Adjectives: Formal Analyses in Syntax and Semantics (Linguistik Aktuell Linguistics Today)

✍ Scribed by Patricia Cabredo Hofherr, Ora Matushansky

• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 350
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Adjectives are comparatively less well studied than the lexical categories of nouns and verbs. The present volume brings together studies in the syntax and semantics of adjectives. Four of the contributions investigate the syntax of adjectives in a variety of languages (English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Modern Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, and Serbocroatian). The theoretical issues explored include: the syntax of attributive and predicative adjectives, the syntax of nominalized adjectives and the identification of adjectives as a distinct lexical category in Mandarin Chinese. A further four contributions examine different aspects in the semantics of adjectives in English, French, and Spanish, dealing with superlatives, comparatives, and aspect in adjectives. This volume will be of interest to researchers and students in syntax, formal semantics, and language typology.

✦ Table of Contents

Adjectives......Page 2
Editorial page
......Page 3
Title page
......Page 4
LCC data
......Page 5
Table of contents......Page 6
List of contributors......Page 8
1. Adjectives as a word-class......Page 10
2.1 Gradability......Page 13
2.2 Intersective and non-intersective adjectives......Page 15
2.3 Aspectual classes of adjectives......Page 17
3. The syntax of adjectives......Page 19
3.1.1 Analyses of attributive adjectives: An overview......Page 20
3.1.2 Prenominal adjectives with complements......Page 22
3.2 The syntax of predicative adjectives......Page 25
3.3 The relationship between attributive and predicative adjectives......Page 26
4. The contributions to this volume......Page 29
References......Page 33
Part I. Syntax......Page 36
1. Introduction......Page 38
2. Slavic short and long adjectives (OCS and BCS)......Page 39
3.1 Ellipsis within noun phrases......Page 43
3.2 Coordinated adjectives......Page 46
3.2.2 Short coordinated adjectives......Page 48
3.3 Ordering restrictions of multiple adjectives......Page 49
4.1 The puzzle: Double agreement?......Page 52
4.2 The analysis of muliple agreement......Page 54
5. Agreeing and non-agreeing adjectives in German......Page 57
6. Concluding remarks......Page 58
References......Page 59
1. Introduction......Page 62
2. The problem......Page 63
3. Long and short forms in Russian......Page 66
3.1 The syntactic analysis of LF and SF-structures......Page 67
4.1 Diagnostic I: Agreement with vy ‘you (polite)’......Page 76
4.2 Diagnostic II: The third-person pronoun test for nP constituency......Page 77
4.4 Diagnostic IV: kak + nP......Page 78
4.5 Diagnostic V: The ‘predicate genitive’......Page 81
4.6 Diagnostic VI: Differences in meaning between LF and SF......Page 84
4.7 Diagnostic VII: ‘Predicate LFs’ with overt heads......Page 86
5. Attributive and predicational function of LF-adjectives......Page 89
References......Page 92
1. Introduction......Page 94
2. First attempt at differentiating Noms(A) and regular adjectives: English......Page 95
3. French and Hebrew......Page 100
4.1 The meaning of pro in Adj-pro......Page 107
4.2 Hebrew Adj-pro and ramifications......Page 108
5. Spanish pro, Spanish uno......Page 114
6. Conclusion......Page 120
References......Page 121
1. Introduction......Page 124
2.1 Non-predicative adjectives vs. predicative adjectives......Page 126
2.2 Verbal vs. adjectival reduplication......Page 129
2.3 De-less modification......Page 130
3.1 De-less modification vs. modification with de......Page 134
3.2 Constraints governing the de-less modification structure......Page 137
3.3 The phrasal status of the de-less modification structure......Page 139
3.4 Intermediate summary......Page 143
4. Two classes of adjectives......Page 145
4.1 Reduplication as a morphological process......Page 146
4.2 Derived adjectives as a distinct class......Page 147
4.3 The unacceptability of derived adjectives in verbal compounds......Page 151
4.4 The unacceptability of derived adjectives in the de-less modification structure......Page 153
4.5 The productivity of the ‘AABB’ reduplication pattern......Page 154
4.6 Intermediate summary......Page 155
References......Page 157
Part II. Semantics......Page 162
1. Introduction......Page 164
2.1 External distribution......Page 165
2.2.1 Complementation parallels......Page 167
2.3 Modifiers......Page 169
2.3.2 Modifiers of same......Page 170
2.4 Negative polarity item licensing......Page 171
2.6 De re/de dicto ambiguities......Page 173
3. What are comparisons of similarity and difference comparisons between?......Page 174
3.1.2 Evaluation......Page 175
3.2.1 Background......Page 177
3.2.2 Evaluation......Page 178
3.3 Comparison of sets of properties......Page 180
4. Semantics for different, same, and like......Page 182
4.1 Basic semantic properties of comparisons of similarity and difference......Page 183
4.2.1 Modifiers of different and like......Page 187
4.2.2 Modifiers of same......Page 189
5. Further issues......Page 190
5.2 Further modifiers of different and like......Page 191
6. Conclusion......Page 192
References......Page 193
1. Superlatives: The absolute and the comparative......Page 196
2. The syntax of DPs and superlatives: Some problems......Page 199
3. Superlatives as definites......Page 200
4. The semantics of the superlative morpheme......Page 202
5. The dependent reading......Page 205
6. Nominal dependence......Page 210
7. Framing the comparison: The non-intersectivity of superlatives......Page 213
8. The presuppositions of superlatives......Page 217
9. Focus after movement......Page 220
10. The flexibility of the comparative reading......Page 224
11. The non-specificity effect......Page 226
12. Quantification and comparison......Page 229
13. The “upstairs de dicto” reading......Page 232
15. Conclusion......Page 237
References......Page 238
1. Introduction......Page 242
2.1 Association with focus......Page 245
2.2 Nominal supersets and focalization......Page 246
2.3 Adjectival supersets and focalization......Page 248
3. Identificational focus......Page 249
4. Contrastive identificational focus......Page 252
5. Non-veridicality......Page 258
6. Movement to FocusP......Page 261
6.1 Adverbs......Page 262
6.2 Clefts......Page 263
6.3 Preposed quantificational adjectives......Page 264
6.4 Non-inverted copula constructions......Page 266
References......Page 270
1. Introduction: Complementation and the relationship between meaning and form......Page 274
2. Propositional adjectives......Page 281
3. Emotive adjectives......Page 287
4. Effective adjectives and properties of their non-finite complements......Page 294
5. “Impostor” adjectives......Page 303
5.1 Adjectives of the chanceux ‘lucky’ type......Page 304
5.2 Moral quality adjectives......Page 308
Conclusion......Page 312
References......Page 313
1. Introduction......Page 316
2. The aspect of adjectives......Page 317
3.1 Pseudo-copular verbs......Page 319
3.2 Predicative complements......Page 322
3.3 Predicative absolute constructions......Page 323
3.4 Absolute constructions introduced by con......Page 324
4. Ambivalent adjectives......Page 326
5.1 By coercion......Page 330
5.2.1 Tests for dynamicity......Page 333
5.2.2 Tests for agentivity......Page 335
6. Conclusions......Page 338
References......Page 339
Languages index......Page 342
Subject index......Page 344
The series Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today......Page 346