In languages that have them, adjectives and the functional structure they project are the prototypical means by which gradable notions are expressed, and consequently probably the clearest window available onto how degree

Abstract Degree readings of size adjectives, as in big stamp-collector, cannot be explained as merely a consequence of vagueness or as an extra-grammatical phenomenon. Rather, they reflect the grammatical architecture of nominal gradability. Such readings are available only for size adjectives

semantically and derivationally, and that such adjectives are usually non-prototypical, i. e., that they do not express the primary qualities of age, size, color, etc. It is also established that there is an asymmetry in the attributive and predicative use of APs. If, in some language, an AP can be used

> ordinal> speaker-or.> subj.-or.> manner> thematic Serialization of adjectives in object-denoting nominals: poss> cardinal> ordinal> quality> size> shape> color> nation. (Cinque 1994:96). b. Determiner> ordinal number> cardinal number> subjective comment

at Rutgers. (1) A: I thought your yacht was larger than it is. B: No, my yacht is not larger than it is (2) [The size that I thought your yacht was] is greater than [the size that your yacht is] (3) I thought [[the size that your yacht] was greater than [the size of your yacht]] The puzzle I wish

Why do children learn nouns such as cup faster than dimensional adjectives such as big? Most explanations of this phenomenon rely on prior knowledge of the noun-adjective distinction or on the logical priority of nouns as the arguments of predicates. In this paper we examine an alternative account

examine an alternative account, one which seeks to explain the relative ease of nouns over adjectives in terms of the response of the learner to various properties of the semantic categories to be learned and of the word learning task itself. We isolate four such properties: the relative size

Natural scene recognition: sky sky building water sand road road Coast: sky above water & water above sand; Highway: sky above road; The adjectives and prepositions can be formed by simply considering particular spatial relationships among patches with specific appearances and specific size

nominals poss[essive] cardinal ordinal speaker-or[iented] subj[ect]-or[iented] manner thematic Serialization of adjectives in object-denoting nominals poss[essive] cardinal ordinal quality size shape color nationality (Cinque 1994:96) b. determiner ordinal number cardinal number sub

Why do children learn nouns such as cup faster than dimensional adjectives such as big? Most explanations of this phenomenon rely on prior knowledge of the noun–adjective distinction or on the logical priority of nouns as the arguments of predicates. In this article we examine an alternative