A different kind of phrasal comparatives with a non-transformational Schönfinkelization in semantic composition: the case of Jordanian Arabic
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Abdel-Rahman Abu Helal
Abstract
Cross-linguistically, phrasal comparatives have been shown to vary with respect to the categorical status and denotational meaning of their standard of comparison (i.e., the NP constituent following the ‘than’ particle): whether the standard of comparison in phrasal comparatives is to be categorized as a superficially individual-denoting nominal expression or it is to be interpreted as an underlyingly degree-denoting reduced clause that undergoes deletion in the syntax. This paper argues that Jordanian Arabic (JA) is a language which makes use of phrasal comparatives with no clausal source in the standard of comparison. The paper further shows that the comparative head (i.e., the –er morpheme) in JA phrasal comparatives requires a special instance of Schönfinkelization of the comparative operator which relates individual-denoting objects with no transformations in the syntax-semantics interface.
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- A different kind of phrasal comparatives with a non-transformational Schönfinkelization in semantic composition: the case of Jordanian Arabic
- On the relation between negation and phases
- Aspects of pitch in textsetting: a suprasegmental analysis of two Turkish versions of Franz Schubert’s Ellens Gesang III (D. 839)
- The role of biased polar question particles in discourse: the case of Macedonian zar and neli
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- A different kind of phrasal comparatives with a non-transformational Schönfinkelization in semantic composition: the case of Jordanian Arabic
- On the relation between negation and phases
- Aspects of pitch in textsetting: a suprasegmental analysis of two Turkish versions of Franz Schubert’s Ellens Gesang III (D. 839)
- The role of biased polar question particles in discourse: the case of Macedonian zar and neli
