Generalized Quantifiers and Number Sense

Abstract

Generalized quantifiers are functions from pairs of properties to truth‐values; these functions can be used to interpret natural language quantifiers. The space of such functions is vast and a great deal of research has sought to find natural constraints on the functions that interpret determiners and create quantifiers. These constraints have demonstrated that quantifiers rest on number and number sense. In the first part of the paper, we turn to developing this argument. In the remainder, we report on work in neurobiology that test the empirical claims of the theory. In particular, we look at fMRI experiments and behavioral experiments with various patient populations that support the intimate connection between natural language quantification and number sense.