Quantity and Quantification

Abstract

In [2], Richard E. Grandy proposes that the distinction between mass and sortal terms be understood as a difference in levels of predicates. Mass terms — like ‘gold’ and ‘water’ — are first-level predicates; sortal terms — like ‘ring’ and ‘statue’ — are second-level predicates. A natural language with terms of both sorts is to be regarded as a kind of second-order language, with quantifiers appearing at (at least) two levels.