This squib points out that adjectives with measure phrases are incompatible with expressive modifiers such as goddamn. It shows that this otherwise mysterious fact can be explained relatively straightforwardly if, as Schwarzschild (2005) has argued, positive adjectives can support measure phrases only as the result of a type-shifting rule in the lexicon.

An issue of interest to work in areas ranging from lexical semantics to natural language processing (especially automatic text generation) to language pedagogy is the semantics of degree modification by expressions like very, well, and much. Focusing on the case of deverbal gradable adjectives (such as acquainted), we show that the selective behavior of different degree modifiers provides an im...

This paper describes ongoing work towards a computational model for the analysis of gradable adjectives, including dimensional/evaluative adjectives, modifiers, and comparative and incommensurable adjectives. The approach is based on a representation of conceptual comparison classes and a flexible construction of scales. Input sentences are compositionally analysed by means of the λ-calculus. F...

Contrary to popular beliefs, idioms show a high degree of formal flexibility, ranging from word-like idioms to those which are like almost regular phrases. However, we argue that their meanings are not transparent, i.e. they are non-compositional, regardless of their syntactic flexibility. In this paper, firstly, we will introduce a framework to represent their syntactic flexibility, which is d...

This research investigates the measurement of perceptions by means of adjectives freely reported by respondents in semi-open questions. It involved the use of semi-open responses of 1′763 Swiss individuals to develop indicators for a latent variable representing the perception of comfort of public transportation. The indicators are then incorporated into a discrete choice model of revealed mode...

Language has an intrinsically evaluative and communicative function. Words can serve to describe emotional traits and states in others and communicate evaluations. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we investigate how the cerebral processing of emotional trait adjectives is modulated by their perceived communicative sender in anticipation of an evaluation. 16 students were videotaped while the...

IN RECENT years the anthropologists Whorf (12), Lee (9), and Hoijer (6) have put forward the view that language is a determinant of perception and thought. The nature of the determining influence exerted by the vocabulary of a language is quite clear (1), but it is less easy to see how the grammatical features of a language can affect cognition. Yet it is just the grammatical differences betwee...

This paper is an attempt to demonstrate the syntactic behavior of -ly adverbs and adjectives. It mainly deals with as inflectional suffix that forms adjectives hypothesized there are differences between adjective-forming –ly adverb-forming –ly.The researcher first made general specific observations about morphological processes Since study focuses on a linguistic phenomenon, its data set used e...

This study investigated neural activation patterns during verb processing in children, using fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging). Preschool children (aged 4-6) passively listened to lists of verbs and adjectives while neural activation was measured. Findings indicated that verbs were processed differently than adjectives, as the verbs recruited motor systems in the frontal cortex durin...