On Partee’s “Noun Phrase Interpretation and Type-Shifting Principles”

Abstract Montague’s classic article “The Proper Treatment of Quantification in Ordinary English” (PTQ, 1973) treated all NP occurrences as quantificational. Partee’s “Noun Phrase Interpretation and Type-Shifting Principles” (1987) reconciles PTQ’s uniform quantificational strategy with the older distinction between three types: entities, predicates quantifiers. On top this distinction, Partee introduces operators that allow shifting denotation an to a different type than one it is initially assigned. Using these type-shifters, same may receive each interpretations. In addition synthesis previous approaches, contains rather elaborate analysis predicative NPs, well insightful hints about treatment definite nominalization phenomena, plural, mass generic mathematical principles underlying type-shifting. At more global level, marks methodological transition formal semantics, highlighting general are relevant languages linguistic frameworks, technicalities artificial language fragments. This account new ways opened for semantic theory, together paper’s lucid friendly style, have made modern classics semantics. After some necessary background on NPs PTQ, review covers main innovations article, comments work its influence.