Issues in the grammar of Turkish comparatives

Umut Özge

doi:10.18492/dad.1185344

TR EN

Issues in the grammar of Turkish comparatives

Abstract

The paper investigates several issues in the syntax/semantics of comparison constructions in Turkish. We first show that although comparison constructions use nominalized constituents in marking the standard of comparison, they involve rich clausal structure under this nominalization. Second, we demonstrate that the interpretation of comparison constructions is constrained by syntactic structure, differing from languages that primarily thrive on contextual cues. We also address the grammatical nature of comparative standards, evaluating the options of a phrasal and a clausal comparative head. We provide evidence against a phrasal head, concluding that Turkish comparatives are clausal.

Keywords

Teşekkür

I would like to thank an anonymous DAD reviewer for their invaluable comments and criticisms, which improved the paper a lot. I would like to thank Carla Umbach, Stephanie Solt, Selçuk İşsever, and Murat Özgen for discussion. I am grateful to Asiye Tuba Özge for discussion and support.

Kaynakça

Beck, S., Hohaus, V., and Tiemann, S. (2012). A note on phrasal comparatives. In A. Chereches (Ed.), Proceedings of SALT 22 (pp. 146-165). University of Chicago Press.
Bhatt, R. & Pancheva, R. (2004). Late merger of degree clauses. Linguistic Inquiry, 35, 1–45.
Bhatt, R., &Takahashi, S. (2011). Reduced and unreduced phrasal comparatives. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 29, 581–620.
Bierwisch, M. (1989). The semantics of gradation. In M. Bierwisch and E. Lang (Eds.), Dimensional adjectives: Grammatical structure and conceptual interpretation (pp. 71–261). Springer-Verlag.
Borsley, D. R., & Kornfilt, J. (2000). Mixed extended projections. In D. R. Borsley (Ed.), The nature and function of syntactic categories (pp. 101–131). Academic Press.
Bresnan, J. W. (1973). Syntax of the comparative clause construction in English. Linguistic Inquiry, 4, 275–343.
Hankamer, J. (1973). Why there are two ‘than’s in English. Chicago Linguistic Society, 9(1), 179–191.
Heim, I. (1985). Notes on comparatives and related matters. [Master’s thesis]. University of Texas, Austin.

Heim, I. (2000). Degree operators and scope. In B. Jackson, & T. Matthews (Eds.), Proceedings of SALT X (pp. 40–64). Cornell University Press.
Heim, I., & Kratzer, A. (1998). Semantics in Generative Grammar. Blackwell.
Hofstetter, S. (2009). Comparison in Turkish: A rediscovery of the phrasal comparative. In A. Riester and T. Solstad (Eds.), Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 13 (pp. 188–201). University of Stuttgart.
Hofstetter, S. (2013). Selected issues in the theory of comparison: Phrasal comparison in Turkish and a cross-linguistic perspective on intensifiers, Negative island effects and the distribution of measure phrases. [Ph.D. thesis]. The University of Tübingen.
İnce, A. (2012). Sluicing in Turkish. In J. Merchant and A. Simpson (Eds.), Sluicing: Cross-Linguistic Perspectives (pp. 248–269). Oxford University Press.
Kennedy, C. (1997). Projecting the adjective: The syntax and semantics of gradability and comparison. [Ph.D. thesis]. University of California Press.
Kiper, S. Y. (2020). In the case of sluicing. [Ph.D thesis]. Middle East Technical University.
Kornfilt, J. (1996). On copular clitic forms in Turkish. ZAS Working Papers.
Kornfilt, J. (2007). Verbal and nominalized finite clauses in Turkish. In I. Nikolaeva (Ed.), Finiteness: Theoretical and empirical foundations (pp. 305–332). Oxford University Press.
Lechner, W. (2001). Reduced and phrasal comparatives. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 19, 683-735.
Merchant, J. (2009). Phrasal and clausal comparatives in Greek and the abstractness of syntax. Journal of Greek Linguistics, 9, 134–164.
Pancheva, R. (2006). Phrasal and clausal comparatives in Slavic. In J. Lavine, S. Franks, M. Tasseva Kurktchieva, & H. Filip (Eds.), Formal approaches to Slavic linguistics 14: the Princeton Meeting (pp. 236–257). Michigan Slavic Publisher.
Schwarzschild, R. (2008). The semantics of comparatives and other degree constructions. Language and Linguistics Compass, 2(2), 308–331.
Solt, S. (2015). Q-Adjectives and the semantics of quantity. Journal of Semantics, 32, 221–273.
von Stechow, A. (1984). Comparing semantic theories of comparison. Journal of Semantics, 3, 1–77.
Vendler, Z. (2019). Facts and Events. In Linguistics in Philosophy (pp. 122-146). Cornell University Press.
Wunderlich, D. (2001). Two comparatives. In I. Kenesei, & R. M. Harnish (Eds.), Perspectives on semantics, pragmatics, and discourse: A Festschrift for Ferenc Kiefer (pp. 75–90). John Benjamins.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil

İngilizce

Konular

Dilbilim , Dilsel Yapılar (Fonoloji, Morfoloji ve Sözdizimi dahil)

Bölüm

Araştırma Makalesi

Yazarlar

Umut Özge ^*
0000-0002-0784-2257
Türkiye

Yayımlanma Tarihi

20 Haziran 2023

Gönderilme Tarihi

6 Ekim 2022

Kabul Tarihi

17 Mayıs 2023

Yayımlandığı Sayı

Yıl 2023 Cilt: 34 Sayı: 1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.18492/dad.1185344

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA38ZX25WU

Kaynak Göster

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Özge, U. (2023). Issues in the grammar of Turkish comparatives. Dilbilim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 34(1), 57-79. https://doi.org/10.18492/dad.1185344

Issues in the grammar of Turkish comparatives

Türkçe karşılaştırma yapılarında birtakım konular

Öz

Anahtar Kelimeler

Issues in the grammar of Turkish comparatives

Abstract

Keywords

Teşekkür

Kaynakça

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil

Konular

Bölüm

Yazarlar

Yayımlanma Tarihi

Gönderilme Tarihi

Kabul Tarihi

Yayımlandığı Sayı

DOI

IZ

Kaynak Göster