NounsA(ribu,velyModifyingAdjec,vesinEnglishCharlieO’Hara
WhatdoesitmeantobeMi#Romneyrich?
• Tworeadingsareavailable,• thedegreereading(asrichasMiDRomney)
• thedimensionreading(richinthesamewayasMiDRomney)
WhatrangeofnounsandadjecHvescanappearinthisconstrucHon?
• AslongasthereferentofthenounsaHsfiestheadjecHveinafamiliarway,thisconstrucHonisavailable.
• CommonnounsmustnothaveindefinitearHcles.
• Certaindefinitesandpronounsfail.
1.Overview
Thefirstreadinghasbeenstudiedmorethanthedimensionreading,oMenonoftheonlyreadingsforN+Acompoundsconsidered(asingrassgreen,paperthin,snowwhite.(Marchand1960,Ebeling1978,Bauer2011)
TwoconstrucHonsworthcomparingthistoare(irregular)measurephrasesandequaHves(BhaD&Pancheva2007,ReD2008).
• DegreeReading≠MeasurePhrase
• MeasurephrasessimilarlyinvolvenounsthatmodifythedegreeoftheadjecHvebyappearinginanaDribuHveposiHon
(8) Theboardis(afoot/twofeet)long.
(9) Thefoot-longboardisreadytobecut.
(10) Thedoorwayis(aYaoMing/twoYaoMings)tall.
(11) *Thefoot-talldoorwayistoosmall.
• However,notethatunliketheDegreeNP-Modifier,thisreadingrequirescountmorphology(a,two,etc.),unlesstheadjecHveisaDribuHvelymodifyinganoun.
• Further,measurephrasesarerestrictedtocertainsetsofadjecHves,onalanguagespecificbasis.(Schwarzschild2005)
(12) *Maryis27MPHfast.
(13) MaryisUsainBoltfast.
• Thewayanirregularmeasurephrasedeterminesthesalientdimensionofthecomparisonindividualisdifferent.
• AsculpturethatisaYaoMingtall,andaYaoMingwidecanbe7’6”inbothdimensions.
• AsculpturethatisYaoMingtallandYaoMingwidehasdimensionssimilartoYaoMingstandingup.
• Finally,unlikemeasurephrases,DegreeNP-modifiersallowindirectcomparisons.
• IfMaryisamiddleschooler:
(14) MaryisYaoMingtall.=Maryistallforamiddleschooler,likeYaoMingisfortheNBAorpeopleingeneral.
(15) MaryisaYaoMingtall.canonlymeanMaryis7’6”.
TypicallyitisconsideredsynonymouswiththeequaHve.
• YaoMingtall=astallasYaoMing
However,thisequivalenceisn’tcompletelytrue.
• ComparewiththeequaHve:
• IndirectequaHvesareallowed.
(16) MaryisastallforamiddleschoolerasYaoMingisforaNBAplayer.
• However,thereseemstobeadifferencebetweenthetwoconstrucHons.
(17)StephCurryisnotasgoodasJordan,butheisdefinitelyJordangood.
(18)#StephCurryisnotJordangood,butheisasgoodasJordan.
• ImaginethatMayais20feettall:
(19)IsMayaastallasYaoMing? Yesshe’staller
(20)IsMayaYaoMingtall? #Yesshe’staller
• ThisdatademonstratesthattherangeofdegreesquanHfiedoverbytheequaHveandthedegreeNP-modifieraredisjunct.
• WhileequaHvesareevaluatedimpreciselyenoughtoallowvaluesthatarebarelysmallerthanthecomparison;NP-modifiersrequireawiderrange.
• Thisrangeseemstobebasedonthestructureofthecomparisonclassofthemodifier.
• ‘15-’16StephCurrygoodallowsawiderrangethanBarryBondsgood.
3.DegreeReading
TheDimensionNP-ModifierreferencessomepropertyoftheNP’sAdj-ness.
• ThisappliesevenforprototypicalmonodimensionaladjecHvesliketall.
• YaoMingandAndretheGiantaresimilarheights,buttheirbodytypesaredifferent:YaoMingisskinny,AndretheGiantisbroad.Presumewehaveanelephantandgiraffeofthesameheight.
(21) TheelephantisAndretheGianttall.ThegiraffeisYaoMingtall.
• Here,AndretheGiant/YaoMingtallmakereferencetooverallbuild,notjustheight.
• However,thesedimensionsareavailableelsewhere,considerhowwechoosethetallcup.
• Thus,itcanbearguedthatthesedimensionsareinherentinthelexicalmeaningoftheadjecHve.
• ThesereadingsmustbedoublyevaluaHve;i.e.iftheelephantisnottall,itcanbeneitherAndretheGianttallornotAndretheGianttall.
• UnlikethedegreeNP-modifier,thisreadingcanbefoundbelowdegreemorphology.
(22) @QueenDemetriaxendedupmoreOsamaBinLadenfamousthanshehadhoped.
(23) MaryismoreYaoMingtallthanErin.(cannotmeanclosertoYaoMing’sheight).
• Thismeans,thatDimensionNP-modifierscanstackunderotherNP-modifiers.
(24) TylerisAndretheGianttall,butnottheelephantAndretheGianttall.
• DimensionNP-modifiersactuallyshiMthescaletosomeotherdimension,notjusttosimilaritytoNP’sAdjness.
(25) ThisnewshowismoreDr.WhonerdythanDr.Who
• AllsortsofNPscanappearasamodifierofanadjecHve.
• ProperNouns
(1) MaryisUsainBoltfast.
• Determinerlesscommonnouns
(2) Maryischeetahfast.
• StrongDefinites(alaSchwarz2009)
(3) MikeisthePrimeMinisterofCanadahot.(c.f.MikeisPrimeMinisterofCanadahot.)
• MoreComplexDPs
(4) HerIDwassuspicious,butnotthreeli#leboysinonebigtrenchcoatsneakingintoanR-ratedmoviesuspicious.
• Similarly,allsortsofadjecHves(KennedyandMcnally2005)canappearwitheithermeaning:
• EvennonscalaradjecHves:
(5) Degree:GeorgeWashingtondead
(6) Dimension:Tupacdead
• WhatiscriHcalisthatthisconstrucHonisevalua,ve(inthesenseofReD2008)orposi,ve-entailing.
(7) *MaryisDannyDevitotall.
NOTE:notallNoun-AdjecZvecompoundsofthissortareevaluaZve,butthosethatarenothavedifferentmeanings.
i.e.He’snotshort,buthe’sNBAPlayershort.
2.NP-modifiers
4.DimensionNP-modifier
• Isketchtwonulloperators,onetohandleeachofthesereadings.• ThedegreeNP-modifierneedstobeabletohandletwothings
• IndirectComparison
• SensiHvitytoComparisonClassStructure
• Inordertogetindirectcomparison,IfollowBale(2008).
(26) EsmeistallerforawomanthanSeymourisforaman.
• BaleshowsthatcomparisonclassesmustbepartofevaluaHngthescales,sothatSeymouristallerthanEsmedoesn’tdenythis.
• Esme’sheight=μ(≥TALL↾W)(e) Seymour’sheight=μ(≥TALL↾M)(s)
• Thus,thesetwoscalesmustbetranslatedtoauniversalscale,throughsomehomomorphisms!(≥TALL↾W/M).(≥TALL↾W/M).
• ThesemanHcsofdegreeNP-modifiersmustbeabletodothesame.
• However,Baleusesquasi-orderingstogetthescaleslike≥TALL↾W.
• Thus,ordermaDersbutdistancedoesnot.
• IfassuggestedbeforeDegreeNP-modifiershavereferencetothedensityofthecomparisonclass,thisisnotenough.
• ThesamecanbeshownfornormalindirectcomparaHves.
• Imagine,Esmeisthetallestwoman,butisjustoneinchaboveaverage,butSeymouristhesecondtallestman,2feetaboveaverage.
• AdistanceinsensHvetheoryofscalesgettheincorrectresultthat(26)istrueinthiscase,orthat(27)isalwaysfalse.
(27) ThemostbeauHfulwomanismorebeauHfulforawomanthanthemostbeauHfulmanisforaman.
• SKETCHOFOPERATORFORDEGREENP-MODIFIERS
[[SIM]]=λy.λP<d,et>.λx.∀z∈Cy[|!(≥P↾CX)(x)-!(≥P↾CY)(z)|>|!(≥P↾CX)(x)-!(≥P↾CY)(y)|](≥P↾CX)(x)-!(≥P↾CY)(z)|>|!(≥P↾CX)(x)-!(≥P↾CY)(y)|](≥P↾CY)(z)|>|!(≥P↾CX)(x)-!(≥P↾CY)(y)|](≥P↾CX)(x)-!(≥P↾CY)(y)|](≥P↾CY)(y)|]
5a.NullOperator(Degree)• TheDimensionNP-modifierrequiresadifferentnulloperator.
• Thetypeofthisoperatormustbedifferent,sinceitsHllhasadegreeargument.
• ThedoubleevaluaHvitymustbehardcodedinasapresupposiHon.
• ⅅ(P)representsasetofdimensionsthatarepartofP,i.e.breadthfortallness.
• SKETCHOFOPERATORFORDIMENSIONNP-MODIFIERS
[[DIM]]=λy.λP<d,et>.λd.λx:[[POSP]].∃Q<d,et>∈ⅅ(P)[[[POSQ]CY(y)⋀Q(x,d)]
5b.NullOperator(Dimension)
Bale, A, 2008. A universal scale of comparison. Linguistics and Philosophy, 31(1). Bauer, L, 2011. Typology of compounds. In: Lieber, R. and Štekauer, P (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Compounding. Oxford University Press. Bhatt, R. and Pancheva, R. 2007. Degree quantifiers, position of merger effects with their restrictors and conservativity. In: Barker, C and Jacobson, P. (eds) Direct compositionality. Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics vol. 14. Oxford University Press. Ebeling, C.L. 1978 Syntax and semantics: A taxonomic approach. Brill Archive. Kennedy, C. and McNally, L. 2005. Scale structure, degree modification, and the semantics of gradable predicates. Language, 345-381. Marchand, H. 1960 The categories and types of Present-day English word-formation. Rett, J. 2008. Degree Modification in Natural Language. Ph.D. thesis, Rutegers. Schwarz, F. 2009 Two types of definites in Natural Language. Ph.D. thesis, Umass Amherst. Schwarzschild, R. 2005. Measure phrases as modifiers of adjectives. Reserches Linguistiques de Vincennes, 35, 207-228
Thanks to Karen Jesney, Barry Schein, Andrew Simpson, Maria Luisa Zubizaretta for comments on this project. Thanks to Peter Klecha, Betsy Pillion for helpful insight and suggestions. Special thanks to Roumyana Pancheva for unequable guidance and patience.
For sources for data, go to dornsife.usc.edu/ohara/research
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