Normative generics and social kind terms

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21335728
AutoresSamia Hesni (0000-0002-5847-2495, Boston University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen67
Número9
Páginas3216-3239
Fecha de publicación2024-10-20
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInquiry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-174X • E-ISSN: 1502-3923
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0020174x.2022.2032323
OpenAlexW4210491736
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas29

Generic statements are commonly expressed using the bare plural – ‘tigers are striped’ – or the indefinite singular – ‘a tiger is striped’. Notoriously, some generics can be expressed using the bare plural locution, but not the indefinite singular; bare plural generics and indefinite singular generics pattern differently. I explore this phenomenon as it applies to normative generic statements: expressions like boys don’t cry, women are kind and nurturing, children are seen and not heard – that convey something over and above (and even distinct from) the descriptive reading. I argue that we should look to a metalinguistic theory of generics to understand indefinite singular normative generics. That is, a normative indefinite singular generic is a proposal about what to include in the extension of the generic term. This theory explains why it is more often than not that felicitous indefinite singular generics are about social kind terms. I argue that this explains a crucial way in which language shapes the social world. When we say things like (2), we propose definitions and uses for the word ‘boy’. Such proposals and their consequences actually impact the behavior of the groups they pick out, as well as the attitudes of others towards those groups

Epistemology · Extension (predicate logic) · Linguistics · Normative · Phenomenon · Plural · Reading (process) · Computer Science · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Mathematics · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation