A semantic analysis of associative plurals

The paper presents a general framework for the semantic analysis of nominal plural expressions and assigns a place among them to a lesser-known construction: associative plurals. Six parameters are proposed for identifying the meaning differences among nominal plural expressions. Within this framework, associative plurals are characterized as ranked group plurals that form a single paradigm with first and second person plural pronouns and inclusory (=sylleptic) constructions, all of which are shown to be governed by similar preferences regarding the semantic composition of the group.