Zero or minimum degree? Rethinking minimum gradable adjectives

Authors

  • Ciyang Qing

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18148/sub/2021.v25i0.964

Abstract

This paper examines the class of minimum gradable adjectives (minimum GAs), the standards of whose positive forms are traditionally characterized in terms of minimum degrees. Using profitable as a case study, I argue that their standards are better characterized using zero degrees, which may not be minimum degrees. Moreover, I show that this zero-standard interpretation cannot be derived by existing approaches, and propose that it is derived by a newcompositional mechanism, which also derives the truth conditions of plain comparatives and is different from the one that derives the relative-standard interpretation of a positive form.

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Published

2021-09-17

How to Cite

Qing, C. (2021). Zero or minimum degree? Rethinking minimum gradable adjectives. Proceedings of Sinn Und Bedeutung, 25, 733–750. https://doi.org/10.18148/sub/2021.v25i0.964