Gradability in the Nominal Domain Published by LOT phone: +31 30 253 6006 Trans 10 3512 JK Utrecht e-mail: [email protected] The Netherlands http://www.lotschool.nl Cover illustration by Brian Zaikowski (http://www.dementeddenizens.com) reproduced with the artist's permission ISBN: 978-94-6093-072-0 NUR 616 Copyright © 2011: Camelia Constantinescu. All rights reserved. Gradability in the Nominal Domain PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van Rector Magnificus, prof.mr. P.F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op woensdag 14 december 2011 klokke 16:15 uur door Camelia Constantinescu geboren te Boekarest, Roemenië in 1979 Promotiecommissie Promotor: Prof.dr. J.E.C.V. Rooryck Co-promotor: Dr. J.S. Doetjes Overige leden: Prof.dr. L. McNally (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona) Dr. R.W.F. Nouwen (UiL-OTS, Utrecht University) Prof.dr. R.P.E. Sybesma The research leading to this dissertation was carried out as part of the VIDI project Degrees across categories funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) (project number: 276-70-007; project leader: dr. J.S. Doetjes) Table of Contents Acknowledgements....................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................5 1 Background and preliminary remarks....................................................................6 1.1 An introduction to gradability the view from the adjectival domain............7 1.1.1 Degree-based approaches to gradability...............................................8 1.1.2 Degree-less approaches to gradability................................................10 1.1.2.1 Vague predicates and degree functions......................................10 1.1.2.2 A neo-kleinian approach to gradability......................................12 1.2 Gradability beyond the adjectival domain...................................................15 2 Identifying gradability in the nominal domain ...................................................19 2.1 Wh-exclamatives, such, quite and more of an N.........................................20 2.1.1 Wh-exclamatives.................................................................................20 2.1.2 Such ...................................................................................................24 2.1.3 Quite ..................................................................................................29 2.1.4 Much/ more of an N............................................................................31 2.2 Degree adjectives........................................................................................34 2.3 N of an N and seem......................................................................................39 2.3.1 N of an N ............................................................................................39 2.3.2 Seem ...................................................................................................41 2.4 Summary and discussion of results ............................................................43 3 Outline of the dissertation....................................................................................45 Chapter 2 GRADABILITY VS. EVALUATION...............................................49 1 Introduction..........................................................................................................49 2 N of an N .............................................................................................................49 2.1 Introduction.................................................................................................49 2.2 Gradability and value judgement in the literature on N of an N..................50 2.2.1 Gradability..........................................................................................51 2.2.2 Value judgment...................................................................................51 2.2.3 Gradability and value judgment collapsed.........................................53 2.3 The essence of N of an N: value judgment, not gradability........................55 2.3.1 Clarifying the relevant notions...........................................................55 2.3.2 Non-modified nouns as N1: [N1] of N2................................................58 2.3.3 Insertion of adjectives in the first position: [A (N1)] of N2.................64 2.3.4 Final remarks on the interpretation of N1...........................................67 2.4 Concluding remarks....................................................................................71 3 Seem ....................................................................................................................71 3.1 Introduction.................................................................................................71 3.2 The syntactic degree account and its problems...........................................72 3.2.1 Introducing the syntactic degree account...........................................72 3.2.2 Some problems ..................................................................................73 3.2.3 Measure phrases.................................................................................75 3.2.4 Non-gradable expressions in the complement of seem.......................78 3.3 Towards an alternative account...................................................................82 3.3.1 Two types of predicates.....................................................................82 3.3.1.1 The interpretation of non-gradable adjectives .........................82 3.3.1.2 The case of nouns in the small clause complement of seem......84 3.3.1.3 Modification ..............................................................................85 3.3.2 The alternative view...........................................................................86 3.3.2.1 Seem is always epistemic/ evidential ........................................87 3.3.2.2 Evaluation of properties vs. (complex) situations......................89 3.4 Concluding remarks....................................................................................94 4 Conclusions..........................................................................................................95 Chapter 3 DEGREES AND KINDS...................................................................97 1 Introduction..........................................................................................................97 2 Background........................................................................................................100 2.1 The two such's in literature........................................................................100 2.2 The semantics of kind such.......................................................................102 2.3 As-clauses and result clauses.....................................................................107 3 The proposal.......................................................................................................110 3.1 Salient sub-types with natural consequences.............................................111 3.2 Case I: gradable nouns...............................................................................113 3.3 Case II: nouns like situation, way etc........................................................117 3.4 Case III: stereotypical nouns.....................................................................124 3.4.1 Background – stereotypical interpretations......................................124 3.4.2 The interpretation of stereotypical nouns with internal such and result clauses...........................................................................................................127 3.4.3 Stereotypicality and gradable nouns.................................................130 3.5 Speaker opinion and the exclamative use .................................................131 3.5.1 Speaker opinion in the absence of overt result.................................131 3.5.2 Unexpectedness and prosodic realization.........................................135 3.6 Extension: [such A N] structures...............................................................138 4 Concluding remarks...........................................................................................141 5 Related cases......................................................................................................144 5.1 Wh-exclamatives.......................................................................................145 5.2 Quite .........................................................................................................149 5.3 Much/ more of an N ..................................................................................155 5.4 Concluding remarks..................................................................................160 6 Conclusions........................................................................................................160 Chapter 4 "DEGREE ADJECTIVES"............................................................163 1 Introduction........................................................................................................163 2 Size adjectives....................................................................................................165 2.1 Distribution and interpretation..................................................................165