English Gradable Adjectives And Their Absolute And Relative Senses

Most members in the English adjective class are gradable, nouns and verbs are not. A study of the gradable adjectives, then, will make us gain a better understanding of the differences between them. Some of the differences are: Why most adjectives can occur with degree modifiers while most nouns and verbs cannot? Why most adjectives ca. take comparative- and superlative-degree forms while most nouns and verbs cannot? What's more, a study of the senses of gradable adjectives will help us explain several linguistic phenomena regarding gradable adjectives in certain constructions in a consistent and unified way, which, as far as I know, hasn't been done by others.This thesis consists of three chapters. In chapter one we first give very brief introduction to English adjectives, then we present a description of the semantic characteristics of gradable adjectives. Among the four semantic characteristics we lay stress on gradabillty and relativity, since gradability is the defining characteristic of gradable adjectives and relativity helps us explain several linguistic phenomena presented in this thesis.On the basis of the discussion of the relative characteristics, in chapter two we first distinguish two senses of gradable adjectives, the absolute sense, and the relative sense. Corresponding to theese senses, there are two functions, namely, to suggest a high or low value on a relevant dimension-scale denoted by the adjective or to present the dimension as a whole. The two-sense distinction is very important can be used not only to explain the uses of gradable adjectives as comparative elements in equative and comparative constructions but to provide us with the proof for the postulation of sub-scales in dealing with the uses of gradable adjectives in the derivation of Scalar Quantity implicatures. In the rest of chapter two, the uses of gradable adjectives as comparative elements in equative and comparative constructions are examined. We tentatively suggest that adjectives used in standard comparisons have a relative sense, and in comparisons of devia the an absolute sense. This suggestion affords us a way to explain the so-called obligatory omission in the subordinate clauses of equative and comparative constructions when the comparisons are made with respe. to one standard and the so-called cross-polar anomaly.Chapter three deals with the grading of gradable adjectives and their uses as scalar predicates in the derivation of Scalar Quantity implicatures. First, the implicit grading and the explicit grading ar-e distinguished. The implicit grading is made with reference to a norm and the explicit grading is made, with reference to a specific entity (or a group of entities ). This explains why the explicitly graded terms do not necessarily mean more or less than the implicitly graded adjectives and have the relative feature. The implicitly graded adjectives can be graded by degree adverbs. These adverbs convey the degrees of intensity of the adjectives and make the different degrees constitute a scale according to the more or less relationship between them. Sometimes, the implicitly graded adjectives can also be further gra by comparatives. At this time, the comparatives denote a higher degree than the implicitly graded adjectives, such as taller in taller than tall.These further graded adjectives can constitute a scale together with the implicitly graded terms.The implicitly graded adjectives are very important for our discussion of adjectives used as scalar predicates to derive Scalar Quantity implicatures. Since they have already been implicitly graded, the different degrees obtained by further grading can only form part of a scale defined by adjectives used in the relative sense. We refer to the part of the scale on which the implicitly graded adjectives operate as a sub-scale, and hold that scalar adjectives belonging to different sub-scales cannot be used to derive the Scalar Quantity implicatures in the same sentence. Our postulation of the concept of sub-scales is based on the observa...