirectional Optimality Theory to reflect this.</p> ER -