Subsective modifier

In linguistics, a subsective modifier is an expression which modifies another by delivering a subset of its denotation. For instance, the English adjective "skilled" is subsective since being a skilled surgeon entails being a surgeon. By contrast, the English adjective "alleged" is non-subsective since an "alleged spy" need not be an actual spy.

1. $[\![{\text{skilled surgeon}}]\!]\subseteq [\![{\text{surgeon}}]\!]$

A modifier can be subsective without being intersective. For instance, calling someone an "old friend" entails that they are a friend but does not entail that they are elderly. The term "subsective" is most often applied to modifiers which are not intersective and non-intersectivity is sometimes treated as part of the definition.

There is no standard analysis for the semantics of (non-intersective) subsective modifiers. Early work such as Montague (1970) took non-intersective adjectives as evidence that adjectives do not denote properties but rather functions which take and return a property. However, more recent work has shown that a property-based analysis can be squared with the evidence. Moreover, some putative subsectives such as "small" can in fact be analyzed as intersective once given a degree semantics which accounts for their vagueness. Subsectives are currently regarded as not forming a natural class and some researchers have raised empirical questions about whether any modifiers are truly subsective at all.

See also

• Adjective
• Grammatical modifier
• Intersective modifier