Scalar uses of only in conditionals

Abstract

We argue that sentences of the kind “You only have to go to the North End to get good cheese” can be ambiguous and employ a scalar version of ‘only’ on one of their readings. So do the exceptive constructions – the cross-linguistic counterparts of ‘only have to’ sentences. ‘Only’ is treated as inducing a ‘comparative possibility’ scale on propositions. The properties of this scale explain the absence of the prejacent presupposition that is usually associated with ‘only’. The sufficiency meaning component is argued to be a pragmatic inference, not a part of the truth conditions.