نبذة مختصرة : Mereological models are often used to account for distributive reference, which arises when the denotation of a linguistic expression holds of certain parts of the plurality to which it is applied. It is general praxis in the theory of distributivity to employ structural atoms, which are entities that lack proper parts, to represent the base entities of which pluralities are formed. This thesis offers a revision of the notion of atom used in the theory of distributivity and argues in favor of employing relative atoms, which are entities that are atomic only with respect to a certain property. With relative atoms, we can account for why atomic and nonatomic parts of a plurality can equally be involved in distributive reference, in accordance with newly obtained empirical evidence. We can also capture the unexpected ways in which Hungarian reduplicated numerals and reciprocal constructions interact.
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