A Study On Semantics And Scale Of Adjective Opposites

As one of paradigmatic semantic relations,oppositeness has attracted attention of linguists,logicians and psychologists.Specifically,the study of oppositeness manifest itself as a study of opposites in linguistics,which has been a hot topic recently in the realm of linguistics.Based on previous studies of opposites,linguists have reached a consensus on definitions,classifications and linguistic characteristics of adjective opposites,namely,gradability and complementarity.However,traditional semantics analyzes degrees and scales of adjective opposites through adverbial modifiers such as very,relatively,extremely which roughly divide degrees of adjective opposites,accordingly,degree distribution and scale structures of adjective opposites cannot be denoted precisely and intuitively.The theory of Degree Semantics developed in the 1970s,provides an effective way to measure gradability of adjective opposites and to explicitly explore semantic properties and scale structures of adjective opposites.Representatives of Degree Semantics(Cresswell 1976,Von Stechow 1984,Kennedy 1999,Kennedy&McNally 2005,Morzycki 2015)have made an amount of researches on degrees and scales of adjectives.Degree Semantics introduces an element of "degree" to indicate gradability and a concept of scale to measure abstract gradability.In short,a scale has three crucial parameters:a set of degrees which represents measurement values;a dimension which indicates the kind of measurement(e.g.height,width and weight);and an ordering relation.Scale can be indicated as a ternary relation S=<D,<,DIM>.Degree Semantics proposes basic concepts and technological means to describe gradability of adjective opposites directly and precisely.An analysis of degree distributions and scale structures of adjective opposites can facilitates a comprehensive understanding of semantics in essence.In brief,the concept of gradability and scale offers a new angle to analyze vagueness of adjective opposites and get a clear picture of its semantics.The study combines abstract theory of Degree Semantics with adjective opposites to analyze their vagueness and gradability,which is specific in analysis of degree distributions and scale structures of adjective opposites.At first,the study explores previous studies on gradability of adjective opposites,based on theory of traditional semantics,it analyzes scalar characteristics of adjective opposites.Specifically,adjective opposites are characterized as gradability and continuity,objectivity and subjectivity,definiteness and vagueness,dynamic nature and static state,quantitative and non-quantitative,and single-dimensional and bidimensionality.Then degree distributions and scale structures of adjective opposites are deliberated,and minimum and maximal elements of scale structures are explores from the perspective of Degree Semantics.Specifically,scale structures of adjective opposites are top-closed scale,bottom-closed scale,open scale or fully-closed scale.Semantics of adjective opposites can be precisely described by scale structures with maximal or minimum elements.