Total vs. Partial Adjectives: Evidence from Reduplication

Abstract

This paper provides evidence for a structural difference between two classes of antonym adjectives, namely, total and partial adjectives, for example, clean and dirty (Yoon 1996; Rotstein & Winter 2004). Based on data from morpho-phonological processes in Czech we argue that only total adjectives have their standard value represented in the derivation. In contrast, the standard value of the partial adjectives is determined pragmatically. Furthermore, we argue that antonym adjectives must be at least sometimes represented by overlapping scales. A consequence of the proposed analysis is that an empirically adequate account of antonym adjectives must supply a part of the denotation from lexical semantics and part from the context.