Numbersthose

Numbersthose is a fictional construct used in thought experiments to explore how quantity and demonstrative reference can interact in language and formal semantics. The concept treats a number as not only a numeric value but also as paired with a discourse demonstrative tag that points to a specific subset of referents in context.

Definition and notation

A numbersthose is formalized as a pair (n, d), where n is a natural number and d is a demonstrative index drawn from a predefined set of referent tags (for example this, these, that, those, or more granular indices assigned to discourse referents). The interpretation of (n, d) is “n items selected from the referent set identified by d.” This allows expressions like three those to encode both the quantity and the intended subset of objects.

Operations

Proposed arithmetic on numbersthose is defined componentwise with a merge rule for demonstratives. Addition combines the numeric parts (n1, d1) + (n2, d2) = (n1 + n2, merge(d1, d2)), where merge(d1, d2) yields a coherent referent index according to contextual rules. Subtraction and multiplication are defined analogously, with attention to maintaining a valid referent scope.

Use and status

Numbersthose is a speculative construct used in linguistic and semantic theory to model how speakers compress discourse information by pairing numbers with demonstratives. It is not part of established mathematics or formal linguistics and remains a theoretical tool for exploring quantification in discourse. See also reference to demonstratives and discourse referents in semantic theory.