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    <p>Thanks for this, Pier Marco.  I would note, however, that in my
      own two native languages, English and Hebrew, AS and HOW are
      expressed with different forms (as opposed to a single polysemous
      form).  And both English and Hebrew have a construction similar to
      the Italian, but one that makes use of the HOW word, not the AS
      word:  English <i>... and how!</i>  Hebrew <i>... veʕod ex!</i>
      (and:more how).  This seems to me to diminish the similarity
      between the Italian <i>Sei felice? Eccome!</i> and the Australian
      English <i>sweet as</i> construction.  Though I admit that there
      may still be some distant resemblance.</p>
    <p>David</p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/04/2021 14:19, Pier Marco
      Bertinetto wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CABoVV58UPsH_mM5-s8HWVEu1U2FZfQG=xY6Xwtc_oiHt0hrXCQ@mail.gmail.com">
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        <div>Frans's comment made me realize that one has the same in
          Italian:<br>
        </div>
        <div>"Come" is a comparative marker (an equalizer):<br>
        </div>
        <div>Gino è alto come Piero<br>
        </div>
        <div>'G. is as tall as P.'</div>
        <div>But then one has "eccome" (< "e come" 'and as') which is
          an intensifier:</div>
        <div>Sei felice? Eccome!<br>
        </div>
        <div>'Are you happy? Very much!'</div>
        <div>It may also be turned into a question: "eccome no?" 'how
          could it be otherwise?', which retains much of the original
          comparative meaning.<br>
        </div>
        <div>Best<br>
        </div>
        <div>Pier Marco</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <br>
        <div class="gmail_quote">
          <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">Il giorno lun 12 apr 2021
            alle ore 11:10 Frans Plank <<a
              href="mailto:frans.plank@uni-konstanz.de"
              moz-do-not-send="true">frans.plank@uni-konstanz.de</a>>
            ha scritto:<br>
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              Und wie, Guillaume!  (Which is German.)
              <div><br>
                <div>Frans<br>
                  <blockquote type="cite">
                    <div dir="ltr"> <br>
                      <br>
                      <div>Le 12/04/2021 à 00:35, David Gil a écrit :<br>
                      </div>
                      <blockquote type="cite">
                        <p>Thanks to those who have responded to my
                          query so far, either to me personally or on
                          the list.</p>
                        <p>I'd like to clarify what I had in mind by
                          "elided" or "incomplete".  I am using these
                          terms grammatically / semantically, to express
                          the intuition that there's something missing
                          after the intensifier, given that forms such
                          as Papuan Malay <i>sampe</i> and (Australian)
                          English <i>as</i> usually occur in
                          construction with another, following
                          expression (or "complement").</p>
                        <p>I was not implying that the construction in
                          question should "sound incomplete" (to use
                          Ilana's words below).  But it's interesting
                          that she characterizes the Australian English
                          <i>as</i> construction as being associated
                          with a "particular intonation", since the same
                          is true also for the Papuan Malay construction
                          with <i>sampe</i>.  Though the specifics of
                          the intonation contour seem to differ (in
                          Papuan Malay, the peak of the contour falls on
                          the preceding word, while the intensifier <i>sampe</i>
                          is associated with low pitch, sounding like an
                          afterthought).</p>
                        <p>David</p>
                        <p><br>
                        </p>
                        <div>On 12/04/2021 00:58, Ilana Mushin wrote:<br>
                        </div>
                        <blockquote type="cite"> I can also confirm
                          ‘sweet as’ in Australian English. I’ve seen it
                          on advertising billboards. I think the
                          construction ‘X as’ can be somewhat productive
                          - eg I’ve certainly heard ‘dumb as’.  There is
                          a particular intonation that goes with the
                          construction - the ‘as’ is lengthened  and has
                          a rise-fall contour so it doesn’t sound
                          incomplete (this is impressionistic - someone
                          may have a better idea of the prosody than
                          me). 
                          <div><br>
                          </div>
                          <div>Ilana<br>
                            <br>
                            <div dir="ltr">
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Associate
                                  Professor Ilana Mushin</span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Reader in
                                  Linguistics</span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span>President,
                                  Australian Linguistic Society</span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span><img
                                    id="gmail-m_-1268825738199900712Picture_x0020_1"
alt="/var/folders/lv/m77kqy0n4x1_rcd3pk0j2n900000gq/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/il.pb.png"
                                    moz-do-not-send="true" width="58"
                                    height="78">Co-Editor, <i>Interactional
                                    Linguistics</i> (<a
                                    href="https://benjamins.com/catalog/il"
                                    target="_blank"
                                    moz-do-not-send="true">https://benjamins.com/catalog/il</a>) </span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span
                                    lang="EN-US">School of Languages and
                                    Cultures</span></span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span
                                    lang="EN-US">University of
                                    Queensland</span></span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span
                                    lang="EN-US">St Lucia, QLD 4072.</span></span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Ph: <a
                                    href="tel:(07)%203365%206810"
                                    dir="ltr" target="_blank"
                                    moz-do-not-send="true">(07) 3365
                                    6810</a></span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span>CRICOS Provider
                                  No: 00025B</span></p>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                              <div>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><b>I acknowledge
                                    the Jagera and Turrbal peoples on
                                    whose land I live and work. Their
                                    sovereignty was never ceded.</b></p>
                              </div>
                            </div>
                            <div dir="ltr"><br>
                              <blockquote type="cite">On 12 Apr 2021, at
                                5:27 am, David Gil <a
                                  href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de"
                                  target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><gil@shh.mpg.de></a>
                                wrote:<br>
                                <br>
                              </blockquote>
                            </div>
                            <blockquote type="cite">
                              <div dir="ltr">
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Dear
                                    all,<br>
                                  </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br>
                                  </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I'm
                                    interested in exploring the
                                    properties and geographical
                                    distribution of a novel (well, to me
                                    at least) construction type which
                                    might be termed "Elided
                                    Intensification'.<span>  </span>I'll
                                    explain with an example.<span>  </span>In
                                    Papuan Malay, property-denoting and
                                    some other words may be intensified
                                    by the addition of <i>sampe</i>, a
                                    word whose other, more basic
                                    functions, include 'arrive' and
                                    'until', e.g.</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">(1)
                                    <span>      </span>Enak sampe</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span>           
                                    </span>nice SAMPE</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span>           
                                    </span>'Very nice.'</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">My
                                    informal "interpretation" of this
                                    construction is that it involves, or
                                    at least originated in, some kind of
                                    understood expression such as "nice
                                    arriving (at complete fulfillment)",
                                    or "nice until (completion)".<span> 
                                    </span>As Papuan Malay is largely
                                    head-initial, it kind of feels like
                                    something is missing after the word
                                    <i>sampe</i>.<span>  </span>(In
                                    Malay/Indonesian, this construction
                                    seems to be restricted
                                    geographically to the north coast of
                                    New Guinea and possibly also
                                    Northern Maluku; elsewhere it is
                                    absent.)</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">So
                                    far, I am familiar with two other
                                    potential cases of Elided
                                    Intensification.<span>  </span>The
                                    first is from Ambel, an Austronesian
                                    language spoken in the Raja Ampat
                                    archipelago of the northwest coast
                                    of New Guinea, in a region where
                                    Papuan Malay is also spoken.<span> 
                                    </span>As described by Arnold
                                    (2018:145, pers comm), <i>aya</i>
                                    'until' is used in a construction
                                    closely resembling that in (1):</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span>(2) <span>     
                                    </span>Anlómo aya </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span>           
                                    </span>bleed.3SG.INAN AYA </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span>           
                                    </span>‘It bled a lot.’</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"> <span>Arnold,
                                    Laura. 2018.<span>  </span><i>A
                                      Grammar of Ambel, An Austronesian
                                      Language of West New Guinea</i>.
                                    PhD Dissertation.<span>  </span>Edinburgh:
                                    University of Edinburgh.</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The
                                    second example, which I just came
                                    across, and which prompted this
                                    query, is Australian English.<span> 
                                    </span>In the Wikipedia entry for
                                    Australian English, in a paragraph
                                    which deals with the infensification
                                    of adjectives, the following rather
                                    tantalizing passage occurs:</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span>"In informal
                                    speech, incomplete comparisons are
                                    sometimes used, such as "sweet as"
                                    (as in "That car is sweet as.")."</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span>So here it's
                                    comparative 'as' rather than
                                    'arrive'/'until' that comes after
                                    the word being intensified, but
                                    still, all these cases seem to
                                    involve intensification with the
                                    elision of some kind of argument
                                    associated with the property word
                                    and denoting an extreme extent of
                                    the property in question.</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">My
                                    questions:</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">1.<span> 
                                    </span>Could speakers of Australian
                                    English please confirm the existence
                                    of this construction, and comment on
                                    it.<span>  </span>Does it occur in
                                    other varieties of English?<span>  </span>(It
                                    was certainly completely new to me!)</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">2.<span> 
                                    </span>Is anybody familiar with
                                    possible cases of Elided
                                    Intensification in other languages,
                                    in Australia, New Guinea or
                                    elsewhere?<span>  </span>On the
                                    flimsy basis of three examples, it
                                    looks like an Australian / New
                                    Guinea areal feature: is this the
                                    case?<span>  </span>For the
                                    Australia / New Guinea region I'd
                                    also appreciate negative data, of
                                    the form "no, my language definitely
                                    doesn't do this".</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">3.<span> 
                                    </span>Any further comments and
                                    suggestions ...</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Thanks,</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">David</span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
                                <p> </p>
                                <pre cols="72">-- 
David Gil
 
Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
 
Email: <a href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81344082091</pre>
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                        </blockquote>
                        <pre cols="72">-- 
David Gil
 
Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
 
Email: <a href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81344082091</pre>
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</pre>
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                                      <pre cols="72"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,0,0)"><span></span></span>=========================================================
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,0,0)"><span></span></span>              ||||            Pier Marco  Bertinetto
             ------             professore emerito
            ///////          Scuola Normale Superiore
           -------             <a href="http://p.za" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">p.za</a> dei Cavalieri 7<span style="background-color:rgb(243,243,243)"><span></span></span>
          ///////                I-56126 PISA
         -------              phone: +39 050 509111 
        ///////               
       -------                        HOME
      ///////                   via Matteotti  197
     -------                   I-55049 Viareggio LU
    ///////                   phone:  +39 0584 652417<span style="background-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span></span>
   -------                    cell.:  +39 368 3830251
=========================================================
       editor of "Italian Journal of Linguistics"
  webpage <<a href="https://www.sns.it/it/bertinetto-pier-marco" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.sns.it/it/bertinetto-pier-marco</a>>
"Laboratorio di Linguistica" <<a href="http://linguistica.sns.it" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">http://linguistica.sns.it</a>>
=========================================================</pre>
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      <pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
Lingtyp mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org">Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp">http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp</a>
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    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">-- 
David Gil
 
Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
 
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81344082091</pre>
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