It is argued that comparison between the sentence actually uttered by a speaker and relevant, expressively stronger alternative sentences (and so more informative at the level of non-presupposed, not-at-issue content) may prompt scalar inferences akin to already known instances of such phenomenon, such as scalar implicatures and antipresuppositions.
Evidence for this thesis comes from the examination of some typical expressives like epithets and honorifics. After arguing that expressive scalar inferences constitute a bona fide phenomenon, I discuss the apparent counterexample of expressive adjectives. I conclude the article by examining
some of the properties of expressive scalar inferences as compared to their cousins, scalar implicatures and antipresuppositions.
Nicolàs Lo Guercio, (ms), “Maximize Expressivity!”
