Gradability and Degree Constructions in Navajo

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2009
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
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Thesis (B.A.)
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Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
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Abstract
The relational analysis of gradable predicates and degree constructions posits that all gradable predicates are of type <d,et> and that degree morphology introduces the ordering between topic and standard of comparison. While well supported by data from many languages, the relational analysis is shown in this thesis not to adequately account for data from Navajo. Drawing on extensive data from Navajo gradable predicates and degree constructions, it is shown that alternation in degree morphology determines the semantic type of gradable predicates (<d,et> vs. <et>) while standard markers introduce the ordering relation. The syntax and semantics of degree constructions using both types of predicates are considered in detail. The most tenable analysis of the Navajo data builds on a recent proposal by Kennedy (2007a) in which standard markers introduce the semantics of the degree construction while degree morphology has a greatly reduced role, serving only to determine the type of the predicate. Not only does this analysis account for the Navajo data but it also accounts for 'problematic' aspects of degree constructions in other languages.
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