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<p>The Chinese <i>duō</i> verbal comparative is a type of transitive comparative; it is a degree rather than degreeless comparative. The transitive verb <i>duō</i> ‘<span>duo</span>’ results from the incorporation of the quantity adjective <i>duō</i> ‘much’ into a light verb with comparison meaning. The quantity adjective <i>duō</i> ‘much’ takes the predicate-like phrase right after it as the argument-like adjunct clause; this clause semantically functions as the differential. Due to the Monotonicity Condition, this clause is turned into a set of taxonomic unit events by the Event Taxonomization Function, which applies at the taxonomic level identified by the lexical meaning of the verb, the classifier in the argument-like adjunct clause, and some other relevant factors. Assuming a comparison of two sets of taxonomic unit events along the cardinality of taxonomic events, the proposed degree analysis explains the syntactic and semantic particularities of the <i>duō</i> transitive comparative well. For example, the nominal object in the argument-like adjunct clause can be a bare noun, an indefinite NP, a definite NP, a proper name, or an interrogative nominal.</p>

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A transitive comparative with the transitive verb duō: a comparison along the cardinality of taxonomic unit events

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年3月28日

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  • C.-S. Luther Liu

摘要

The Chinese duō verbal comparative is a type of transitive comparative; it is a degree rather than degreeless comparative. The transitive verb duō ‘duo’ results from the incorporation of the quantity adjective duō ‘much’ into a light verb with comparison meaning. The quantity adjective duō ‘much’ takes the predicate-like phrase right after it as the argument-like adjunct clause; this clause semantically functions as the differential. Due to the Monotonicity Condition, this clause is turned into a set of taxonomic unit events by the Event Taxonomization Function, which applies at the taxonomic level identified by the lexical meaning of the verb, the classifier in the argument-like adjunct clause, and some other relevant factors. Assuming a comparison of two sets of taxonomic unit events along the cardinality of taxonomic events, the proposed degree analysis explains the syntactic and semantic particularities of the duō transitive comparative well. For example, the nominal object in the argument-like adjunct clause can be a bare noun, an indefinite NP, a definite NP, a proper name, or an interrogative nominal.