Genericity encompasses two distinct phenomena. The first one is reference to a kind, whereby a predicate describes a property directly of a kind as in Dinosaurs are extinct. The second one is a characterizing or a generic sentence that expresses generalizations as in Cats meow. A feature of generic sentences is that they tolerate exceptions. We accept sentences such as Mosquitos carry the West Nile virus to be true although the predicated property characterizes less than 1 percent of the generic noun phrase.

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基于特征的通用性和亲切参考

通用性包含两种不同的现象。第一个是对种类的引用，谓词直接描述了种类的属性，如Dinosaurs are extinct中那样。第二个是描述性句子或一般性句子，表达概括，如“猫喵”。通用句子的一个特点是它们容忍例外。我们接受诸如“Mosquitos Carry the West Nilevirus”之类的句子为真，尽管谓语属性只占通用名词短语的不到 1%。