Gradability in the Nominal Domain
Published by LOT phone: +31 30 253 6006 Trans 10 3512 JK Utrecht e-mail: lot@uu.nl 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: Co-promotor: Prof.dr. J.E.C.V. Rooryck 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 N 1: [N 1] of N 2...58 2.3.3 Insertion of adjectives in the first position: [A (N 1)] of N 2...64 2.3.4 Final remarks on the interpretation of N 1...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 2.2 Syntactic distributional patterns and their implications...169 2.2.1 The position generalization and the degree analysis...169 2.2.2 Exceptions and an alternative account...172 2.2.3 The broader picture: non-intersective adjectives...176 2.3 The bigness generalization...178 2.4 Size adjectives are always size adjectives...184 2.4.1 Abstract size...185 2.4.2 Non-intersective uses of abstract size adjectives...188 2.5 Concluding remarks...193 3 Evaluative adjectives...194 3.1 Distribution, interpretation and the degree analysis...194 3.2 Some additional facts and an alternative account...198 3.3 Concluding remarks...202 4 Adjectives of veracity...203 4.1 The distribution and interpretation of real...203 4.2 Real as an epistemic/ evidential adjective...206 4.3 Extending the analysis: the case of true...209 4.4 Additional evidence and consequences...212 4.5 Similar cases...215 4.5.1 Sheer, pure, perfect...215 4.5.2 Complete & co....218 4.6 Concluding remarks...227 5 Conclusions...227 Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS...229 References...239 Samenvatting in het Nederlands...255 Curriculum Vitae...259
Acknowledgements If I have made it to the end of this road, I have not done so alone, I could not have. I would therefore like to express my gratitude now to those who have contributed in some way or another to my reaching the destination. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors. Jenny Doetjes opened her door to me more than five years ago and her door has been open ever since. Throughout this time she has supported and encouraged me, she has read all sorts of pre-drafts, drafts and re-drafts, and has managed to find a common thread and has never let me lose it. I want to thank her for guiding me, for showing affection and confidence in me, for all the inspiring discussions, for the nice chats, for putting a tremendous amount of work, energy and patience in bringing this project to a successful end. Though my journey may not always have been smooth, we have definitely had a lot of fun working together even at the hardest times. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with such a great linguist and person. Johan Rooryck has always been willing to have meetings, has been interested in discussing and reading things, and he has constantly encouraged me and tried to make me have more confidence too. I would like to thank him for all the stimulating discussions, for forcing me to structure my thoughts better and for his ongoing support. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my former teacher and supervisor, Alexandra Cornilescu, without whose inspiring enthusiasm for linguistics and competent teaching and supervision I would not have got here. I would like to thank her for her unwavering support, guidance and affection. I also want to thank Louise McNally for reading the pre-final version of this dissertation extremely thoroughly and giving me many illuminating comments, which have helped me sharpen and complete the argumentation in several cases. I wish I could have better answers to more of her questions. Allison Kirk, Andrea Nicole Maier, Jessie Nixon, Tyler Peterson and Josh Wilbur have provided extremely valuable help with the English data analysed in this dissertation. I would like to thank them all sincerely for their patience in answering all of my questions again and again; and I hope I have not misinterpreted or misrepresented any of the data. I would also like to thank Dirk Janssen for translating a practically incomprehensible summary into Dutch. The linguistic community at LUCL and in the Netherlands in general has provided an excellent environment for carrying out research during these years. I would like to thank the teachers and colleague PhD students (at LUCL, Uil-OTS, Tilburg University, CLC Groningen, elsewhere in the Netherlands and outside of it)
ii for thought-provoking classes, talks or discussions, for the pleasure of having worked together on organising SOLE conferences, or simply, but just as importantly, for enjoyable chats, for nice dinners, for friendly encouragements, for putting me up or altogether giving me a bed for my empty new bedroom, for sharing free time: Boban Arsenijević, Linda Badan, Enrico Boone, Martine Bruil, Leston Buell, Elena Castroviejo-Miró, Lisa Cheng, Crit Cremers, Roberta D'Alessandro, Marijke De Belder, Jakub Dotlačil, Gaetano Fiorin, Irene Franco, Stella Gryllia, Mélanie Jouitteau, Nana Kusuma, Bert Le Bruyn, Kathrin Linke, Anikó Lipták, Khalid Mourigh, Victoria Nyst, Ongaye Oda Orkaydo, Tyler Peterson, Felix Rau, Hilke Reckman, Kristina Riedel, Radek Šimik, Rint Sybesma, Tanja Temmerman, Mulugeta Tsegaye, Christina Unger, Jenneke van der Wal, Marijn van 't Veer, Annemie Verbist, Luis Vicente, Jurriaan Witteman. And, of couse, the "Tilburg & Utrecht girls": Berit Gehrke, Jutta Hartmann, Vera Hegedus and Nataša Milićević. Erik Schoorlemmer deserves a special mention for making the beginning of my stay in Leiden a lot easier by helping me figure out the workings of the Dutch administration and all sorts of other practical things, for always finding the time to drop by and say hello, and for introducing me to SOLE. These years away from home have enriched my life with new friends, to whom I am grateful for their support and affection, for the fun we have had together, for not talking about linguistics even if that is what had brought us together, for making me feel at home here too: Juliette Huber, Rebecca Voll, Stanly Oomen, Jessie Nixon, Sara Lusini, Sandra Barsa, Josh Wilbur. Anamaria Fălăuş is a friend whom I have met far from any of my homes, which makes this friendship so much more unlikely and so much more valuable. I feel fortunate and honoured to be her friend. Allison Kirk has given me music, incredibly delicious meals, good laughter, and most importantly affection. I thank her for all the fond memories we have created together, for supporting and encouraging me throughout this time, and for still being there for me despite my long absences during the last year or more. I thank her for being being my dear friend, and my paranymph! Being so far away from home is also easier when you know you have a solid home base to which you can always return as naturally as if it was not the case that many months had passed since the previous encounter and for that I thank my cousins Ileana and Alexandru Gheorghiu and my aunt Maria Popescu, and my friends Maura Cotfas, Madalina Stancu, Adina Nani, Ana-Maria Neagu, and above all Mihaela and George Tănase-Dogaru. Mihaela and George suddenly entered my life a few years ago, without any warning, and just as simply they have stayed. It is enough to think of them to feel at home, tranquil and reassured. I want to thank them for being there all this time, no matter what, and for offering me a friendship that I never for one moment even thought to doubt. Mihaela is not only a dear friend but also a great colleague, and it has also been fun to work together; I am happy that she has now accepted to be my paranymph! The most extraordinary outcome of this project has been for me of a personal nature, and that is that it has brought Kateřina Součková and me together. Káča has entered my heart and my mind in a way I had never thought possible she did so with tenderness, strength and intelligence. She has held me together when I was falling apart, she has pushed me even higher when I was jumping for joy, she has
iii pulled me back when I was running away. I thank her for being the wonderful person and the unique friend that she is. And I know that even being half a planet apart cannot change that. Where do I start to thank my parents, Valentina and Mircea? I will simply thank them here for their love, confidence and supportive attitude. They still encouraged me to pursue my chosen path, even when it took me very far away from them. The last year or two have been a lot easier and a lot more beautiful with Marco van Duijn by my side. All this time he has kept me in touch with real life, has helped me put things in perspective, has made me laugh, has shown me the patches of blue sky when all I could see was grey clouds. He has been there for me, unwaveringly, patiently, trustingly, lovingly. For that and for much more, I thank him.