LINGUIST List 21.202|
Wed Jan 13 2010
Qs: Adjectival Neutralisation Study
Editor for this issue: Elyssa Winzeler
We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was
instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.
In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have taken the trouble to respond to the query.
To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.
Adjectival Neutralisation Study
Message 1: Adjectival Neutralisation Study
From: Maarten De Backer <M.DeBackerUGent.be>
Subject: Adjectival Neutralisation Study
E-mail this message to a friend
I am currently investigating the phenomenon of neutralisation in German
with respect to adjectival oppositions (lang/kurz, hoch/niedrig,
gross/klein,breit/schmal, dick/dünn, ...).
Neutralisation typically occurs in the following contexts:
- Measure Phrases:
Das Kind ist drei Monate alt (the child is three months old)
- Expressions of Comparison:
A ist genauso/ebenso (Adj) wie B (A is as Adj as B)
A und B sind gleich (Adj) (A and B are equally Adj)
A ist (nicht) so Adj wie B (A is as Adj as B)
- Direct Questions:
Wie (Adj) ist X? (How Adj is X?)
- Indirect Questions:
Ich frage mich, wie (Adj) X ist (I wonder how Adj X is)
Interestingly, a corpus study bears out that these types of constructions
are not always equally ''neutral'' as is predicted by many theoretical
studies on this topic.
However, another interesting thing is that if the opposition is
neutralised, it is always the so-called ''unmarked'' adjective that can be
used with a neutral meaning (alt, gross, hoch, breit,...), at least as far
as the West-European languages are concerned.
My question is whether there are languages in the world that use a third
term that is (formally) different from the opposing adjectives in order to
convey the neutral meaning. In other words, whether there are languages
where a third term is used in contexts of neutralisation (so the relation
between the terms would be comparable to the lexical relation
I would be very grateful for any kind of information or resource.
with kind regards,
Maarten De Backer
Faculty of Arts and Philosophy
Department of German and General Linguistics
Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
Please report any bad links or misclassified data
LINGUIST Homepage | Read
LINGUIST | Contact us
While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed
on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.