http://glottopedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Collective_predicate 2026-05-03T08:46:32Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.34.2 http://glottopedia.org/index.php?title=Collective_predicate&diff=5992&oldid=prev 2008-05-05T19:52:51Z

<p>from Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>In semantics, a '''collective predicate''' is a predicate that applies to a plurality of things as a whole and not to each of the individual members. <br /> <br /> <br /> ===Examples===<br /> The contrast in the examples shows that ''gather'' is a collective predicate because it can only be used as a predicate with a subject that refers to a [[plurality]].<br /> <br /> a * John/A boy/Every boy gathered<br /> b The boys/John and Mary/The club gathered<br /> <br /> Other predicates, such as ''buy a house'' or ''carry the piano upstairs'' can be used as collective predicates but also as [[distributive predicate]]s. J''ohn and Mary bought a house'' is therefore ambiguous between a collective reading (''they bought the house together'') and a distributive reading (''they each bought a house'').<br /> <br /> ===Link===<br /> [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Collective+predicate&amp;lemmacode=884 Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics] <br /> <br /> ===Reference===<br /> Link, G. 1983. The logical analysis of plurals and mass terms: a lattice-theoretical approach. In ''Meaning, use and interpretation of language.'' Bauerle, R. &amp; Schwarze, C. &amp; von Stechow, A. (eds.), 302-323. Berlin: De Gruyter.<br /> <br /> <br /> {{dc}}<br /> [[Category:Semantics]]</div>

Luo