A two-layered analysis of the Hebrew exceptive xuc mi

The Hebrew exceptive xuc mi seems to allow both minus interpretations (the excepted element fails to have the property predicated of the other elements) and plus interpretations (the excepted element does have the property predicated of the other elements). In this paper I propose a unified meaning for xuc mi. (1) xuc mi is a minus sign: it subtracts elements from a domain of quantification, and (2) there must be some non trivial property that distinguishes the excepted elements from all other elements in the domain. I derive the minus, plus, and other possible interpretations from this meaning and general pragmatic considerations.