Gradable Adjectives and Degree Expressions

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the semantics of gradable adjectives and the grammatical mechanisms by which the meaning of these adjectives is modulated. This entails a discussion of how gradability and vagueness are related, and of how best to model that relation semantically. Perhaps the most informative window into this domain is the class of degree constructions – which includes comparatives, equatives, superlatives, and their less‐well‐understood grammatical cousins. These provide a view of how adjectives fit into larger structures, but it's possible to look in the other direction as well, by using a variety of degree morphemes (such as very and fully ) to explore subtle distinctions in the lexical semantics of adjectives themselves. Finally, over the last decade or so, major strides have been made toward answering a central question: how do languages differ in how they express gradation and comparison?

Metalinguistic gradability

“…Note, this is compatible with such words being "vague" in that they admit of borderline cases. While vagueness and gradability are clearly related, it is generally acknowledged that they do not always go together (Kennedy 2007, Burnett 2016, Morzycki 2021).…”

“…While some recent theorists provide semantic accounts of MCs situated within the literature on gradability (e.g., Giannakidou & Yoon 2011, Giannakidou & Stavrou 2009, Morzycki 2011, Wellwood 2014, 2019, the focus has still overwhelmingly been on the comparative. The neglect of other forms of metalinguistic gradability comes out starkly in Morzycki's (2021) survey of gradable adjectives and degree expressions, where MCs are treated as an "exotic" type of comparative, and substantive discussion of other gradable constructions deals only with gradable adjectives. For us, MCs are just one example of metagradability, along a whole parallel track of such constructions.…”