gradable nouns

[Paolo Ramat]

Dear Sasha,
in Homeric Greek you may find  comparatives  such  as *kynteros* and superl. 
*kyntatos* from the noun *kyo:n*  'dog', thus lit. 'more dog', 'most dog'. 
The same, I think to remember, happens in Sanskrit.
In Rom.languages (especially in Italian) superlatives  of the type 
*campionissimo*,*canzonissima* are very usual.

Best,

Prof. Paolo Ramat
Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori (IUSS)
Responsabile della classe di Scienze Umane
V.le Lungo Ticino Sforza 56, 27100 Pavia – Italia
Tel. +39 0382 375811 Fax +39 0382 375899


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Peterson" <jpeterso at uni-osnabrueck.de>
To: <LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 10:14 AM
Subject: Fwd: gradable nouns


> Dear list members,
>
> I am forwarding this mail on behalf of a student here in Osnabrueck.
> Please respond directly to him (address in message).
>
> Best,
>
> John
>
> ---------
> Dear List
>
> I'm currently working at the semantics of adjectives
> for my Master's thesis at the University of Osnabrück (Germany) and for
> my subsequent PhD research. Within this work, I'm especially interested
> in the semantics of gradable adjectives and, more generally, of
> gradable predicates. In this connection, very important is the fact
> that there are languages (like Finnish, for instance), in which not
> only predicates expressed by adjectives can be graded, but also those
> expressed by nouns. Can anybody help me in my literature search
> concerning gradability of nouns in Finnish and, furthermore, point out
> other languages, which allow for noun gradability? Any help will be
> gratefully received at "saschaalexejenko AT yahoo.de".
>
> Thank you in advance
> Best regards
> Sascha Alexejenko
> ---------
>
> -- 
> John Peterson
> FB 7, Sprachwissenschaft
> Universität Osnabrück
> Neuer Graben 41
> D-49069 Osnabrück
> Germany
>
> Telephone: (+49) (0)541-969 4252
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