Interpretation of number terms: an empirical study

Abstract

There is a debate in linguistics regarding the meaning and interpretation of number terms (NT) used in natural languages. Within this framework, compositionality should be considered in order to evaluate the potential interpretations of a number term. From this perspective, it is essential to enrich the theoretical arguments with empirical evidence so as to contribute to the linguistic and psycholinguistic debate about the semantics of number terms. We carried out an experimental study that aims to empirically test the main arguments of two different perspectives related to the semantics of NT – the so – called naïve view that supports an exact semantics of NT, and the contextualist view that promotes an underspecified semantics of NT. This experiment also tries to systematically take into account several linguistic contexts that can affect their interpretation. Generally speaking, we found evidence suggesting that the exact interpretation of number terms is the most accessible one to speakers and also that compositionality is indeed a key factor that significantly affects the interpretation process.