Comparison and Polar Opposition

My goal in this paper is to use cross-polar anomaly as an empirical basis for motivating and developing a particular approach to the semantics of gradable adjectives and the representation of adjectival polarity. Specifically, I will argue that gradable adjectives denote relations between individuals and extents, or intervals on a scale, as in the work of Seuren 1978, 1984, von Stechow 1984b, and Löbner 1990, rather than relations between individuals and degrees, or points on a scale, as traditionally assumed. I will further claim that adjectival polarity should be characterized as a sortal distinction between positive and negative adjectives, I show that this approach supports an explanation of cross-polar anomaly as a type of sortal anomaly.