Cover not available

Article published In: Linguistics in the Netherlands 2021
Edited by Mark Dingemanse, Eva van Lier and Jorrig Vogels
[Linguistics in the Netherlands 38] 2021
► pp. 98–113

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF

Temporal adverbial superlatives in Dutch

 | Utrecht University
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 29 October 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/avt.00052.tel
Abstract
This paper investigates adverbial superlative expressions in Dutch that have a temporal interpretation, i.e. that contain the forms eerst ‘first’, laatst ‘latest’, and vroegst ‘earliest’. I focus on possessive superlatives and superlatives embedded under the preposition voor. Although both constructions contain bare superlatives and are interpreted temporally, they represent semantically and pragmatically different readings, and attach to the sentence in structurally different ways. I present a semantic analysis of both types of superlatives, and I show what this entails for how time adverbials interact with superlatives.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The two constructions in more detail
    • 2.1Possessive superlative
    • 2.2Voor-superlative
  • 3.Analysis
    • 3.1Possessive superlatives
    • 3.2Voor-superlatives
  • 4.Relation between superlatives and time adverbials
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (25)
References
Barbiers, S. 2007. Indefinite numerals one and many and the cause of ordinal suppletion. Lingua, 117(5):859–880. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Broekhuis, H. 2013. Syntax of Dutch. Adjectives and Adjective Phrases. Amsterdam University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bylinina, L., Ivlieva, N., Podobryaev, A., and Sudo, Y. 2015. A Non-Superlative Semantics for Ordinals and the Syntax and Semantics of Comparison Classes. Manuscript.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ciardelli, I., Groenendijk, J., and Roelofsen, F. 2018. Inquisitive semantics. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Condoravdi, C. 2015. Ignorance, indifference, and individuation with wh-ever. In Alonso-Ovalle, L. and Menéndez-Benito, P., editors, Epistemic indefinites: Exploring modality beyond the verbal domain, pages 213–243. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coppock, E. 2016. Superlative modifiers as modified superlatives. Proceedings of SALT, 261:471–488. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coppock, E. and Bogal-Allbritten, E. 2018. Forces at the interface of gradability and quantification. Proceedings of SALT, 281:747–767. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coppock, E. and Brochhagen, T. 2013. Raising and resolving issues with scalar modifiers. Semantics and Pragmatics, 6:3:1–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corver, N. and Matushansky, O. 2006. At our best when at our boldest. Handout at TIN-dag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heim, I. 1999. Notes on superlatives. Ms., Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Landman, F. 2006. Indefinite time phrases, in situ scope, and dual-perspective intensionality. In Vogeleer, S. and Tasmowski, L., editors, Non-definiteness and Plurality, pages 237–266. John Benjamins Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matushansky, O. 2008. On the attributive nature of superlatives. Syntax, 111:26–90. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moltmann, F. 1997. Parts and wholes in semantics. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nouwen, R. 2010. Two kinds of modified numerals. Semantics and Pragmatics, 3:3:1–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2015. Modified numerals: The epistemic effect. In Alonso-Ovalle, L. and Menéndez-Benito, P., editors, Epistemic indefinites: Exploring modality beyond the verbal domain, pages 244–266. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Penka, D. 2010. A superlative analysis of superlative scalar modifiers. Handout of presentation at Sinn und Bedeutung 15.
Romero, M. 2013. Modal superlatives: a compositional analysis. Natural Language Semantics, 21(1):79–110. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rothstein, S. 2017. Counting in the verbal domain. Revista Letras, 961:309–333. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scheible, S. 2009. A Computational Treatment of Superlatives. PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Solt, S. 2011. How many most’s? In Reich, I., Horsch, E., and Pauly, D., editors, Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 151, pages 565–580. Saarland University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tabatowski, M. 2019. Possessed bare superlatives make reference to individual concepts. In Baird, M. and Pesetsky, J., editors, Proceedings of NELS 491, pages 211–220. GLSA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tellings, J. 2019a. Bare superlatives and relative clauses in Dutch. Handout for Syntax Interface Lecture, Utrecht, Nov 2019. Available at [URL]
2019b. When-questions and tense in Inquisitive Semantics. Proceedings of SALT, 291:22–42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
von Fintel, K. and Iatridou, S. 2019. Since since. In Altshuler, D. and Rett, J., editors, The Semantics of Plurals, Focus, Degrees, and Times: Essays in Honor of Roger Schwarzschild, pages 305–333. Springer International Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
von Stechow, A. 2009. The temporal degree adjectives früh(er)/spät(er) ‘early(er)’/‘late(r)’ and the semantics of the positive. In Giannakidou, A. and Rathert, M., editors, Quantification, definiteness and nominalization, pages 214–233. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue