Adult learning of a novel quantifier tracks semantic universals

Natural languages share common properties called universals. In the domain of quantification, three semantic universals were discovered: monotonicity (convexity), quantity, and conservativity. Researchers have been trying to explain the origin of semantic universals for decades. In this study, we tested one of the proposed explanations, the learnability hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, quantifiers that satisfy universals are easier to learn and, therefore, more likely to be lexicalized