A bare bone attentive semantics for might ∗

This paper introduces a semantic framework in which the meaning of a sentence embodies both its informative and its attentive content. This framework allows for an improved implementation of the analysis of might proposed in Ciardelli, Groenendijk, and Roelofsen (2009), which in turn builds on an idea from Groenendijk, Stokhof, and Veltman (1996). The analysis sheds new light on the way in which might interacts with conjunction, dis-junction, and negation, which is puzzling for the standard modal account of might, as well as its treatment in update semantics. occasion of their upcoming retirement, with deepest respect and gratitude.

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