Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites

This paper deals with a hitherto little studied type of superlative, so-called 'superlative minimizers', which in Spanish take the form el más mínimo N 'the slightest N'. Several tests show that these superlatives are non-specific or non-referential, despite their necessarily def...

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Autor: Delgado Díaz, Ulises|||0000-0003-1688-2098
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:299510
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/299510
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.347
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Superlatives
Superlative minimizers
Quantity-superlatives
Definiteness
Weak definites
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spelling Superlative Minimizers as Weak DefinitesA study on SpanishDelgado Díaz, Ulises|||0000-0003-1688-2098SuperlativesSuperlative minimizersQuantity-superlativesDefinitenessWeak definitesThis paper deals with a hitherto little studied type of superlative, so-called 'superlative minimizers', which in Spanish take the form el más mínimo N 'the slightest N'. Several tests show that these superlatives are non-specific or non-referential, despite their necessarily definite shape. The semantic properties of these expressions cannot be accounted for using the usual tools in theories on definiteness or quantity superlatives. The aim of this work is to provide a compositional analysis that explains several properties of these superlatives, particularly their non-specific nature and restrictions on the type of noun they admit. Assuming a kind-based semantics for nouns and a state-based theory on gradability, I propose that superlative minimizers express uniqueness over state-kinds, thus giving rise to a non-specific meaning of the DP and a quantity meaning, since state-kinds are scalar-ordered in the extensional domain of nouns. As a consequence, this work straddles two lines of research: on the one hand, it broadens our knowledge on quantity superlatives (cf. Hackl 2009, Solt 2012, a.o.) with a new type subject to previously unstudied characteristics; on the other, SMs are a type of the much-studied weak definites (cf. Aguilar-Guevara & Zwarts 2010, Abbott 2014, a.o.). 22024-01-0120242024-01-01Articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://ddd.uab.cat/record/299510https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.347reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UABinstname:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaInglésengAgencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 PID2021-123617NB-C43open accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ddd.uab.cat:2995102026-06-06T12:50:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites
A study on Spanish
title Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites
spellingShingle Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites
Delgado Díaz, Ulises|||0000-0003-1688-2098
Superlatives
Superlative minimizers
Quantity-superlatives
Definiteness
Weak definites
title_short Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites
title_full Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites
title_fullStr Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites
title_full_unstemmed Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites
title_sort Superlative Minimizers as Weak Definites
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Delgado Díaz, Ulises|||0000-0003-1688-2098
author Delgado Díaz, Ulises|||0000-0003-1688-2098
author_facet Delgado Díaz, Ulises|||0000-0003-1688-2098
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Superlatives
Superlative minimizers
Quantity-superlatives
Definiteness
Weak definites
topic Superlatives
Superlative minimizers
Quantity-superlatives
Definiteness
Weak definites
description This paper deals with a hitherto little studied type of superlative, so-called 'superlative minimizers', which in Spanish take the form el más mínimo N 'the slightest N'. Several tests show that these superlatives are non-specific or non-referential, despite their necessarily definite shape. The semantic properties of these expressions cannot be accounted for using the usual tools in theories on definiteness or quantity superlatives. The aim of this work is to provide a compositional analysis that explains several properties of these superlatives, particularly their non-specific nature and restrictions on the type of noun they admit. Assuming a kind-based semantics for nouns and a state-based theory on gradability, I propose that superlative minimizers express uniqueness over state-kinds, thus giving rise to a non-specific meaning of the DP and a quantity meaning, since state-kinds are scalar-ordered in the extensional domain of nouns. As a consequence, this work straddles two lines of research: on the one hand, it broadens our knowledge on quantity superlatives (cf. Hackl 2009, Solt 2012, a.o.) with a new type subject to previously unstudied characteristics; on the other, SMs are a type of the much-studied weak definites (cf. Aguilar-Guevara & Zwarts 2010, Abbott 2014, a.o.).
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2
2024-01-01
2024
2024-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://ddd.uab.cat/record/299510
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.347
url https://ddd.uab.cat/record/299510
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.347
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Agencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 PID2021-123617NB-C43
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
instname:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
instname_str Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
collection Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
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