Quantitative predicates and intensity-property Cover Image

Prédicats quantitatifs et intensité-propriété
Quantitative predicates and intensity-property

Author(s): Joanna Cholewa
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku
Keywords: quantitative predicates; intensity-property; negative polarity; expression of intensity

Summary/Abstract: Markers of intensity have been described differently in different works. This paper is based on Kleiber’s (2013) idea that intensity defined as the quantitative determination of the feature should be distinguished from intensity conceived as a feature in itself. This intensity-property is characteristic, according to Kleiber, of four groups of words: physical sensations, meteorological phenomena, feelings and actions. Combining the words belonging to these four groups with quantitative predicates (affaiblir, baisser, diminuer, faiblir, tomber), which introduce a negative polarity, shows that the selected predicates combine the easiest with words designating feelings and physical sensations, and the least with those which name actions. The connectivity of selected predicates can help reclassify the groups of words selected by Kleiber.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 15
  • Page Range: 113-123
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: French