The semantics of comparatives: a degree nominal analysis
Date
2016
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This dissertation focuses on comparative constructions in Jordanian Arabic. In particular, we identify three main types of comparatives. We investigate commonly raised questions in the literature on the semantics of comparatives. Specifically, we examine the underlying structure of JA comparatives and what that might entail for the semantic type of the SOC for each type of comparative, and investigate to what extent degree abstraction and a degree based semantics may be available for JA comparatives. The three main types of comparatives investigated differed with respect to the semantic tests of Negative Island Effects and the availability of Subcomparatives. This research concludes that JA is a language that only allows for underlyingly phrasal comparatives, but that crucially is not degree-less in that one type (the Degree ma comparative type) makes use of Degree Nominal constructions. The result is a language that does not have underlyingly clausal comparatives, but that still allows for degree to be manifest by means of Degree Nominals. We attribute the main difference between the strategy used to manifest degree between English and JA to the selectional properties of the JA preposition min which acts as the semantic Standard Marker in the language.
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Keywords
Language, literature and linguistics, Arabic, Comparatives, Degree nominals, Linguistics, Semantics