Events and the ontology of individuals : verbs as a source of individuating nouns

We explored the mapping between mass-count syntax and semantics, and how verb event semantics affect the meaning of derived nouns. In Experiment 1, we compared the interpretation of mass and count nouns derived from iterative verbs that describe bounded events (e.g., jump) and nouns derived from non-iterative verbs that describe unbounded events (e.g., dance). Participants based judgments primarily on number for count nouns derived from both kinds of verb, and for mass nouns derived from iterative verbs (e.g., some jumping). In Experiment 2, we elicited dimension ratings that confirmed that number was the preferred dimension of comparison for all count nouns and for mass nouns derived from iterative verbs. We argue that these results provide evidence against the idea that mass nouns force an unindividuated construal (e.g., Bloom, 1994). We also suggest that verb iterativity is importantly linked to individuation by mass and count nouns, and may even access the same underlying ontology of individuals.