Polar Opposition and the Ontology of ‘Degrees’
Polar Opposition and the Ontology of ‘Degrees’
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极对立与“度”本体论
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发表时间：
2001
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通讯作者：
Christopher Kennedy
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作者：
Christopher Kennedy
本文以反义形容词在比较句中的分布和解释为经验基础，论证了量度的抽象表征必须被建模为一个尺度上的区间，而不是通常假设的点。我首先证明，这一领域的事实必须根据形容词极性的语义和比较级的语义的相互作用来解释，而不是根据支配特定类型形容词在比较级中(显式)表达的原则来解释。然后，我表明，可以在一个模型中对所审议的所有数据进行原则性的说明，在该模型中，程度被形式化为一个标尺上的间隔，形容词的极性被描述为两种结构上截然不同和互补的类型--‘正’度和‘负’度。
This paper uses the distribution and interpretation of antonymous adjectives in comparative constructions as an empirical basis to argue that abstract representations of measurement, or ‘degrees’, must be modeled as intervals on a scale, rather than as points, as commonly assumed. I begin by demonstrating that the facts in this domain must be accounted for in terms of the interaction of the semantics of adjectival polarity and the semantics of the comparative, rather than principles governing the (overt) expression of particular types of adjectives in comparatives. I then show that a principled account of the full range of data under consideration can be constructed within a model in which degrees are formalized as intervals on a scale and adjectival polarity is characterized in terms of two structurally distinct and complementary sorts of `positive' and `negative' degrees.