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Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 15: Selected papers from 'Going Romance' 30, Frankfurt
Edited by Ingo Feldhausen, Martin Elsig, Imme Kuchenbrandt and Mareike Neuhaus
[Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 15] 2019
► pp. 295–312

Chapter 15
A typology of evaluative nouns

ORCID logo | Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Evaluative nouns (ENs, idiota ‘idiot’, matasanos ‘quack’) do not only assign a property, but also express a value judgment. A degree analysis (Bolinger 1972; Matushansky 2002; Morzycki 2009) encounters some problems, such as the controversial status of nominal gradability and the relation between gradability and value judgment. By focusing on Spanish data, this study shows that the defining element for ENs is an expressive component of meaning and that these nouns may vary on their gradability and the target of their expressive meaning. Based on this, a typology of ENs is established. In doing so, this paper contributes to the understanding of evaluativity and the connection between gradability and subjectivity in the nominal domain.

Keywords: evaluative nouns, nominal gradability, expressive meaning, subjectivity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The class of evaluative nouns
  • 3.Gradability of evaluative nouns
    • 3.1Not all ENs are gradable
    • 3.2Gradable ENs denote extreme degrees of properties
  • 4.The expressive component of evaluative nouns
    • 4.1All evaluative nouns include an expressive component
    • 4.2ENs differ with respect to the target of the expressive component
  • 5.Subjectivity
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 9 October 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.15.15mas
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