Mandarin transitive comparatives and the grammar of measurement

Grano, Thomas; Kennedy, Chris

doi:10.1007/s10831-012-9090-y

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This assumption is in accordance withGrano and Kennedy (2012), but contra Lin (2009). 14 As I have previously noted in (36), a DVC presupposes that the two sets under comparison are not empty.…”

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confidence: 82%

“…heavy 2 pound 'Zhangsan is (2 pounds) heavier than Lisi is.' 2 Besides adjectival/adverbial comparatives and DVCs, there is a so-called 'bare' or 'transitive' comparative in Mandarin Chinese (Xiang 2003, Grano and Kennedy 2012, as shown in (i). The semantics of bare adjectives is not discussed in this paper.…”

Section: Adjectival Comparatives and Adverbial Comparativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Degreeless Comparatives: The Semantics of Differential Verbal Comparatives in Mandarin Chinese

Li¹

2013

Journal of Semantics

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This paper studies a type of comparative in Mandarin Chinese, which has rarely been discussed in the literature (Cheng 1966). I refer to them as Differential Verbal Comparatives (DVCs). I show that DVCs, unlike Chinese adjectival/adverbial comparatives, allow differentials that are definite DPs, e.g., Jane Eyre he Pride and Prejudice 'Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice'. Based on this fact and other empirical differences between DVCs and adjectival/adverbial comparatives in Mandarin Chinese, I motivate and develop a mapping-based semantic analysis of DVCs and argue that this analysis fares better than a degreebased analysis.

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confidence: 82%

Section: Adjectival Comparatives and Adverbial Comparativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Degreeless Comparatives: The Semantics of Differential Verbal Comparatives in Mandarin Chinese

Li¹

2013

Journal of Semantics

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“…The ba-construction (1a) requires markers of completion, degree achievement, or perfective marker le. Transitive comparatives (Grano & Kennedy, 2012;Erlewine, 2007) observe the same boundedness constraint. Example (2b) requires a measure phrase and is unacceptable without delimitation by the measure phrase 'a little' or other dimension-appropriate measure phrases, as in '2 cm taller' or '5 pounds heavier'.…”

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confidence: 88%

Boundedness of verbal and adjectival predicates in Mandarin

Lam

2015

ExAbs

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1. Goal. This paper compares verbal (VP) and adjectival predication (AP) in Mandarin and extends the boundedness account of ba-construction to transitive comparatives (Erlewine, 2007). Problem.Mandarin VP and AP show alternations that have seemingly the same semantics. However, they differ in their selection of predicates. The ba-construction (1a) requires markers of completion, degree achievement, or perfective marker le. Transitive comparatives (Grano & Kennedy, 2012;Erlewine, 2007) observe the same boundedness constraint. Example (2b) requires a measure phrase and is unacceptable without delimitation by the measure phrase 'a little' or other dimension-appropriate measure phrases, as in '2 cm taller' or '5 pounds heavier'.( 1) In addition, existing accounts for the ba-construction (Bender 2000, Huang, Li & Li 2009, among others) largely focus on the syntactic behaviors of ba, but do not take the semantics of the predicates into consideration. The unacceptability of (3) cannot be explained by the syntax alone. Since the predicate xiang 'think' is atelic and the object is not affected, Lipenkova (2011) generalizes that the ba-construction must include a scalar predicate and a difference value, which explains why the predicate in (3) can occur in ba-construction and why tai 'too' must be present.(3) ta ba zhe-jian-shi xiang de *(tai) beigwan 3sg BA this.matter think DE too pessimistic 'S/he thinks too pessimistic of this matter. ' (Lipenkova, 2011) (3) is unacceptable without 'too' or other degree markers like hen 'very', which indicates assertion of degree. This study builds upon Liu (1997) and Lipenkova (2011) and argues that ba selects only bounded predicates, which can be marked lexically by a secondary predicate like wan 'finish', degree modification containing de-XP, or the perfective aspect marker le.3. Proposal. The goal of this study is to find the constraints of the two alternations in verbal and adjectival predicates. This study extends the boundedness constraint of ba and argues that boundedness governs the behavior of both alternations in their predicate selection.

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“…2005). Many languages, for instance, disallow measure phrases in combination with the absolute form of gradable predicates, but nevertheless allow measure phrases with (explicit) comparatives, where they receive a differential interpretation (Schwarzschild 2005, Grano & Kennedy 2012. Since Washo lacks explicit comparisons, it follows that differential measure phrases are also not found in this language.…”

Section: The Absence Of Other Degree Constructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Degree Semantics Parameter and cross-linguistic variation

Bochnak

2015

S&P

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The standard degree analysis of gradability in English holds that the function of degree morphology, such as the comparative, measure phrases, and degree adverbs, is to bind a degree variable located in the lexical semantics of gradable predicates. In this paper, I investigate gradation structures in Washo (isolate/Hokan), and claim that this language systematically lacks degree morphology of this sort. I propose that this gap in the functional inventory of Washo stems from variation in whether gradable predicates introduce degree variables that can be bound by such operators, providing further cross-linguistic support for a similar proposal made by Beck, Krasikova, et al. (2009) for Motu (Austronesian). Consequently, if we assume that gradable predicates in English are type d, e, t , then Washo and English must differ in their lexical semantics for gradable predicates. I also discuss an alternative account for handling the variation observed, couched within the degree-free analysis of van Rooij (2011a,b). Although this account can also capture the cross-linguistic facts, it does so at the expense of a unified analysis of degree constructions more generally. The results of this investigation inform questions about the nature of cross-linguistic * I am deeply grateful to my Washo consultants Ramona Dick and Steven James for teaching me their language. Thanks to

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Mandarin transitive comparatives and the grammar of measurement

Cited by 34 publications

References 36 publications

Degreeless Comparatives: The Semantics of Differential Verbal Comparatives in Mandarin Chinese

Degreeless Comparatives: The Semantics of Differential Verbal Comparatives in Mandarin Chinese

Boundedness of verbal and adjectival predicates in Mandarin

The Degree Semantics Parameter and cross-linguistic variation

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