Abstract
Whether degrees should be modeled as simple semantic primitives or ontologicallycomplex entities has been an issue in recent formal semantic research. This article aims tomake a contribution to this scholarly enterprise by investigating the Differential VerbalComparative (DVC) construction in Chinese. DVCs exhibit peculiar properties : (i)obligatory differentials, and (ii) DPs as differentials(e.g., liang ben xiaoshuo ‘two CL novel’).We propose that a degree is the entity correlate of a property that is formed on the basis of ameasure, akin to Chierchia-style kind. This new kind of degree, coupled with a differencefunction-based semantics for comparatives, correctly predicts the behaviors of DVCs whichwould otherwise remain formally inscrutable. This article’s contributions are twofold: (i) itprovides direct support for the degree-as-kind analysis by extending its empirical scope; and(ii) by combining degrees as kinds with a difference function-based semantics, it representsan improvement over the previous degree-as-kind analysis based on linear ordering.Keywords: comparatives, degrees, kinds, Mandarin Chinese, differential verbalcomparatives.
Highlights
Over the past several decades, there has been a significant amount of discussion on what exactly degrees are
Approaches to this question roughly fall within two schools, which bear distinct consequences for the semantics of comparatives.: (1) Two approaches to degrees: primitive vs. complex (i) The standard approach: Degrees are semantic primitives formalized as points or intervals on an abstract scale, akin to real numbers; (ii) The not-so-standard approach: Degrees are not semantic primitives, but rather ontologically complex entities
We adopt a difference function-based semantics for comparatives. We demonstrate that this new semantics that combines degree-as-kind with difference functions correctly predicts the behaviors of Differential Verbal Comparative (DVC) sentences, but desirably circumvents the problems faced by Anderson and Morzycki (2015)
Summary
Over the past several decades, there has been a significant amount of discussion on what exactly degrees are. One case of within-language variation among comparative constructions in Mandarin Chinese has been identified and intensively studied: comparative constructions making use of degree ordering along some scale vs comparative constructions making use of direct comparison of two sets of individuals with no reference to, or mediation by, degrees. DVCs () differ from ACs in two respects: (i) differentials in DVCs are obligatory, while differentials in ACs are optional, and (ii) differentials in DVCs can take the form of DP, e.g., liang ben xiashuo ‘two CL novels’, while differentials in ACs can only be measure phrases (MPs), e.g., san gongfen ‘three centimeters’ These two peculiarities of DVCs stand out and challenge the standard semantics of degrees and DPs. This article aims to offer a motivated explanation for the seemingly inscrutable properties of DVCs: Why do DVCs allow DP-like differentials? We take a revisionist strategy.On the one
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