Superlative Constructions Research Articles

Ordinal numbers: Not superlatives, but modifiers of superlatives

The few existing accounts of the semantics of ordinal numbers attribute to them all or almost all of the semantic properties of superlatives. This work discusses a construction problematic for existing theories of ordinals: the ordinal superlative construction (e.g. Joel climbed the third highest mountain). Existing theories give ordinals and superlatives such similar semantics that they struggle to explain how an ordinal and a superlative could join together and form a complex modifier. As an alternative, I propose a semantics according to which ordinals are exceptive modifiers of superlatives. For example, the n-th highest mountain is the mountain that, with n - 1 exceptions, is the highest. When an ordinal does not co-occur with an overt superlative (e.g. the second train), I posit a covert superlative adjective that represents the contextual ordering. Not only does this approach account for the ordinal superlative construction, but it lends itself to a principled explanation of differences between ordinals and superlatives with respect to plurality.

Ценности власти в англосаксонском героическом эпосе раннего Средневековья

The concern of this study is to explore the values of power that form its images in Anglo-Saxon epic culture of the early Middle Ages. The research is based on the epic poem “Beowulf” and applies cultural approach to linguistic study of social phenomena. Considering the stylistic features of the epic genre as a form of world codification, categorization and ideological influence in “the age of prowess and predatory life” (Thorstein Veblen), the authors emphasize the role of alliteration rhythmic patterns of the spoken verse, “words-pictures” (kennings and compounds), sound symbolism in verbal culture of fostering a the martial spirit of warriors in the culture of public praise, encouragement ferocity and enthusiasm for war. Values of power, viewed as collective conceptions of what is good and desirable, shape patterns of behaviour and virtues demonstrations prevalent among people of a superior status. Such patterns in the form of expectations motivate the characters of the poem to perform the actions assigned to them by their social standing. Studying these virtues is an efficient way to capture and characterize society of the early Middle Ages, since they had a direct impact on how that society functioned. To gain entrance to the superior status, the main character had to be gifted with assumed traits. Thus, the key theme of the poem is how he fights his way up to the top of the honourable superior class. The authors analyse the language means of cultural values introduction, including words, denoting the proper qualities and actions, small stories and evaluative utterances of aphoristic nature, falling into different types (statements, open appeals, comparative and superlative constructions, positive and negative imperatives).

WHAT ARE PERSUASIVE LANGUAGES AND STRATEGIES FOR ADVERTORIAL ADVERTISING IN INDONESIA? CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (APA BAHASA DAN STRATEGI PERSUASIF UNTUK PERIKLANAN ADVERTORIAL DI INDONESIA? ANALISIS WACANA KRITIS)

To make people aware not to be influenced by discursive practices carried out by capitalists, this study seeks to explore the forms and persuasive strategies of advertorial advertisements found in the newspapers of Jawa Pos, Kompas, and Republika. Through this research, it is expected that people can use the goods and services offered according to their needs, not because they are influenced by persuasive language that is deliberately used by advertising producers. To examine these efforts in discourse can be dismantled through the theory of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). This qualitative research shows that persuasive diction in advertorial advertisements uses superlative construction, comparative construction, nominalization, transitive verbs, and adjectives as symbols. In terms of strategy, persuasive diction in advertorials is conveyed by the strategy of providing scholarly images, images of using high technology, images of product effectiveness, images of modern life, prestigious and luxurious images, and images of enjoyment and satisfaction.Advertorials generally have meanings that can represent the experience and knowledge of the community. In short, the findings show that persuasive language aims to build a positive image to potential consumers, through which they can get as much profit as possible. Without realizing what is done by advertising producers through persuasive forms and the strategies they use is a form of hegemony.

Comparative Constructions in the Language of the Holy Qur’an

The focus of the present paper is the expression of comparison in the language of the Qur’an, the language of the Divine Book of the Muslim nation. It investigates the two classes of inequality comparisons: comparative constructions and superlative constructions. It aims to provide a syntactic scrutinization of the two classes of comparison constructions and points out any similarities and distinctions that may be present between the two classes. The paper also sheds light on some recurrent rhetorical aspects of the construction as found in the instances of comparison constructions in the language of the Qur’an. The study shows that there are three types of each class, two of which are present in the two classes of comparison constructions. Deletion of an element(s), coordination of parameters or of construction(s) and comparison of items not sharing the same property of the comparison or of two distinct events are characterizing aspects of comparative constructions in the language of the Qur’an. To the best of my knowledge, the topic of comparison constructions in the language of the Qur’an has not been tackled before and hence the characterization provided in this paper is the original contribution of the current research.

Dimensional adjectives in Nuosu Yi

Abstract In this paper, we discuss two types of dimensional adjectives in Nuosu Yi (Tibeto-Burman), which we refer to as Positive adjectives (PAs) and Equative Adjectives (EAs). We show that PAs and EAs are subject to different distributions in gradation structures: EAs are only admissible in gradation structures that can be associated with measure phrases, which include differential comparatives (e.g., Ayi is 2 cm taller than Aguo.) and degree questions (e.g., How tall is Ayi?). PAs are licensed elsewhere, including comparatives that do not introduce a differential (e.g., Ayi is taller than Aguo.), the intensification construction (e.g., Ayi is very tall), the superlative construction (e.g., Ayi is the tallest), etc. Assuming that measure phrases are degree-denoting expressions, we propose that the complementary distribution of PAs and EAs in Nuosu Yi is due to their different semantics: PAs are context sensitive predicates that do not introduce a degree argument (of type <e, t>), while EAs are degree predicates (of type <d, <e, t>>).

Late Merger in Modal Superlatives: The Case of Levantine Arabic

We present and analyze a pattern of modal superlative constructions in Levantine Arabic (LA) with an asymmetrical behavior: while the modal construct state superlative construction is ambiguous between the regular modifier and modal superlative readings, the modal attributive superlative is unambiguous and the only reading it has is the regular modifier reading. We propose an explanation for the asymmetry in terms of the (in)applicability of Late Merger of the modal adjective which is, as shown, a necessary compositional stage in deriving the modal superlative reading. Keywords: Attributive Modal Superlatives, Construct State Modal Superlatives, Late Merger, Modal Superlative Reading.

Die Komparativ- und Superlativformen besser/am besten/das Beste als Varianten in modalen Vergleichskonstruktionen

It is well known that linguistic variants play a key role in the acquisition of language skills in the first, second or foreign language as well as in writing and translation processes and in general in communicative interactions. Thus, a major research goal is the systematic investigation of intra- and interlinguistic variation. Due to its complexity, its qualitative-quantitative analysis continues to be a challenging issue, but it seems to become more and more feasible thanks to both the possibility of compiling very large corpora and the availability of high-performing corpus-linguistic tools.
 The paper discusses a corpus-linguistic pilot study concerning the use of besser, am besten and das Beste as pragmatic markers in a cross-linguistic perspective. In particular, the analysis focusses on selected superlative and comparative constructions on the left periphery used for expressing advice. The data basis consists mainly of German and Italian comparable very large web corpora and, to a lesser extent, of bilingual sentence pairs drawn from parallel corpora. As will be shown, even restricting the analysis to a very small segment of microvariation, in both languages the modal constructions appear to be characterized by the combination of numerous overlapping and interplaying variants and by different tendencies in language use.

Language variation and change in the formation of Greek superlative constructions

Abstract This paper addresses variation and change in the realization of superlative constructions in the light of the evidence provided by Modern Greek dialectal variation as a window into the study of the organization of grammar. Dialectal data show that analyticity prevails in the realization of relative comparative constructions, while absolute ones seem to resist more persistently due to their high relevance with another morphological category, evaluative intensification. Our findings argue in favour of the strong interplay among all three processes, viewed as realizations of the conceptual category of gradation, accounted for in terms of a continuum. The proposed organization captures the strong interplay between intensification and absolute superlatives on the one hand, while relative and absolute superlative formations on the other. On a theoretical level, this account could contribute further to important issues such as the controversial status of comparison and evaluation in grammar, which may differ cross-linguistically, suggesting that a combined account of the three processes might prove more adequate.

Γλωσσική ποικιλία και γλωσσική αλλαγή στον σχηματισμό υπερθετικών παραθετικών δομών στις ελληνικές διαλέκτους της Μικράς Ασίας

This paper addresses variation and change in the realization of superlative constructions in Asia Minor Greek Dialects emphasizing a. the distribution of the different patterns on the basis of their function as relative vs. absolute superlatives and b. their account as a result of intra-linguistic mechanisms and tendencies and/or extra-linguistic parameters and more specifically language contact. Comparative analysis reveals that grammatical matter replication occurs in varieties evolved under circumstances of long-lasting intense contact and regressive bilingualism, while grammatical pattern replication may also appear in varieties which did not evolve under the same (intense) contact settings.

Le superlatif des adjectifs tough suivis d'un supin en roumain contemporain. Problèmes d'Accord et de position adnominale

In contemporary Romanian, adjectives of the tough class combined with a verbal supine are said to be invariable . This article uses corpus data to show that while this is on the whole true for adjectives in the plain form, it is not true for superlatives, which agree with the noun they refer to in more than 40 per cent of the cases . It is also shown that superlative tough adjectives occur much more often in prenominal position than do tough adjectives in the plain form . They are, however, more prone to appear after the head noun than superlatives in general . Superlatives of the type in question can also split around the noun they modify, as can other types of superlative constructions with a complement . The possibility for a tough adjective in the plain form to appear before the noun when followed by a supine complement is, however, a unique feature for this type of AP.

Sur la distribution de l’article défini dans les constructions superlatives en bulgare

Ce travail porte sur le lien entre le superlatif et l’expression de la définitude en bulgare. Il est montré que l’article défini, toujours associé à une projection nominale, est compatible aussi bien avec la lecture absolue qu’avec des lectures relatives. Par contre, en position prédicative, seuls les syntagmes adjectivaux qui alternent avec des projections nominales à article défini peuvent avoir la lecture absolue. Le fait qu’en bulgare l’article défini n’est pas directement lié à l’expression du superlatif (à la différence d’autres langues comme le français) s’explique par la présence dans cette langue de deux morphèmes distincts pour le comparatif et le superlatif.

Superlative syntactic amalgams in an Iberian Spanish dialect

This article addresses an as yet unnoticed Spanish superlative construction attested in the mid area of Northern Spain. This construction features two striking properties: (i) it contains a relative pronoun which, at first glance, does not seem to introduce a TP (there is no overt verb to its right), which raises the question how the relative pronoun can obtain its Case/theta role; (ii) even if it were true that the relative pronoun actually introduces a TP and heads a full subordinate clause (presumably a free relative), the latter would arise in an anomalous position which disrupts the natural word order of the main clause and where it seems to lack any obvious licensor (as an adjunct, argument or predicate). A simultaneous answer to both problems will be obtained from the proposal that the construction at issue is a “syntactic amalgam” (Lakoff 1974): (i) assuming Kluck’s (2011) approach to amalgams, the relative pronoun of the construction can unproblematically be considered to introduce a sluiced TP, so it heads a full relative clause and does have a (covert) Case/theta-role licensor; (ii) the disruptive position of the relative clause and the opacity for licensing from the main clause are now expected as they are the defining properties of the so-called “interrupting clauses” in Horn-/Andrews-amalgams. As in Kluck (2011), such properties will be assumed to result from the operation “par-merge” giving rise to paratactical configurations (de Vries 2007).

Superlative QP “Hyper-Raising” in dialectal Spanish: the role of dormant Edge Features

In this paper I deal with a particular relative-clause superlative construction attested in Spanish dialects like Canariense (Bosque & Brucart 1991) and Puerto Rican (Rohena-Madrazo 2007), among others. In this construction the superlative quantifier raises to the left of the complementizer of the relative clause. However, as observed by Bosque & Brucart (1991), only object quantifiers can move in this way; subject quantifiers cannot. I account for this assymmetry by assuming Bianchi’s (2000) raising analysis for relative clauses, Kandybowicz’s (2009) theory on edge features and Pesetsky & Torrego’s (2001) proposal on Tense-to-Comp movement (among other assumptions). Object-quantifier movement correlates with Tense-to- Comp movement, which activates an edge feature for objects and allows them to escape the phasal minimal domain undergoing Transfer. This is not possible for subject-quantifier movement. I also propose that the determiner introducing a relative clause bears an uninterpretable [Superlative] feature with clitic-like properties. This feature forces the determiner to post-syntactically cliticize to the superlative quantifier degree word, a process which requires linear adjacency. This accounts for certain restrictions on this sort of superlative quantifier raising already pointed out by Bosque & Brucart (1991) The proposal (similar to the one in Rohena-Madrazo 2007) that [Superlative] may also be in Force in these dialects (if selected for Force by the determiner) explains a more restrictive (and widespread) variant of this construction.

Comparison constructions in Lizu (Tibeto-Burman)

This paper focuses on the morphosyntax of comparison constructions in Lizu, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Southwest China. The paper has two goals: (1) to provide a synchronic description of four types of comparison constructions: (i) comparative constructions of superiority and inferiority, (ii) superlative constructions of superiority and inferiority, (iii) equative constructions, and (iv) similative constructions, and (2) to place their distinctive characteristics within a larger typological context. Lizu comparison constructions are characterised, on the hand, by the diversity of means of expression, combining morphological and periphrastic markers across construction types (e.g. morphological degree markers in the comparative and superlative constructions vs. periphrastic degree markers in the equative constructions); and, on the other hand, by co-existence of competing constructions (that is, two instances of superlative constructions of superiority and several instances of the equative and similative constructions). From a cross-linguistic perspective, two Lizu comparison constructions stand out: (1) the comparative construction of superiority with a dedicated, etymologically obscure, analytic standard marker and a dedicated bound degree marker (prefix), and (2) the superlative construction of superiority with a dedicated bound degree marker (prefix). Given that these construction types tend to show strong areal distribution where they occur, they are examined in the local areal context, as compared to corresponding constructions in the linguistic neighbors of Lizu: Namuzi, Pumi, Nuosu, Tibetan, and Mandarin. The implications of the findings are discussed in typological and areal perspectives.

Towards a correlation of form, use and meaning of German <i>ge</i>-prefixed predicative participles

We argue for a split semantics of German predicative participle constructions, depending on whether or not the formation of the participle involves prefixation with the dedicated morpheme ge-. Against the background of the analysis of participles of German be-prefixed verbs proposed in Pross (2019), and using the licensing of superlative constructions and ung-nominalizations as tests, we show that ge-prefixed participles denote a result relation between a property of an event and an individual. In contrast, be-prefixed participles, like adjectives, denote properties of individuals. We cast the distinction between event properties and individual properties in a compositional semantics of ge-and be-prefixed participles and show how the resulting semantic distinction allows to predict the distinction between target and resultant state participles drawn in Kratzer (2000) without using the questionable immer noch ‘still’ test.

Verbal Characteristics of Adjectives in Hakha Chin

This paper will present a few items of interest regarding adjectives in the Tibeto-Burman language Hakha Chin, which has approximately 165,000 speakers worldwide (Simons and Fennig, 2018). Using Fiona Mc Laughlin’s methodology of comparing adjectival verbs and non-adjectival verbs in Wolof (Mc Laughlin, 2004), data will be presented comparing adjective and verb structures in Hakha Chin in an intransitive predicate construction, in a comparative construction, in a superlative construction, in questions, in negative constructions, and in relative clauses. This data will establish adjectives in Hakha Chin as being more verb-like than noun-like, and will place Hakha Chin in adjective class I, category 1, according to the classifications set by Robert Dixon (Dixon, 2004). This paper will conclude with a brief discussion of the role that adverbs may play in the adjectival verb phrases of Hakha Chin.

Syntactic awareness skills in English among children who speak Slavic or Chinese languages as a first language and English as a second language

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The purpose of this study was to examine syntactic awareness skills in English, among two groups of children: native Chinese speakers and native Slavic (L1) speakers. Both groups were second language English (L2) speakers. Their syntactic awareness skills were compared to a matched sample of L1 English speakers. Design/methodology/approach: Eighty-six third grade students participated in the study, matched between language groups on the basis of age and gender, as well as academic achievements and word reading levels. Data and analysis: L1 English and L1 Slavic groups performed significantly better on the syntactic awareness task than did the L1 Chinese group. A close examination of specific syntactic constructions revealed that the L1 Chinese group did not perform as well as the other groups on past tense constructions, which do not exist in Chinese but do exist in Slavic languages. However, there were no between-group differences on superlative and comparative constructions, which exist in all three languages. Findings/conclusions: The results contribute to our knowledge about cross-linguistic influences between English, Slavic, and Chinese, showing that L1 Slavic facilitates the learnability of L2 English, while L1 Chinese impedes the learnability of L2 English. Originality: The originality of the study lies in the comparison of children from three different L1 groups, matched with respect to reading level. The examination of languages that are typologically different in their syntax is unique. Significance/implications: The results highlight the importance of taking the specific language backgrounds of L2 learners into consideration. Limitations: The current study did not include an assessment of L1 language proficiency among participants.

Presupposition in the Movie "Pitch Perfect"

This research attempts to classify the type and analyze the function of presupposition in the movie Pitch Perfect. According to Yule’s theory of presupposition type (1996), 114 presuppositions are found: existential triggered by definite description and possessive construction (22.06%), factive triggered by factiveverb/predicate; temporal clause; the word thank,lexical triggered by implicative predicate; change of state verb; iterative; cleft sentence; comparisons; adverbs; superlative construction (24.83%), structural triggered by WH-question (11.72%), non-factive (7.58%), and counterfactual if- clause (7.58%). Based Jakobson’s theory (1960), there are 4 functions of presupposition in the movie: referential (35.10%), emotive (42.10%), conative (10.52%), and phatic (12.28%).

Construções superlativas do português brasileiro: tri [x], baita [x] e puta [x

Este estudo objetiva explorar construções superlativas a partir da Gramática das Construções (GOLDBERG, 1995, 2006; MIRANDA; SALOMÃO, 2009), tendo como aporte teórico-metodológico central estudos já realizados sobre superlatividade (CARRARA, 2015; MACHADO, 2011). A fim de averiguar expressões produtivas candidatas a construções superlativas no uso coloquial do Português Brasileiro, investigamos as ocorrências das expressões tri (como prefixo), baita e puta, no Corpus do Português. Na análise, consultamos as definições de tri, baita e puta, com o objetivo de elucidar a possível origem e motivação para as expressões. Quanto à formalização, enquadramo-las em padrões propostos nos estudos revisados, com tri como uma Construção Prefixal de Modificação de Grau (CARRARA, 2015); e baita e puta como Construções Superlativas Genéricas (MACHADO, 2011). A análise dos dados possibilitou propor matrizes construcionais e sugerir a ampliação da rede construcional superlativa no Português Brasileiro.

Comparative and Superlative Constructions in Alaskan Athabascan Languages

Comparative and Superlative Constructions in Alaskan Athabascan Languages