Expressivity and Adjectives
Abstract
Abstract Expressive adjectives are, as the name suggests, adjectives exhibiting an expressive meaning. This chapter first gives an overview of the basic semantic and morpho-syntactic properties of expressive adjectives and then discusses several modeling possibilities dealing with the discombobulating syntax-semantics mismatches expressive adjectives present us with. The literature presents two competing accounts for the behavior of expressive adjectives: Accounts based on pragmatics and more or less strict syntactic accounts. The available evidence strongly suggests that the kind of evaluation intended (positive, negative, or neutral) as well as the exact evaluation target are driven by pragmatics.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Syntax
Semantics
Linguistic Variation
Language
Metaphor
and Cognition
Discourse
Communication Strategies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Oxford University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Pages
- 465–492
- Publication date
- 27 January 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter