1887
Volume 24, Issue 1
  • ISSN 1606-822X
  • E-ISSN: 2309-5067

Abstract

Abstract

Mandarin degree adjectives can give rise to a degree achievement reading with the perfective marker . In this paper, I argue that de-adjectival degree achievements in Mandarin are inchoative statives, whose core meaning component is a reflexive comparative that compares the present state with a previous state in some property of the same individual. My new analysis better captures the facts that de-adjectival degree achievements show variable telicity, that they give rise to stative readings with duration phrases, and that they are compatible with time as a comparative standard. Because the comparison is between two states at different times, a degree-achievement reading can be inferred even though the predicate is stative in semantics.

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2022-12-12
2024-12-02
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): degree achievements; inchoative statives; reflexive comparatives; scale-structure
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