Abstract
This paper discusses the properties of the ‘quite de’ construction in the Baie Sainte-Marie, Nova Scotia variety of Acadian French in examples such as le/un quite de souper ‘quite the/a supper’ which have a hyperbolic connotation. Unlike epithet nouns and other binominals of French (and Romance more generally), we argue that this Acadian French construction contains a complex DP with a unique N but an expanded left nominal periphery (cf. Giusti 2005, 2006, 2012). In order to unify its syntactic and semantic properties, we propose an analysis where [Adv quite] is a scalar Focus head (following Kayne’s 1998 treatment of scalar only), with a null M(easurement) Op(erator) (Rett 2008, 2011) in its specifier. This M-op is associated with a degree argument (i.e. N) bound by existential closure, which forces its linearization within the predicate domain (cf. Diesing 1992). Lastly, we show that de in the AF ‘quite de’ construction cannot be construed as a linker (pace den Dikken 2004, 2006) or as a P category (pace Kayne 1994), but is best analysed as a nominal functor (cf. Ihsane 2013) at the Comp-Infl interface whose role is to recategorize a referential DP into a property denoting DP.
Highlights
Isogloss 2016, 2/1 3 semantics, quite in AF must be analysed as a scalar Focus head in an expanded left periphery of a uni-nominal, albeit complex, DP
Having covered some of the preliminary properties of this complex DP in AF, we survey two of the major previous analyses proposed for qualitative binominals in French/Romance and see what light they shed with respect to the quite de construction in AF
In order to accommodate its semantics, we propose that quite in the AF quite de construction instantiates scalar focus measuring extreme degree
Summary
As King (2013: 102) points out, the data in (1) bear a strong resemblance to the use of French epithet nouns, exemplified by un espèce de cochon ‘a real pig’, literally, ‘a sort of pig’ and un putain de livre ‘a bloody book’, literally, ‘a whore of book’. Unlike AF, other varieties of Canadian French (i.e. Laurentian French), do allow evaluative (Det) N1 de N2 constructions, as illustrated by: un criss de livre ‘a bloody book’ (literally, ‘a Christ of book’), des hosties de questions ‘some fucking questions’ (literally, ‘some hosts of questions’), from Drescher (2009). As both are semantically evaluative, it looks like AF has replaced the epithet N construction with the quite de construction. We start by looking at some preliminary properties
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