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Title:
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Adverbs of Degree in Dutch
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Author:
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Henny Klein
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Email:
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click here to access email
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Homepage:
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http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/Klein.html
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Degree Awarded:
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Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
, Department of Dutch
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Degree Date:
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1997
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Linguistic Subfield(s):
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Semantics
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Subject Language(s):
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Dutch
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Director(s):
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Jack Hoeksema
Frans Zwarts
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Abstract:
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In this study, the characteristics of the various adverbs of degree (such as 'somewhat' and 'awfully' in English, 'ietwat' and 'verschrikkelijk' in Dutch) and especially the semantic restrictions on their contribution are investigated. The research was carried out as part of the project 'Reflections of Logical Patterns in Language Structure and Language Use' (see http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/pionier1). The study is focused on Dutch, but previous studies of adverbs of degree in English and German are used to compare with and to build on. Data have been collected from electronical sources mainly.
After an introduction to degree, the origin of adverbs of degree is discussed. Five sources are distinguished: quantitative expressions, expressions of distance, deictics, modal adverbs and qualitative expressions.
The central part of the study investigates semantic restrictions to the use of adverbs of degree. First, restrictions concerning the elements the adverbs may modify are considered; contrasts between absolute versus gradable and positive versus negative elements are found. Next, polarity sensitivity is focused on, and it is argued that restrictions to a positive or negative environment are related to the rhetorical and emotive value of the adverb. The adverbs are classified according to both forms of restriction and it is shown that the latter may be interrelated. Furthermore, the logical properties of the adverbs are compared to those of the natural quantifiers, and their influence on the occurrence of other polarity sensitive elements is investigated. Finally, the restrictions on reduplication and stacking are considered.
Three case studies complement the main text. In the first, the semantics of an 'absolute expression' are investigated by contrasting the Dutch adverbs 'vrijwel' ('virtually') and 'nauwelijks' ('hardly'). The second case study deals with the peculiar distribution of Dutch 'bar' and 'bijster'(both 'very'), using a survey of informant judgements and an extensive diachronical corpus study. In the third study, Dutch polarity sensitive 'noemenswaardig' (`worth mentioning') is compared with its German cognate 'nennenswert'.
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