The syntax of Dutch ordinal superlatives

Abstract This paper discusses the syntax of the ordinal superlative with a focus on Dutch. The ordinal superlative, for example the second highest mountain , is an under researched construction. Contrary to what has been hitherto believed, the ordinal superlative also exists in (non-standard) Dutch: de tweede hoogste berg . The ordinal and the superlative may occur in the opposite order as well, in which case they display a subordinated reading instead. I propose a syntactic analysis for the co-occurrence of ordinals with superlatives, with both modifiers in separate functional projections in the DP. The key is that the ordinal requires a superlative to be interpreted, but adjacency of the superlative to the ordinal does not suffice to force an ordinal superlative reading: an ordinal may be interpreted by context, in which case a covert superlative is merged. I show that a position internal to the superlative phrase cannot be proven with classic constituency tests, due to the DP-internal location of both modifiers.