Free choice disjunction of propositions in generic sentences

Abstract

Disjunction is used to connect multiple options when there is insufficient information to determine which one is true. However, free choice disjunction defies this simple fact – when a disjunction acts as a free choice operator, all options are true. The usage of free choice disjunction is observed to usually co-occur with modals, pluralities, etc. This paper introduces a novel observation of sentences with free choice disjunction in English. Multiple data points are presented to demonstrate the semantic distribution. I propose that free choice reading in disjunctions depends on three factors –the sentence’s genericity, scope of the disjunction and disjuncts being imperfect nominals.