30.4724, Books: The Meaning of More: Wellwood

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-30-4724. Mon Dec 16 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 30.4724, Books: The Meaning of More: Wellwood

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Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2019 22:28:59
From:  Oxford University Press [HumanitiesMarketing at oup.com]
Subject: The Meaning of More: Wellwood

 


Title: The Meaning of More 
Series Title: Oxford Studies in Semantics and Pragmatics  

Publication Year: 2019 
Publisher: Oxford University Press
	   http://www.oup.com/us
	

Book URL: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-meaning-of-more-9780198804666?utm_source=linguistlist&utm_medium=listserv&utm_campaign=linguistics 


Author: Alexis Wellwood

Paperback: ISBN:  9780198804666 Pages: 240 Price: U.S. $ 40.00


Abstract:

This book reimagines the compositional semantics of comparative sentences
using words such as more, as, too, and others. The book's central thesis
entails a rejection of a fundamental assumption of degree semantic frameworks:
that gradable adjectives like tall lexicalize functions from individuals to
degrees, i.e., measure functions.

Alexis Wellwood argues that comparative expressions in English themselves
introduce measure functions; this is the case whether that morphology targets
adjectives, as in taller or more intelligent; nouns, as in more coffee, more
coffees; verbs, such as run more, jump more; or expressions of other
categories. Furthermore, she suggests that expressions that comfortably and
meaningfully appear in the comparative form should be distinguished from those
that do not in terms of a general notion of "measurability": a measurable
predicate has a domain of application with non-trivial structure. This notion
unifies the independently motivated distinctions between, for example,
gradable and non-gradable adjectives, mass and count nouns, singular and
plural noun phrases, and telic and atelic verb phrases. Based on careful
examination of the distribution of dimensions for comparison within the class
of measurable predicates, she ties the selection of measure functions to the
specific nature and structure of the domain entities targeted for measurement.

The book ultimately explores how, precisely, we should understand semantic
theories that invoke the "nature" of domain entities: does the theory depend
for its explanation on features of metaphysical reality, or something else?
Such questions are especially pertinent in light of a growing body of research
in cognitive science exploring the understanding and acquisition of
comparative sentences.
 



Linguistic Field(s): Language Acquisition
                     Philosophy of Language
                     Psycholinguistics
                     Semantics


Written In: English  (eng)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/books/get-book.cfm?BookID=139755




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