AGAINST PARTITIONED READINGS OF RECIPROCALS

In this paper we examine partitioned interpretations of sentences with reciprocal expressions. We study the availability of partitioned readings with definite subjects and proper name conjunctions, and show new evidence that partitioned interpretations of simple reciprocal sentences are independent of the semantics of the reciprocal expression, and are exclusively determined by the interpretation of the subject. 1. Partitioned Interpretations of Reciprocal Sentences A well-known property of some sentences with reciprocal expressions is their “partitioned” interpretation. A reciprocal sentence has a partitioned interpretation if it may be evaluated as true in a situation where the antecedent set of the reciprocal is partitioned to subsets that are disjoint with respect to the predicate in the scope of the reciprocal. For example, sentence (1), from Fiengo and Lasnik 1973, has a partitioned interpretation because it is acceptable in the situation depicted in figure 1 1. (1) The men are hitting each other. 1 I am grateful to Tali Ore for creating this figure. Figure 1: The men are hitting each othe