A tale of two EVENs
摘要
Although it is generally considered that even triggers both additive and scalar inferences, there are cases where only one of them can be detected. We argue that the two EVENs in Mandarin Chinese (shenzhi and lian.dou) may provide a clue to this puzzle. Specifically, we show that the clausal EVEN (shenzhi) always gives rise to a scalar inference, and its additive inference is canceled when the alternatives are mutually incompatible. Meanwhile, the phrasal EVEN (lian.dou) displays an almost opposite pattern, where the additive inference is always triggered, while the scalar one is sometimes less obvious. We also observe that the scalar inferences triggered by the two EVENs in Mandarin Chinese can involve different scales. The clausal shenzhi always calls for a scale that is based on a contextually supplied gradable property (Greenberg