Big fun! A unified analysis for dimensional and evaluative relative gradable adjectives

Abstract

In this thesis I present a unified semantic analysis for evaluative and dimensional relative gradable adjectives that captures the degrees of subjectivity they demonstrate. The main difference between this unified theory and prevailing theories about subjectivity in predicates of taste, is the assumption of split subjectivity. Two items in the analysis can either be subjective (agent-based), or objective (world-based): the ordering of elements along the scale projected by the adjective, and the setting of the standard of comparison. Dimensional relative gradable adjectives imply a world-based ordering and an agent-based setting of the standard; dimensional relative gradable adjectives imply an agent based ordering as well as an agent-based setting of the standard. This split subjectivity correctly predicts the acceptability of English and Dutch data.