Hedging verbs and nouns using an alternative semantics

In this paper I provide a formal analysis of the English hedge sorta, concentrating on its use with verb phrases. I bring to light new data showing how sorta can hedge the direct object of creation verbs and some intensional verbs without combining with the direct object directly, and that the ability to hedge a direct object from a distance is conditioned by verb type and the type of determiner with the direct object. I build an analysis using Morzycki's (2011) alternative semantics implementation of the pragmatic halos of Lasersohn (1999).