Interpretation as Optimization: Constitutive material adjectives

•Coercion is the result of optimization over constraints on interpretation.•I derive a significant component of the Non-Vacuity Principle.•I derive the stipulated shift from x to “representation of x” for CMAs.

Constitutive material adjectives, a subset of the privative adjectives, include adjectives like stone, wooden, plastic, foam, velveteen, etc. Constitutive material adjectives exhibit two important features: (1) they appear to violate the Head-Primacy Principle ( Kamp and Partee, 1995), (2) their behavior, and thus classification, depends on the constituent with which they combine. Partee (2010) has suggested that these adjectives are not, in fact, privative, but rather are subsective adjectives that have undergone coercion. This is a compelling analysis, but unfortunately the mechanisms that underlie the coercion operation have not been fully explored. Here, I argue that coercion, as formulated by Partee, can be understood as the result of optimization over conflicting constraints on interpretation. I propose an analysis that conceives of the meaning of adjectives and nouns as collections of constraints on interpretation. Conceived as such, we can derive the effects of coercion using Optimality Theory ( Prince and Smolensky, 2004 and Smolensky and Legendre, 2006).