Degree Modification, Monotonicity, and Measure Function Selection: Evidence From German

Abstract

Excessive degree modification constructions (such as “You run too much.”) in German exhibit an interesting dichotomy. In some contexts we find viel (often translated as much), like in English. In other contexts we find sehr (often translated as very). I argue that this is due to selectional criteria. The operator viel selects measurements that monotonically map between the part-whole ordering of the thing that is being measured and the degree that the measurement represents. For example, we can measure salt in terms of weight. As the weight increases, so does the amount of salt. However, when we measure salt in terms of color, this has no effect on the amount of salt present, see Schwarzschild (2006). The operator sehr, selects measurements which do not map between a part-whole ordering and degrees. I contextualize these findings within a current debate in semantics on the status of degree modification and the nature of states. I assume with Wellwood (2015) that measure functions are introduced compositionally by an external operator (viel and sehr in German). However, I also argue that German supports Baglini (2015)’s claim that states are not ordered in part-whole relationships, but are ordered in equivalence classes instead, which provide different measurements than events. The German distribution can be derived, once we assume that sehr selects for the kinds of measurements we find in states and viel selects for measurements that monotonically map to a part-whole ordering.