Interpretation and use of disjunction in natural language: A study about exclusivity and inclusivity

Abstract

The literature shows that people tend to interpret disjunctions as exclusive. From that fact, this paper describes a study intended to check whether or not that trend can also be observed when disjunction is used. The study was mainly based on an analysis of the semantic possibilities of the disjunctions appearing in a philosophical text. The method of analysis was akin to the one proposed by the theory of mental models to explore reasoning. The results revealed that the number of exclusive disjunctions employed in that text is exactly the same as the one of inclusive disjunctions in it. Hence, it is hard to claim that, in addition to what happens in the interpretation processes, disjunction is often exclusive when used as well.

This article analyzes the exceptional case of certain prepositional phrases that appear in prenominal position within nominal constituents. Against the general rule of Spanish grammar, which bans prepositional phrases from prenominal position (*un con leche café 'a with milk coffee'), these structures allow that the PP appears in prenominal position: el hasta ayer ministro de turismo 'the until yesterday minister of tourism', el para muchos mejor escritor vivo en lengua castellana 'the for many best writer alive in Spanish language'. Our analysis determines that these prepositional phrases can only denote aspectual or modal notions, something that is due to the fact that they are introduced as adjuncts in very high functional structures within the nominal constituent. Not being modifiers of the noun phrase itself, but modifiers of the temporal and modal relationship between the referent and the descriptive part of the noun phrase, the noun never moves upwards enough to precede these prepositional phrases.