The latest take on intensional superlatives

Abstract

This work presents a new solution to the debate whether superlative adjectives can reconstruct within relative clauses containing an intensional predicate. I propose that that- clauses can be construed as superlative clauses corresponding to the domain argument of -est and involving degree relativization. This approach provides new ways to address the various issues of the debate related to interpretation, intervention effects, NPI licensing, and specificity of superlatives as compared to other adjectival modifiers.