Abstract:

Generic sentences are the simple statement that generalizes certain regularity or certain attributes of a kind of things or part of the members of a kind. Its remarkable feature is that the generic noun phrases are implicitly understood as referring to all the members but exceptions are tolerated. The research on generic sentences to date doesn’t produce any explanation as to the mechanism of take-a-part-for-the-whole of the generic phrases. From a pragmatic perspective, generic sentences are usually used in their respective contexts to achieve certain minor-hyperbole effect. This effect is achieved by assuming that the hearer would read off universal quantification from the generic sentences through a fault-tolerant inference. This inference involves a psychological logic that strengthens the information content of the premise.