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Arguing with “at least” constructions

  • Nicole Katzir

    Nicole Katzir is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics at Tel Aviv University. Her research interests lie in Semantics and Pragmatics, and she currently focuses on usage-based analyses of quantity expressions.

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Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 13. November 2019
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Abstract

Based on corpus data from the Hebrew web corpus HeTenTen, I analyze the discourse argumentative functions of constructions associated with superlative minimum modifiers (e. g. at least). I adopt Kay’s (1992. At least. In Adrienne Lehrer & Eva Feder Kittay (eds.), Frames, fields, and contrasts: New essays in semantic and lexical organization, 309–331. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum) distinction between three such sub-constructions: Scalar, Rhetorical and Evaluative, but I offer further distinctions within these constructions. Most importantly, despite the differences between them, I argue that all three constructions are used to construct non-optimal, yet sufficient arguments.

About the author

Nicole Katzir

Nicole Katzir is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics at Tel Aviv University. Her research interests lie in Semantics and Pragmatics, and she currently focuses on usage-based analyses of quantity expressions.

Acknowledgements

The research here reported was carried out as part of my graduate studies at Tel Aviv University, supervised by Mira Ariel, to whom I extend my sincere gratitude. I am grateful for the financial support I received from Israel Science Foundation grant 431/15 to Mira Ariel. I’m also indebted to my reviewers and to Larry Horn for their helpful feedback and suggestions.

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Published Online: 2019-11-13
Published in Print: 2019-11-26

© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Heruntergeladen am 14.10.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ip-2019-0028/html?lang=de
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