Interpreting quantifiers in subject position

Abstract

In this paper we argue that collective readings of quanti!ed NPs in subject position involve a form of hidden distributivity (Dowty 1987). We argue that there are two different types of collective predicates, and that the best way to model this contrast is by means of two separate syntactic structures corresponding to different aktionsarten (Taub 1989, Brisson 1998). Borrowing the basic mechanism to exploit this idea from Brisson (2003), we argue instead that a semantics without covers (Schwarzschild 1996) is both empirically more adequate and conceptually more appealing.