The apparent selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’

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 yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’. However, there is evidence against such conclusion. First, if the degree adverb which belongs to the strong group of the third 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 (127-130) indicate. Second, if the degree adverb which belongs to the strong group of the third 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 (127-130), the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ is optionally required.

Instead of positing that the degree adverb which belongs to the strong group of the third type is the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’, there are reasons for thinking that the degree adverb belonging to the strong group of the third type restricts the interval argument of the adjective in Type I-IV comparative constructions. Consider first the degree adverbs in (127-130). In (127) the degree adverb geng ‘even more’ presupposes that both the

interval containing the size of zhe-jian jiaoshi ‘this classroom’ and the interval containing the sizes of the contextually determined objects functioning as the targets of comparison are higher than a context-dependent standard on the scale associated with the adjective da ‘big’, and requires the former interval to lie above the latter one.

In (128) the degree adverb gengjia ‘even more’ presupposes that both the interval containing the cost of zhe-liang qiche ‘this car’ and the interval containing the costs of the contextually determined objects functioning as the targets of comparison lie above a context-dependent standard of expensiveness, and requires the former interval to be higher than the latter one. In (129) the degree adverb gengwei ‘even more’

presupposes that both the interval associated with zhe-ben shu ‘this book’ and the interval associated with na-ben shu ‘that book’ are higher than a context-dependent standard on the scale associated with the adjective youqu ‘interesting’, and requires the former interval to lie above the latter one. In (130) the degree adverb yuefa ‘even more’ presupposes that both the interval associated with xianzai zhe-jian gongchang de shebei ‘the equipment of this factory now’ and the interval associated with qian ji nian (zhe-jian gongchang de shebei) ‘(the equipment of this factory in) the previous several years’ lie above a context-dependent standard of advancedness, and requires the former interval to be higher than the latter one. Crucially, these facts indicate that the combination of the degree adverb belonging to the strong group of the third 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, with the presupposition that both intervals under comparison are above a standard on the scale associated with the adjective. In other words, degree adverbs belonging to the strong group of the third type map gradable adjectives into properties of individuals by restricting the interval argument of the adjective.

The argument that the degree adverbs in (127-130) restrict the interval argument of the adjective helps account for the fact that the occurrence 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.

Altogether, degree adverbs which belong to the strong group of the third 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.

5.3 The apparent selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the bi-constituent

It is characteristic of Chinese bi comparatives that the bi-constituent which is composed of the morpheme bi ‘compare’ and the referential NP functioning as the target of comparison can take a quantificational expression like yi-dianer ‘a little’ or yi-xie ‘a little’ as a post-adjectival pseudo-object, as exemplified in (131-132). That is to say, the quantificational expression yi-dianer ‘a little’ or yi-xie ‘a little’ can cooccur with the bi-constituent in Chinese bi comparatives.

(131) a. Lisi bi Wangwu gao.

Lisi compare Wangwu tall ‘Lisi is taller than Wangwu.’

b. Lisi bi Wangwu gao yi-dianer.

Lisi compare Wangwu tall a-little

‘Lisi is a bit taller than Wangwu.’

(132) a. zhe-ben shu bi na-ben shu youqu.

this-CL book compare that-CL book interesting ‘This book is more interesting than that book.’

b. zhe-ben shu bi na-ben shu youqu yi-xie.

this-CL book compare that-CL book interesting a-little ‘This book is a bit more interesting than that book.’

At a superficial level, there are selectional restrictions between yi-dianer/yi-xie

‘a little’ and the bi-constituent. Selectional restrictions are the hallmark of head-argument relationships. It is thus reasonable to conclude that the bi-constituent is the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’.

However, there is evidence against such conclusion. First, if the bi-constituent 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 (131-132) indicate. Second, if the bi-constituent 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 (131-132), the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ is optionally required.

Instead of positing that the bi-constituent is the syntactic argument of the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’, there are reasons for thinking that the bi-constituent restricts the interval argument of the adjective in Chinese bi comparatives. Consider first the bi-constituents in (131-132). In the case of (131), the

bi-constituent bi Wangwu ‘compare Wangwu’ requires the interval of the height scale corresponding to Lisi ‘Lisi’ to lie above the interval corresponding to Wangwu

‘Wangwu’. In the case of (132), the bi-constituent bi na-ben shu ‘compare that book’

requires the interval on the interestingness scale associated with zhe-ben shu ‘this book’ to be higher than the interval associated with na-ben shu ‘that book’. The generalization drawn from these facts is that the combination of the bi-constituent 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 object functioning as the target of comparison, and the interval associated with x on the adjective’s scale equals that. In other words, bi-constituents map gradable adjectives into properties of individuals by restricting the interval argument of the adjective.

The argument that the bi-constituents in (131-132) restrict the interval argument of the adjective helps account for 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 bi-constituent, the quantificational expression yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’, which also restricts the interval argument of the adjective, is optionally required in Chinese bi comparatives.

On balance, bi-constituents 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 Chinese bi comparatives.

5.4 Summary

The conclusion to be drawn from the above discussion is as follows: First, while yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ can cooccur with degree adverbs belonging to the weak group of the second type in Type I-IV comparative constructions, degree adverbs belonging to the weak group of the second type restrict the interval argument of the adjective

instead of having a selectional relation with yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’. Second, degree adverbs belonging to the strong group of the third type saturate the interval argument of the adjective rather than have a selectional relation with yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’

even though yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ can cooccur with degree adverbs belonging to the strong group of the third type in Type I-IV comparative constructions. Third, although yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ can cooccur with bi-constituents in Chinese bi comparatives, bi-constituents restrict the interval argument of the adjective instead of having a selectional relation with yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’.

Chapter 6 Conclusion

In this thesis, we examined the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative in Mandarin Chinese―Wangwu shaowei gao Zhaoying yi-xie ‘Wangwu is a little bit taller than Zhaoying’ for example.

In Chapter 2, we discussed the syntactic and semantic properties of the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative. First, the predicative adjective in this type of comparative takes an indirect-object-like referential NP complement which functions as the target of comparison, and a measure phrase which shows the differential between the two compared degree values along the scale denoted by the adjectival predicate. Second, there are selectional restrictions between the measure phrase yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the degree adverb shaowei ‘slightly’, but it is not possible for yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and shaowei ‘slightly’ to appear together. Third,

In Chapter 2, we discussed the syntactic and semantic properties of the X shaowei A Y yi-dianer/yi-xie comparative. First, the predicative adjective in this type of comparative takes an indirect-object-like referential NP complement which functions as the target of comparison, and a measure phrase which shows the differential between the two compared degree values along the scale denoted by the adjectival predicate. Second, there are selectional restrictions between the measure phrase yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and the degree adverb shaowei ‘slightly’, but it is not possible for yi-dianer/yi-xie ‘a little’ and shaowei ‘slightly’ to appear together. Third,