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Article published In:
Linguistic Variation
Vol. 21:2 (2021) ► pp.281–321

Gradability across grammatical domains

| University of Manchester
| University of Kansas

This paper argues that ordered abstract scales are applicable to analyses of a range of grammatical domains. We argue this based on data from a number of unrelated languages, primarily Logoori (Bantu, JE 41; Kenya). The Logoori verb kudoka can be translated into English as ‘to arrive’/‘to reach,’ ‘to be enough,’ and ‘must,’ depending on its linguistic context. We propose that these meanings arise from a single semantic denotation that is sensitive to a shared gradable component in the semantics of linguistic expressions referring to spatial paths, gradable predicates, measures of plural count nouns/mass nouns, and modals. The central theoretical issue addressed in this paper is the application of ordered, abstract scales in a model of grammar. This data and proposal is an important contribution to the literature arguing for a gradable model of modality (Lassiter 2014, 2017b, among others).

Keywords: semantics, gradability, gradable predicates, modality, Bantu
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Logoori data
    • 2.1Background on Logoori
    • 2.2Degree use of kudoka (‘to be enough’)
    • 2.3Amount use of kudoka (‘to be enough’)
    • 2.4Spatial use of kudoka (‘to arrive’/‘to reach’)
    • 2.5Modal use of kudoka (‘must’)
  • 3.Background on gradability
    • 3.1Gradability and adjectives (PCLs)
    • 3.2Gradability and plural count/mass nouns
    • 3.3Gradability and spatial paths
    • 3.4Gradability and modality
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Components of our analysis
    • 4.2Application of our analysis
      • 4.2.1Degree use (‘to be enough’)
      • 4.2.2Amount use (‘to be enough’)
      • 4.2.3Spatial use (‘to arrive’/‘to reach’)
      • 4.2.4Modal use (‘must’)
    • 4.3Recap
  • 5.An alternate analysis: Shifting to degrees
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 18 January 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.20003.bow
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