The quantity adjectiveduōin Chinese and the event quantity construction

Abstract

AbstractIn theduōevent quantity construction,duō‘much’ is a quantity adjective. Whatduō‘much’ modifies is the root of the verb and the root has to move to the light verb position to be categorically defined. The quantity adjectiveduō‘much’ functions to introduce a measure function which measures the event denoted by the verb along the dimension valued by the assignment functionA, and the domain to which the measure function applies must be monotonic. So, the ‘modification’ relation between the quantity adjectiveduō‘much’ and its modifyee essentially differs from that between a typical gradable adjective liketián‘sweat’ and its modifyee. This explains how the quantity adjectiveduō‘much’ differs from the typical adjective in syntax and semantics.