Superlative 'More

Language

This paper reports on the results of a broad cross-linguistic study on the semantics of quantity words such as many in the superlative (e.g. most). While some languages use such a form to express both a relative reading (as in Gloria has visited the most continents) and a proportional reading (as in Gloria has visited most continents), the vast majority do not allow the latter, though all allow the former. Absolute readings for the superlatives of ordinary gradable adjectives, in contrast, are universal. We offer an explanation for this cross-linguistic generalization, centered around two core assumptions: quantity words denote gradable predicates of degrees, while proportional readings involve a comparison class of individuals. We argue that proportional readings arise in rare cases when the former assumption is violated.

Syntax, 2008

The standard view of superlatives treats them as a subkind of adjectives. However, in many languages, superlatives require the presence of a determiner, even in the predicate position. This leads to an apparent contradiction, since it is independently known that determiners syntactically combine with extended NP projections and are excluded with APs. This issue is resolved if superlative adjectives always appear in an attributive (modificational) position. Superlative phrases without an overt noun (e.g., in the predicative position) modify a null head noun. I show that this hypothesis immediately explains the restrictions on the distribution of superlatives in languages as diverse as Russian, French, German, Dutch, Breton, Spanish and Portuguese. I propose that the modificational nature of superlative adjectives can be derived from their semantics, and I argue that such a proposal yields a natural explanation of the behavior of superlatives in Hebrew and Persian. Finally, I discuss the interaction between this theory and the standard, movement-based analyses of comparatives and superlatives and provide an explanation for apparent counterexamples.

Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie occidentale

The goal of this paper is to reconcile the definite marking with the indefinite-like semantics of those superlatives that take a relative/comparative reading. Following Szabolcsi (1986) and Heim (1999), we will assume that the difference between absolute and relative readings of superlatives is represented at the syntactic level of semantic representation, LF (Logical Form). We will however depart from Heim’s hypothesis that what raises at LF is the superlative operator itself (EST). We will instead assume a quantificational-determiner analysis of EST, which involves two raising operations at LF: EST-raising to Spec,DP and raising of the whole superlative DP (Determiner Phrase) to a scope position in the sentence. We will examine the relative readings of quality superlatives. The generalizations and the proposed analysis are not assumed to extend to quantity superlatives.

Linguistics and Philosophy, 1995

Proceedings of the 2006 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing - EMNLP '06, 2006

In this paper we introduce an empirical approach to the semantic interpretation of superlative adjectives. We present a corpus annotated for superlatives and propose an interpretation algorithm that uses a wide-coverage parser and produces semantic representations. We achieve Fscores between 0.84 and 0.91 for detecting attributive superlatives and an accuracy in the range of 0.69-0.84 for determining the correct comparison set. As far as we are aware, this is the first automated approach to superlatives for open-domain texts and questions.

This paper proposes an account for the cross-linguistic distribution of relative readings in different types of superlative constructions. Pancheva and Tomaszewicz (2012) (hereinafter P&T) observe that a relative reading with NP internal focus is available in superlative expressions in some Slavic languages but not English. We look into this reading in greater details and provide a syntactic account for its distribution based on standard locality constraints and semantic assumptions of superlatives.

Proceedings of Salt 29, 2019

In this paper, I present a novel compositional analysis of modal predicative superlatives, that is, predicative superlatives accompanied by modal adjectives such as possible, as that in (1). (1) Mary wanted to be the prettiest possible. I argue that they are elliptical bona fide degree-relative clauses denoting maximal degrees and whose semantic contribution is similar to that of Measure Phrases. This account will require a novel composition of the superlative which involves the formation of an ordered set and the selection of a maximal element. I argue that not only is this account able to derive their peculiar semantics (dispensing us from the ad hoc components that previous accounts posited), but it can also capture the morphosyntax of these constructions, especially in Romance languages, which turn out more informative than English in this respect.

2012

Choosing quantity over quality: syntax guides interpretive preferences for novel superlatives Alexis Wellwood ([email protected]) Darko Odic ([email protected]) Department of Linguistics 1401 Marie Mount Hall College Park, MD 20742 USA Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences 3400 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 USA Justin Halberda ([email protected]) Jeffrey Lidz ([email protected]) Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences 3400 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 USA Department of Linguistics 1401 Marie Mount Hall College Park, MD 20742 USA Abstract Acquiring the correct meanings of number words (e.g., seven, forty-two) is challenging, as such words fail to describe salient properties of individuals or objects in their environment, re- ferring rather to properties of sets of such objects or individu- als. Understanding how children succeed in this task requires a precise understanding not only of the kinds of data children have available to them, but also of the char...

Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America

Although the relative versus absolute ambiguity in superlatives is well established, there is no consensus regarding how the comparison classes which gives rise to these ambiguities are determined. Two factors, the LF syntax of –est and focus, have been said to determine the comparison classes. In this paper, I provide novel data from Malayalam, a language without adjectives, which require both a movement theory of superlatives and focus to derive the readings.

Journal of Semantics, 1998

The hypothesis that two logical schemes are, more or less directly, involved in the so-called quantificational' readings of superlatives is defended in the present paper. It is argued, in particular, that sentences like, e.g. John can solve the most difficult problem and John cannot solve the easiest problem can be associated with their corresponding quantificational' interpretations, i.e. John can solve any problem and John cannot solve any problem, only in the contexts in which they are uttered, and understood, as the key premises, A and not B, of modus ponendo ponens and modus tollendo tollens, respectively. This hypothesis, it is also argued, gains some generalizations missed in Fauconnier's (I975a, b, I979, 1980) well-known analysis of the relevant phenomena in terms of pragmatic scalarity'. In particular, (i) it can clearly distinguish between contexts in which these quantificational' readings are welcome and contexts in which they are not, (ii) it can naturally account for the alleged similarity' between (existential/universal) any and quantifying' superlatives like the most difficult, the easiest, etc., and, what is important, (iii) it can uniformly characterize the mosaic of the environments in which scalarity' phenomena occur, allowing us to explain what it is about exactly these environments (and not others) that makes them licensers of the quantificational' readings