Dynamics of semantic processing: The interpretation of bare quantifiers

A bare cardinal, such as “four” in the fragment “Five ships sailed out. Four…”, can be interpreted in at least three ways: (1) as four of the five ships mentioned (a “forward directional” reading); (2) as four other ships (a parallel reading); or (3) as four different entities (a non-anaphoric reading). The first reading is preferred, although this preference can be influenced by various factors. In the present study, we investigated at which point during on-line processing bare cardinals are interpreted. Results from a completion task, a difficulty rating task, and an on-line incremental acceptability judgement task suggest that there is an immediate preference to interpret bare cardinals as forward directional, leading to processing difficulty at the cardinal when it is not compatible with such an interpretation (as in “Five ships sailed out. Six…”). However when later information at the verb contradicts a forward directionality reading, revision into a parallel reading is almost effortless.