Cross-categorial modification of properties in Hebrew and English

Abstract

Work in the past decade has greatly improved our understanding of the meaning of gradable predicates and degree modification. The discussion of these expressions has charted the way to an examination of additional types of modifiers that do not operate on degrees but rather on context candidates. In this study, I analyze the Hebrew modifier mamaš and its English equivalent really as modifiers of properties of individuals, situations, or propositions. The flexible semantics accounts for these modifiers’ wide distribution and types of semantic contribution.