Towards a semantics for mass nouns derived from gradable expressions
Résumé
What semantics should we attribute to mass expressions like "wisdom" and "love", which are derived from gradable expressions? We first examine how these expressions are used, then how they are interpreted in their various uses. Two uses stand out as central: one in which reference is made to an instance of a property (as in "John admired Julie's love for Tom"), another in which something is said concerning the degree to which this property manifests itself (as in "Julie felt more love for Fred than for Tom"). We then propose the following model to account for these data.