Talk by Ariel Cohen
Generics and Frequency Adverbs as Probability Judgments
This paper argues that a number of seemingly unrelated properties of
generics and frequency adverbs stem from a single cause. Generics and frequency
adverbs are unbounded, and they cannot be applied to temporary generalizations.
Neither can be completely captured by a quantificational account - frequency
adverbs require a regular distribution of events along the time axis. Truth
judgments of generics vary significantly more among speakers than judgments of
sentences containing frequency adverbs. All these phenomena can be accounted
for if we assume that both generics and frequency adverbs express probability
judgments, and if, in turn, we interpret probability judgments to be statements
of relative frequency.
Paul Dekker, November 2, 1995