Chapter 4 Proposal
4.3 The semantic analysis of the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative
4.3.2 The obligatory occurrence of yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the optional
Following Liu’s (2007) analysis of the X A (Y) D comparative, we propose that
12 Schwarzchild and Wilkinson (2002) define two differentials―SOME and NO―in (i). When there is no overt differential in the comparative, Diff is realized as SOME, which says that an interval is equal to or greater than some contextually specified minimum.
(i) a. SOME(J) = 1 iff the size of J equals or exceeds δ, where δis determined by context.
b. NO(J) = 1 iff the size of J is less than or equal toδ, where δis determined by context.
the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative contains the covert verbal suffix –ex, which is grammaticalized from its overt counterpart –guo ‘exceed’. The X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative, for example (116a), has a logical structure like (116b) under the interval-based analysis of the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative (cf. Schwarzchild and Wilkinson 2002).
(116) a. Wangwu shaowei gao Zhaoying yi-dianer.
Wangwu slightly tall Zhaoying a-little ‘Wangwu is a little bit taller than Zhaoying.’
b. ∃I ∃K [gao’(Wangwu, I)&gao’(Zhaoying, K)&yi-dianer’([I－K])].
‘There is an interval I on the height scale such that Wangwu is I-tall, there is another interval K such that Zhaoying is K-tall, and I differs from K by a little.’
As (116b) indicates, the measure phrase yi-dianer ‘a little’ is understood as the predicate that applies to the gap (i.e. the interval [I－K]) spanning from Zhaoying’s height up to Wangwu’s height. In other words, the measure phrase yi-dianer ‘a little’
restricts the interval argument of the adjective gao ‘tall’.
One of the characteristics of the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative is that the measure phrase yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ is obligatorily required, as the example in (117) indicates. Based on Liu’s (2007) analysis of the X A (Y) D comparative, grammaticalization makes the semantic content of the covert verbal suffix -ex (i.e. the exceeding meaning) in the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative bleached to such an extent that the covert verbal suffix –ex is incapable of functioning as a predicate strong enough to restrict the interval argument of the adjective. Since the measure phrase yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ is the only expression
available to restrict the interval argument of the adjective, its presence is obligatorily required in the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative.
(117) Wangwu shaowei gao Zhaoying *(yi-dianer).
Wangwu slightly tall Zhaoying a-little ‘Wangwu is a little bit taller than Zhaoying.’
In addition, the referential NP functioning as the target of comparison is optionally required in the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative, as the example in (118) indicates. Based on Liu’s (2007) analysis of the X A (Y) D comparative, grammaticalization makes the semantic content of the covert verbal suffix –ex (i.e. the exceeding meaning) in the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative so bleached that the transitivity force of the covert verbal suffix –ex is weak. This makes the presence of the referential NP functioning as the target of comparison optionally required in the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative.
(118) Wangwu shaowei gao (Zhaoying) yi-dianer.
Wangwu slightly tall Zhaoying a-little ‘Wangwu is a little bit taller than Zhaoying.’
In summary, the obligatory presence of the measure phrase yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the optional occurrence of the referential NP functioning as the target of comparison in the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative can be attributed to the bleached semantic content of the covert verbal suffix –ex involved in the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative.
Chapter 5
Apparent Seclectional Restrictions
5.1 Introduction
In this chapter, we discuss the cooccurrence of the measure phrase yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and degree adverbs belonging to the weak group of the second type and the strong group of the third type in Type I-IV comparative constructions, and that of the measure phrase yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and bi-constituents in Chinese bi comparatives (see Lu and Ma 1999). In section 5.2, we first introduce Lu and Ma’s (1999) classification of degree adverbs in Mandarin Chinese as preliminaries, and then we account for the apparent selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the degree adverb belonging to the strong group of the third type in Type I-IV comparative constructions. Finally we explain the apparent selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the degree adverb belonging to the weak group of the second type in Type I-IV comparative constructions. In 5.3, we provide an explanation of the apparent selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the bi-constituent in Chinese bi comparatives. Finally, the summary will be made in section 5.4.
5.2 The apparent selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the degree adverb
5.2.1 Preliminary: Degree adverbs in Mandarin Chinese
It has been argued, by Lu and Ma (1999), that degree adverbs in Mandarin Chinese can be classified into three types in terms of their compatibility with the following types of comparative constructions, where X and Y represent the comparison items, and F stands for the degree adverb.
(119) Type I Xiang-bi zhixia, X + F + AP with-compare under X + F + AP Type II Bijiao qil-ai, X + F + AP
compare arise-come X + F + AP Type III Gen Y xiang-bi, X + F + AP
with Y with-compare X + F + AP Type IV Bi-qi Y lai, X + F + AP
compare-arise Y come X + F + AP Type V Zai … zhong/shang, X + F + AP
at among/upside X + F + AP Type VI X + bi Y + F + AP
X + compare Y + F + AP
Each type of degree adverb can be further classified into a strong and a weak subgroup in light of its high- or low-level on the scale associated with the adjective involved. Degree adverbs which belong to the strong group of the first type include hen ‘very’, ting ‘very’, shifen ‘very’, wanfen ‘extremely’, feichang ‘extremely’, yichang ‘extraordinarily’, tai ‘too’, ji ‘extremely’, and jiduan ‘extremely’, whereas those belonging to the weak group include youdianer ‘a bit’ and youxie ‘a bit’. Lu and Ma (1999) further suggest that degree adverbs of this type are not compatible with any of the six types of comparative constructions listed in (119), as shown below.
(120) a. *Xiang-bi zhixia, zhe-jian jiaoshi hen/youdianer da.
with-compare under this-CL classroom very/a.bit big b. *Bijiao qil-ai, Lisi hen/youdianer gao.
compare arise-come Lisi very/a.bit tall
c. *Gen Lisi xiang-bi, Wangwu hen/youdianer gao.
with Lisi with-compare Wangwu very/a.bit tall d. *Bi-qi Lisi lai, Wangwu hen/youdianer gao.
compare-arise Lisi come Wangwu very/a.bit tall e. *Zai women dangzhong, Lisi hen/youdianer gao.
at 1pl among Lisi very/a.bit tall f. *Lisi bi Wangwu hen/youdianer gao.
Lisi compare Wangwu very/a.bit tall
The second type of degree adverb only occurs in Type I-V comparative constructions. Among adverbs of this type, those belonging to the strong group include zui ‘the most’, zuiwei ‘the most’, and ding ‘the most’, whereas the weak group has bijiao ‘comparatively’, jiao ‘comparatively’, jiaowei ‘comparatively’, and hai1
‘moderately’ as members.13
(121) a. Xiang-bi zhixia, zhe-shuang xie zui/jiao pianyi.
with-compare under this-CL shoe the.most/comparatively cheap
‘By comparison, this pair of shoes is the cheapest/cheaper.’
b. Bijiao qil-ai, Lisi zui/jiao gao.
compare arise-come Lisi the.most/comparatively tall
‘By comparison, Lisi is the tallest/taller.’
c. Gen qita ren xiang-bi, Lisi zui/jiao gao.
13 Hai as an adverb has two meanings. The first meaning, notated as hai1, signifies the low-level on the scale associated with the adjective involved, and roughly corresponds to shang ‘still’ in Archaic Chinese. The second meaning, notated as hai2, signifies the high-level on the scale associated with the adjective involved, and roughly corresponds to geng ‘even more’.
with other person with-compare Lisi the.most/comparatively tall
‘Compared to everyone else, Lisi is the tallest/taller.’
d. Bi-qi qita ren lai, Lisi zui/jiao gao.
compare-arise other person come Lisi the.most/comparatively tall
‘Compared to everyone else, Lisi is the tallest/taller.’
e. Zai women dangzhong, Lisi zui/jiao gao.
at 1pl among Lisi the.most/comparatively tall
‘Among us, Lisi is the tallest/taller.’
f. *Lisi bi Wangwu zui/jiao gao.
Lisi compare Wangwu the.most/comparatively tall
For the third type of degree adverb, the strong group includes geng ‘even more’, gengjia ‘even more’, gengwei ‘even more’, yuefa ‘even more’, yuejia ‘even more’, yujia ‘even more’, and hai2 ‘still’ while the weak group has adverbs like shaowei
‘slightly’, shao ‘slightly’, shaoshao ‘slightly’, duoshao ‘more or less’, luewei
‘slightly’, and luelue ‘slightly’ as members. Degree adverbs belonging to this type can only occur in Type I-IV and Type VI comparative constructions, as illustrated below.
It is noteworthy that members of the weak group must take a quantificational expression like yi-dianer ‘a little’ or yi-xie ‘a little’ as a post-adjectival pseudo-object.
(122) a. Xiang-bi zhixia, zhe-jian jiaoshi geng da/shaowei da yi-xie.
with-compare under this-CL classroom even.more big/slightly big a-little
‘By comparison, this classroom is even bigger/a little bit bigger.’
b. Bijiao qi-lai, Lisi geng gao/shaowei gao yi-xie.
compare arise-come Lisi even .more tall/slightly tall a-little
‘By comparison, Lisi is even taller/a little bit taller.’
c. Gen Lisi xiang-bi, Wangwu geng gao/shaowei gao yi-xie.
with Lisi with-compare Wangwu even.more tall/slightly tall a-little
‘Compared to Lisi, Wangwu is even taller/a little bit taller.’
d. Bi-qi Lisi lai, Wangwu geng gao/shaowei gao yi-xie.
compare-arise Lisi come Wangwu even.more tall/slightly tall a-little
‘Compared to Lisi, Wangwu is even taller/a little bit taller.’
e. *Zai women dangzhong, Lisi geng gao/shaowei gao yi-xie.
at 1pl among Lisi even.more tall/slightly tall a-little f. Lisi bi Wangwu geng gao/shaowei gao yi-xie.
Lisi compare Wangwu even.more tall/slightly tall a little
‘Lisi is even taller/a little bit taller than Wangwu.’
The distribution of degree adverbs in the six types of comparative constructions listed in (119) illustrates that degree adverbs of the second type and degree adverbs of the third type are compatible with comparison while degree adverbs of the first type are not. In addition, Lu and Ma (1999) suggest that degree adverbs of the first type correspond to what Wang (1985: 131-132) terms absolute degree adverbs while degree adverbs of the second type and degree adverbs of the third type correspond to what Wang (1985: 131-132) terms relative degree adverbs.
5.2.2 The apparent selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the degree adverb belonging to the weak group of the second type
For the second type of degree adverb, the weak group occurring in Type I-IV comparative constructions, as Lu and Ma (1999) note, also can take a quantificational expression like yi-dianer ‘a little’ or yi-xie ‘a little’ as a post-adjectival pseudo-object, as exemplified in (123-126). That is to say, the quantificational expression yi-dianer
‘a little’ or yi-xie ‘a little’ can cooccur with degree adverbs belonging to the weak group of the second type.
(123) a. Xiang-bi zhixia, Lisi bijiao gao.
with-compare under Lisi comparatively tall
‘By comparison, Lisi is taller.’
b. Xiang-bi zhixia, Lisi bijiao gao yi-xie.
with-compare under Lisi comparatively tall a-little
‘By comparison, Lisi is a bit taller.’
(124) a. Bijiao qil-ai, zhe-liang qiche jiaowei anggui.
compare arise-come this-CL car comparatively expensive
‘By comparison, this car is more expensive.’
b. Bijiao qil-ai, zhe-liang qiche jiaowei anggui yi-xie.
compare arise-come this-CL car comparatively expensive a-little
‘By comparison, this car is a bit more expensive.’
(125) a. Gen qita gongchang xiang-bi, zhe-jian gongchang de shebei with other factory with-compare this-CL factory DE equipment jiao hao.
comparatively good
‘Compared to the other factories, the equipment of this factory is better.’
b. Gen qita gongchang xiang-bi, zhe-jian gongchang de shebei with other factory with-compare this-CL factory DE equipment jiao hao yi-dianer.
comparatively good a-little
‘Compared to the other factories, the equipment of this factory is a bit better.’
(126) a. Bi-qi qita shu lai, zhe-ben shu hai youqu.
compare-arise other book come this-CL book moderately interesting
‘Compared to the other books, this book is moderately interesting.’
b. Bi-qi qita shu lai, zhe-ben shu hai youqu compare-arise other book come this-CL book moderately interesting yi-dianer.
a-little
‘Compared to the other books, this book is moderately interesting, but only by a little.’
Superficially, there are selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’
and the degree adverb belonging to the weak group of the second type. Selectional restrictions are the hallmark of head-argument relationships. It is thus reasonable to conclude that the degree adverb which belongs to the weak group of the second type is the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’.
However, there is evidence to prove that such conclusion is invalid. First, if the degree adverb which belongs to the weak group of the second type were the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’, the presence of the head yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ would be obligatory. On the contrary, the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ is optionally required, as examples in (123-126) indicate. Second, if the degree adverb which belongs to the weak group of the second type were the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’, the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ would be the only expression available to restrict the interval argument of the adjective, and its presence would be obligatory. Nevertheless, as exemplified in (123-126), the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ is optionally required.
Although the assumption that the degree adverb which belongs to the weak group of the second type is the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ is proved to be untenable, it is justifiable that the degree adverb belonging to the weak group of the second type restricts the interval argument of the adjective in Type I-IV comparative constructions. Consider first the degree adverbs in (123-126). In (123) the degree adverb bijiao ‘comparatively’ requires the interval of a tallness scale containing Lisi’s height to lie above the interval containing the heights of the contextually determined objects functioning as the targets of comparison. In (124) the degree adverb jiaowei ‘comparatively’ requires the interval of the price scale corresponding to zhe-liang qiche ‘this car’ to lie above the interval corresponding to the contextually determined objects functioning as the targets of comparison. In (125) the degree adverb jiao ‘comparatively’ requires the interval on the goodness scale associated with zhe-jian gongchang de shebei ‘the equipment of this factory’ to lie above the interval associated with qita gongchang (de shebei) ‘(the equipment of) the other factories’. In (126) the degree adverb hai ‘moderately’ not only requires the interval on the interestingness scale associated with zhe-ben shu ‘this book’ to lie above the interval associated with qita shu ‘the other books’ but also presupposes that the interval associated with zhe-ben shu ‘this book’ lies in the vicinity of a context-dependent standard of interestingness. The generalization drawn from these facts is that the combination of the degree adverb belonging to the weak group of the second type and the adjective denotes a property that is true of an object x if there is an interval on the adjective’s scale higher than the interval associated with the objects functioning as the targets of comparison, and the interval associated with x on the adjective’s scale equals that. In other words, degree adverbs belonging to the weak group of the second type map gradable adjectives into properties of individuals by restricting the interval argument of the adjective.
The argument that the degree adverbs in (123-126) restrict the interval argument of the adjective helps explain the fact that the presence of the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ is optional. Since the interval argument of the adjective has been restricted by the degree adverb, the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’, which also restricts the interval argument of the adjective, is optionally required in Type I-IV comparative constructions.
On the whole, it not implausible to conclude that degree adverbs which belong to the weak group of the second type impose restrictions on the interval argument of the adjective rather than have a selectional relation with the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ in Type I-IV comparative constructions.
5.2.3 The apparent selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the degree adverb belonging to the strong group of the third type
For the third type of degree adverb, the strong group occurring in Type I-IV comparative constructions, as Lu and Ma (1999) point out, can take a quantificational expression like yi-dianer ‘a little’ or yi-xie ‘a little’ as a post-adjectival pseudo-object, as examples in (127-130) illustrate. In other words, the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ can cooccur with degree adverbs belonging to the strong group of the third type.
(127) a. Xiang-bi zhixia, zhe-jian jiaoshi geng da.
with-compare under this-CL classroom even.more big
‘By comparison, this classroom is even bigger.’
b. Xiang-bi zhixia, zhe-jian jiaoshi geng da yi-xie.
with-compare under this-CL classroom even.more big a-little
‘By comparison, this classroom is even bigger, but only by a little.’
(128) a. Bijiao qi-lai, zhe-liang qiche gengjia anggui.
compare arise-come this-CL car even .more expensive
‘By comparison, this car is even more expensive.’
b. Bijiao qi-lai, zhe-liang qiche gengjia anggui yi-dianer.
compare arise-come this-CL car even .more expensive a-little
‘By comparison, this car is even more expensive, but only by a little.’
(129) a. Gen na-ben shu xiang-bi, zhe-ben shu gengwei youqu.
with that-CL book with-compare this-CL book even.more interesting
‘Compared to that book, this book is even more interesting.’
b. Gen na-ben shu xiang-bi, zhe-ben shu gengwei youqu with that-CL book with-compare this-CL book even.more interesting yi-xie.
a-little
‘Compared to that book, this book is even more interesting, but only by a little.’
(130) a. Bi-qi qian ji nian lai, xianzai zhe-jian gongchang de compare-arise previous several year come now this-CL factory DE shebei yuefa xianjin le.
equipment even.more advanced SFP
‘Compared to the previous several years, the equipment of this factory now is even more advanced.’
b. Bi-qi qian ji nian lai, xianzai zhe-jian gongchang de compare-arise previous several year come now this-CL factory DE shebei yuefa xianjin yi-xie le.
equipment even.more advanced a-little SFP
‘Compared to the previous several years, the equipment of this factory now is even more advanced, but only by a little.’
On the surface, there are selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the degree adverb belonging to the strong group of the third type.
Selectional restrictions are the hallmark of head-argument relationships. It is thus reasonable to conclude that the degree adverb which belongs to the strong group of the third type is the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression
Selectional restrictions are the hallmark of head-argument relationships. It is thus reasonable to conclude that the degree adverb which belongs to the strong group of the third type is the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression