Subject: syntax / semantics of gradable adjectives

kennedy , christopher ; projecting the adjective : the syntax and semantics of gradability and comparison ; 0-8153 - 3349 - 8 , cloth ; page 262 , $ 61 ; garland publishing ; outstanding dissertations in linguistics . this book investigates the core meaning and syntactic distribution of gradable adjectives : adjectives such as long , short , bright and dim , with respect to which objects can be ordered and compared . the central thesis is that gradable adjectives should be semantically characterized as measure functions : expressions that map objects onto abstract representations of measurement , or degrees . a second major claim is that degrees should be formalized as intervals on a scale , rather than discrete points , as standardly assumed . these proposals are supported by a number of empirical arguments involving the interpretation of comparative constructions in english , including scope phenomena , incommensurability , and the semantic behavior of antonymous adjectives . in addition , the semantic analysis is shown to support a straight forward compositional interpretation of syntactic representations in which adjectives project extended functional structure headed by degree morphology , thus bringing the analysis of the adjectival projection in line with current theoretical assumptions about the phrase structure and interpretation of the nominal and verbal projections . the proposals are formalized in terms of model-theoretic semantics and the principles and parameters syntactic framework . the text includes a comprehensive overview of previous approaches to the semantic analysis of gradable adjectives , as well as an introduction to some of the fundamental questions and puzzles involving the syntax and semantics of comparatives , and it presents new data which provide insight into the relation between comparatives and ellipsis . this book will be of interest to scholars in the areas of natural language semantics and the syntax-semantics interface , adjectives , comparative constructions , vagueness , antonymy , and english grammar in general . e - mail : info @ garland . com
