Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Proportional Implies Relative: A typological universal Golsa Nouri-Hosseini Elizabeth Coppock Elizabeth Bogal-Allbritten Saskia Stiefeling University of Gothenburg TripleA 4, Gothenburg · June 2017 1/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References • PI: Elizabeth Coppock • Postdoc: Elizabeth Bogal-Allbritten • Graduate student: Saskia Stiefeling* • Master’s student: Golsa Nouri-Hosseini 2/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Outline 1 Introduction 2 Method 3 Results 4 NO-YES languages 5 YES-YES languages 6 True superlatives? 3/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Continents of the world Assume: • Gloria has visited North America, Africa, and Europe. • Everyone else has visited only North America and Europe. True: Gloria has visited the most continents. 4/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Continents of the world Assume: • Gloria has visited North America, Africa, and Europe. • Everyone else has visited only North America and Europe. True: Gloria has visited the most continents. [relative] 4/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Continents of the world Assume: • Gloria has visited North America, Africa, and Europe. • Everyone else has visited only North America and Europe. True: Gloria has visited the most continents. [relative] False: Gloria has visited most continents. [proportional] 4/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Continents of the world Assume: • Gloria has visited North America, Africa, and Europe. • Everyone else has visited only North America and Europe. True: Gloria has visited the most continents. [relative] % False: Gloria has visited most continents. [proportional] 4/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Swedish: Opposite of English Assume: • Gloria has visited North America, South America and Europe. • Everyone else has visited only North America and Europe. True: Gloria har besÃűkt flest kontinenter. [relative] False: Gloria har besÃűkt de flesta kontinenter(na). [proportional] 5/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Questions to start with 1 How much variation of this kind is there? • morphosyntactic strategies for expressing these readings • available interpretations for quantity superlatives 2 Why do languages vary as they do? • How do these readings arise in the first place? 6/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Hackl’s perspective (1) The smartest student passed. [absolute] (2) Of the students, John gave the best answer . [relative] 7/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Hackl’s perspective (1) The smartest student passed. [absolute] (2) Of the students, John gave the best answer . [relative] Hackl (2009): proportional as absolute quantity superlatives quality superlatives proportional : relative :: absolute : relative 7/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Hackl’s perspective (1) The smartest student passed. [absolute] (2) Of the students, John gave the best answer . [relative] Hackl (2009): proportional as absolute quantity superlatives quality superlatives proportional : relative :: absolute : relative Prediction : Any superlative of ‘many’ should have a proportional reading. 7/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Counterexample: French Relative: (3) C’est Jean qui a lu le plus de livres. it:is Jean who has read the more of books ‘It’s John who has read the most books. Proportional: (4) *Le plus de cygnes sont blancs. the more of swans are white (5) La plupart des cygnes sont blancs. the majority of.the. pl swans are white ‘Most swans are white [proportional].’ Dobrovie-Sorin & Giurgea (2015) 8/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Counterexample: Slavic Superlative of many has relative reading only: (6) Maria pročete naj-mnogo-(to) statii [Bulgarian] Maria read sprl -many-the articles ‘Maria read the most articles.’ Pancheva & Tomaszewicz (2012), Živanović (2006), Dobrovie-Sorin & Giurgea (2015) 9/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Our conjecture Proportional Implies Relative If a superlative form of ‘many’ or ‘much’ has a proportional interpretation, then it also has a relative interpretation. 10/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Our conjecture (in table form) Proportional: yes Proportional: no Relative: yes English, Swedish Bulgarian, French Relative: no possible (?) impossible 11/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Outline 1 Introduction 2 Method 3 Results 4 NO-YES languages 5 YES-YES languages 6 True superlatives? 12/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Broad-sample semantic fieldwork • 26 language families, ca. 100 languages, all continents • 1-10 speakers per language • On-line translation survey • Follow-up questions 13/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Basque • Basque Indo-European • Albanian • Balto-Slavic (Macedonian, ...) • Celtic (Irish, ...) • Germanic (Swedish, ...) • Greek • Indo-Iranian (Hindi, Persian, ...) • Italic (French, Romanian, ... Turkic • Common Turkic (Turkish, ...) Uralic • Finnic (Finnish, ...) • Hungarian 14/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Japonic • Japanese Kartvelian • Georgian-Zan (Georgian) Koreanic • Korean Nakh-Daghestanian • Daghestanian (Lezgian) Austroasiatic Sino-Tibetan • Khmer • Mahakiranti (Newar) Dravidian • Sinitic (Mandarin) • South Dravidian (Telugu, Tai-Kadai Kannada, Tamil) • Kam-Tai (Thai) 15/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Afro-Asiatic • Cushitic (Somali) • Semitic (Arabic, Hebrew) • West Chadic (Hausa) Atlantic-Congo • North-Central Atlantic (Wolof, Akan, ...) • Volta-Congo (Swahili, Yoruba, Kagulu) Eastern Sudanic • Nubian (Kenuzi-Dongola) Mande • Western Mande (Vai) Nilotic • Western Nilotic (Lango) 16/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Austronesian • Nuclear Austronesian (Javanese, Tagalog, Maori, Yapese) Gunwinyguan • Marne (Kunbarlang) 17/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Athapaskan-Eyak-Tlingit • Athapaskan-Eyak (Navajo) Iroquoian • Cherokee Mayan • Core Mayan (Yucatec Maya, Kaqchikel) Otomanguean • Eastern Otomanguean (San Juan Guelavía Zapotec) Salishan • Interior Salish (Okanagan Salish) 18/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Aymara • Nuclear Aymara Quechuan • Quechua II (Cochabamba Quechua) 19/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Key example sentences Quality - absolute (7) Mom bakes the most delicious cookies in the world . Quality - relative (8) I’m not the one in the family with the thinnest waist . Quantity - proportional (9) Most of the kids in my school like to play music. Quantity - relative (10) Among the kids in my school, I’m the one who plays the most instruments . 20/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Coding 21/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References General strategies for forming comparatives ( CMPR-TYP ) STND: Standard comparative (e.g. English She is taller than Bill , where than introduces the standard of comparison). EX: Exceed comparative (e.g. Yoruba O tobi ju u , lit. ‘He big exceed him’; Stassen 1985) CNJ: Conjoined comparative (e.g. Washo ‘The man is tall, the woman is not tall’; see Bochnak 2015) 22/69
Introduction Method Results NO-YES languages YES-YES languages True superlatives? References Ways of marking gradable predicate ( CMPR ) M: Morphological expression of comparative (e.g. tall- er ) PERIPH: Comparative is expressed analytically with a free element e.g. Mehmet Ali’den daha zengin (Turkish) lit. ‘Mehment Ali-from more rich’ ZERO: Comparative is not marked e.g. Awar č’al lezgi č’al.a-laj četin ja (Lezgian) lit. ‘Awar language Lezgian language-from.on difficult is’ 23/69
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