Adjectives and degree modification

Abstract

Abstract Adjectives are often considered to be the prototypical example of a “gradable” category. Degree expressions such as too are restricted to adjectives and morphological comparatives, and superlatives are found for adjectives and not for other categories. This has led several linguists to assume that gradability is a distinctive property of adjectives (see, among others, Jack end off 1977), while others rather insist on the fact that gradability is found across categories (see Bolinger 1972; Bresnan 1973; Doetjes 1997; Neeleman et al. 2004). This chapter investigates the relation between grad ability and the category “adjective,” as opposed to other categories, on the basis of the distribution of degree expressions.

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