On Dispositional Sentences∗

Abstract

Generic sentences such as Mary eats meat have been argued to be ambiguous between a habitual and a dispositional reading (see e.g., Schubert and Pelletier (1989), a.o.). On the habitual reading, Mary eats meat conveys that Mary eats meat regularly. On the dispositional reading, that Mary does not object to eating meat. This chapter investigates the semantics of dispositional readings. According to a widespread theory of genericity, all generic sentences involve an adverb of quantification with universal modal force. The chapter argues that this approach is not well suited to account for the interpretation of dispositionals. Instead, the chapter defends an alternative hypothesis, originally proposed by Dahl (1975), on which dispositional readings are analyzed as expressing existential quantification over worlds. The chapter argues that apparent counterexamples to this hypothesis can be dealt with by paying a close look at the type of modality expressed by dispositionals. Following up on work by Lekakou (2005), the chapter contends that the covert possibility modal involved in dispositional readings selects for a particular type of circumstantial modality.

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