Open AccessOn degree minimizers in Spanish
Author(s) -
Isabel Pérez-Jiménez,
Silvia Gumiel Molina,
Norberto Moreno-Quibén
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
borealis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1893-3211
DOI - 10.7557/1.9.1.5367
Subject(s) - adjective , granularity , coercion (linguistics) , computer science , degree (music) , linguistics , mathematics , psychology , social psychology , natural language processing , philosophy , noun , physics , acoustics , operating system
The goal of this paper is to provide both a description and an explanation of the combination of minimizers (ligeramente 'slightly') with gradable adjectives in Spanish. According to Kennedy & McNally (2005) these elements are degree items that are sensitive to the scalar structure of adjectives and are combined with closed scale, minimum standard adjectives. Unexpected combinations, according to this semantics, are considered as cases of coercion. In this paper we propose that minimizers create derived adjectives. They are modifiers of the adjective's granularity, which allow the selection of the standard of comparison to take into account a greater number of degree distinctions. From this proposal, this article shows that unexpected combinations of ligeramente with gradable adjectives, such as un cine ligeramente lleno ‘a slightly crowded cinema’, can be explained without the need to propose that a coercion process takes place.