Keywords

1 Introduction

This paper explores the semantics of ‘V+A+le2’ construction in Mandarin Chinese. The construction, taking the form of ‘NP+ verb+ adjective+ le2’, normally expresses the meaning that the denotation of the adjective is the result (or is to modify the result) of the action denoted by the verb, as exhibited in 1 and 2.

figure a

Both 1 and 2 have result-realization interpretations: 1 means that the pit has been deepened as a result of the activity of digging, and 2 means that the piece of cloth changed form not being dry to being dry as a result of the activity of basking. It seems that similar syntactic structures would give rise to similar meanings of 1 and 2. Some result-deviation interpretation, however, can be found in 1 rather than in 2. The pit in 1 was not only deepened via the digging, it might also be deepened to some depth that exceeds the interlocutors’ expectation. Thus, the result brought about by the action of digging deviates from the presupposed result in 1. In contrast, the result of drying cloth in 2 is always in accordance with the expectation of the interlocutors, i.e., the cloth dried. Previous studies mainly concentrate on deriving result-deviation interpretations and finding out semantic differences between adjectives in instances of different interpretations. However, whether all instances of ‘V+A+le2’ construction have the result-realization interpretations and how this kind of interpretation is derived are rarely accounted for. This paper aims to give a united analysis of how the result-realization and result-deviation interpretation of ‘V+A+le2’ construction arise under the framework of degree semantics.

2 Literature Review

Lu [1] points out that the result-derivation meaning is the only possible interpretation for instances in which the action denoted by the verb has no effect on the event participant or the influence on the participant is abnormal, as shown in 3 and 4:

figure b

In general, the size of the shoes cannot be influenced by the action denoted by mai ‘to buy’. Hence, Lu [1] believes that da ‘big’ is to modify the size of the shoes, leading to the result-deviation interpretation. Likewise, the pitch cannot become qian ‘shallow’ with the action of digging going on. Therefore, 4 has an interpretation that the depth of the pitch is shallower than the speaker’s expectation. However, result-realization interpretations are not impossible for 3 and 4 when some conditions are added, as shown in 5 and 6.

figure c

It is clear that maixiao ‘to buy to be small’ in 5 indicates that the shoes bought this time are smaller than the ones bought previously and that they are as small as what the hearer requires. Similarly, waqian ‘to dig to be shallow’ in 6 means that the pitch is shallower than the previous one. But it is unclear whether its depth is in accordance with the interlocutors’ expectation or not. Hence, any explanation [1, 2] that attributes the result-realization interpretation to the match between interlocutors’ expectation and the value of the property measured by the adjective goes wrong.

Apart from that, syntactic accounts holding such a stance need some revision as well. Lu [1] and Ma and Lu [2] point out that the sentence structure of ‘V+A+le2’ construction is [[V A] le2] if the result-realization interpretation is derived while it is [[V] A le2] if the construction receives a result-deviation interpretation. Shen and Peng [3] explains the account further by arguing that the result-realization interpretation is obtained when the result denoted by the adjective is directly caused by the action. In contrast, for the instances of result-deviation interpretations, adjectives modify the existing results of the actions. If the analysis is on the right track, the syntactic structure of 5, having the result-realization interpretation, would be [[mai da] le], which indicates that da ‘big’ is the direct result brought about by the action of mai ‘to buy’. This cannot be true because the size of the shoes cannot be changed as a result of buying. Therefore, neither the semantic analyses nor the syntactic explanation explains the ‘V+A+le2’ construction correctly. Taking all of these considerations into account, this paper argues that all instance of ‘V+A+le2’ construction can have a result-realization interpretation and that both the result-realization and the result-deviation interpretations can have the [[V] A le2] structure and the [[V A] le2] structure.

It should be noted that Shen and Peng [3] is insightful in pointing out that different scales of adjectives influence the interpretation of ‘V+A+le2’ construction as well. They assume that result-deviation interpretations arise only in instance where the adjectives use open-scales. This paper agrees to this point of view and will utilize formal tools to make it clearer.

3 Theoretical Background

Following Kennedy and McNally [4] and Kennedy [5], it is assumed that adjectives encode measure functions. A proposition can be true only if another value or degree is introduced to compare with the degree or value measured by the given adjective. The truth of plain adjectives depends on comparisons between degrees to which they manifest in relevant scales and degrees of standards of comparison in contexts, as shown in Eq. (1)

$$ {\text{pos}} =\uplambda{\text{g}}\epsilon D_{{{<}{e,d}{>}}} \lambda t\lambda x.g\left( x \right)\left( t \right) \gg stand\left( g \right). $$
(1)

(1) says that the measure function g encoded by the adjective takes an entity variable x and a time variable t and returns a degree d. The degree is compared with the standard of comparison stand(g), from which the truth value of the positive form is derived.

The standard of comparison is influenced by the nature of the scale associated with the adjective [5, 6]. Based on the Principle of Interpretive Economy [5], the standard of comparison corresponds to the maximal or minimal point in the scale if the adjective is associated with an upper or lower closed scale. In contrast, if the adjective use open scales, the standard of comparison is contextually dependent. It can be the expectation of participants or certain comparison class.

figure d

Furthermore, the measure of change function \( {\text{m}}_{\Delta } \) [6] is put forward, when this line of thought is combined with event semantics, to measure the changes an object undergoes as a result of participating in an event, as shown in Eq. (2).

For any measure function m,

$$ m_{\Delta } = \lambda x\lambda em_{{m\left( x \right)\left( {init\left( e \right)} \right)}}^{ \uparrow } \left( x \right)\left( {fin\left( e \right)} \right). $$
(2)

The measure of change function \( {\text{m}}_{\Delta } \) measures the difference between the degrees to which an entity variable x manifests when it is at the initiation of the event (init(e)) and when it is at the end of the event (fin(e)). According to Kennedy and Levin [6], the truth of a proposition with an element encoding measure of change function is shown in Eq. (3).

$$ pos\left( {m_{\Delta } } \right) = \lambda x\lambda em_{{m\left( x \right)\left( {init\left( e \right)} \right)}}^{ \uparrow } \left( x \right)\left( {fin\left( e \right)} \right) \gg stand\left( {m_{\Delta } } \right). $$
(3)

A proposition is true iff the application of the measure of change function to x returns non-zero valueFootnote 1 relative to the scale measured by that function. In other words, it is greater than the stand (\( {\text{m}}_{\Delta } \)). So, the default value of stand (\( {\text{m}}_{\Delta } \)) is always zero if no other context information is provided.

4 Data Analysis

The semantics of ‘V+A+le2’ construction is captured based on the assumption that the construction is a comparative construction and that different interpretations arise because different standards of comparation are adopted. Moreover, the syntactic structure plays a role in determining whether ‘A’ encodes a measure function or ‘V+A’ encodes a measure of change function. The interpretation of an instance having [[V] A le2] syntactic structure depends on the degree to which ‘A’ measures in the gradable property and the actual value of the standard of comparison, while that of an instance having [[V A] le2] syntactic structure is determined by the value differences measured by measure of change function denoted by ‘V+A’ and the standard of comparation.

4.1 The Derivation of Result-Realization Interpretation

Result-Realization Interpretation with Respect to Closed-Scale Adjectives.

If the adjective in ‘V+A+le2’ construction is associated with a closed-scale, only result-realization interpretation is allowed no matter what the syntactic structure is. Let us firstly examine instances of [[V A] le2] structure. An example is shown in 8.

figure e

Since the result denoted by jing ‘clean’ is directly brought about the action of xi ‘to wash’, the syntactic structure of 8 is [[xi jing] le]. Here, xijing ‘to wash to be clean’ encodes a measure of change function shown in Eq. (4).

$$ \begin{array}{*{20}l} {8\,{\text{is}}\,{\text{true}}\,{\text{iff}}\,{\text{clean}}_{\Delta } = {\text{ clean}} \uparrow_{{{\text{clean}}\,\left( {\text{cloth}} \right)\,\left( {{\text{init}}\,\left( {{\text{washing}}\,{\text{event}}} \right)} \right)}} \left( {\text{cloth}} \right)\,({\text{fin}}\,({\text{wahsing}}\,{\text{event))}}} \hfill \\ { \geqslant {\text{stand }}\left( {{\text{clean}}_{\Delta } } \right).} \hfill \\ \end{array} $$
(4)

The measure of change function denoted by xijing ‘to wash to be clean’, in the light of Eq. (3), measures the difference between the degree to which the cloth is clean at the beginning of washing event and the degree to which the cloth is clean at the end of the event. Because the clean scale has a maximal element, the degree to which the cloth is clean at the end of the event is the maximal point of the scale. The difference between the two degrees at the initiation and the end of the event is definitely greater than the stand (clean∆) that equals to zero. Therefore, the result-realization interpretation is derived.

As for 9 with the syntactic structure of [[hua] wan le], the result of the drawing event is the appearance of the line and it is further modified by wan ‘bent’. Thus, a measure function rather than a measure of change function is denoted by wan ‘bent’. The truth value of 9 is given in Eq. (5).

figure f
$$ 9\,{\text{is}}\,{\text{true}}\,{\text{iff}}\,{\text{bent}}\,\left( {\text{line}} \right)\,\left( {\text{t}} \right)\, \geqslant \,{\text{minimal}}\,{\text{value}}\,{\text{in}}\,{\text{bent}}\,{\text{scale}} $$
(5)

The measure function denoted by wan ‘bent’ measures the degree to which the line manifests at the current speech time in the scale of bentness. Because wan ‘bent’ is associated with a lower closed-scale, Eq. (5) says that the line drawn has a non-zero degree of bentness. That is, the standard of comparation is the minimal zero point in the bentness scale. The degree to which the line manifests in the scale is greater than the minimal zero point. Hence, result-realization interpretation is obtained.

Result-Realization Interpretation with Respect to Open-Scale Adjectives.

In the line with instances where adjectives are associated with closed-scales, instances of both sentence structures can have result-realization interpretations when the adjectives are associated with open-scales. For example, of [[V A] le2] structure, 10 means that the road is wider than it was before the widening event.

figure g

The direct result of the widening event is that the road becomes wider under the circumstance of 10. Given that the syntactic structure is [[tuo kuan] le], tuokuan ‘to widen’ encodes a measure of change function that measures the difference between degrees to which the road manifested in the scale of width at the initiation and the end of the widening event. This difference value is greater than the comparative standard, as shown in Eq. (6).

$$ \begin{array}{*{20}l} {10\,{\text{is}}\,{\text{true}}\,{\text{iff}}\,{\text{wide}}_{\Delta } = {\text{ wide}} \uparrow_{{{\text{wide}}\,\left( {\text{road}} \right)\,\left( {{\text{init}}\,\left( {\text{widening event}} \right)} \right)}} \left( {\text{road}} \right)\,({\text{fin}}\,({\text{widening}}} \hfill \\ {\quad {\text{event}})) \,\geqslant\, {\text{stand }}\left( {{\text{wide}}_{\Delta } } \right).} \hfill \\ \end{array} $$
(6)

Since difference function is always associated with a minimal value, stand (wide∆) is of zero value. Therefore, the result that the road had become wider is realized as long as the road underwent some change in the width. This gives rise to the result-realization interpretation of 10.

Furthermore, result-realization interpretation can also be found in instances of the [[V] A le2] structure. For example:

figure h

Because gao ‘high’ is to modify the position of the painting resulting from the action of gua ‘to hang’, the syntactic structure [gua [gao le2]] licenses gao ‘high’ to encode a measure function that measures the height of the painting in current event of hanging. The truth condition of 11 is shown as follows.

$$ 11\,{\text{is}}\,{\text{true}}\,{\text{iff}}\,{\text{high}}\,\left( {\text{painting}} \right)\,\left( {{\text{this}}\,{\text{time}}} \right) \,\geqslant\, {\text{high}}\,\left( {\text{painting}} \right)\,\left( {{\text{previous}}\,{\text{time}}} \right)\,. $$
(7)

Since gao ‘high’ is an open-scale adjective, the standard of comparison is the degree provided by the context of 11, namely, the height of the painting in a previous hanging event. Equation (7) says that the height of the picture in the current hanging event is higher than that of the previous hanging event. Result-realization interpretation is obtained.

4.2 The Derivation of Result-Deviation Interpretation

The result-deviation interpretation arises due to the incompatibility between the interlocutors’ expectation and the degree measured by the measure function or the degree difference measured by the measure of change function. According to the Interpretative Economy Principle in 7, the comparison standard uses the maximal or minimal point in the relevant scale. Interlocutors’ expectations cannot not be involved in instances whose adjectives are associated with closed-scales. Thus, result-deviation interpretations can only be found in instances of ‘V+A+le2’ construction with open-scale adjectives.

Let us firstly examine instances of [[V A] le2] structure. Sentence 12 means that the change in width the road undergoes is greater than the interlocutors’ expected change. The truth condition is shown in Eq. (8).

figure i
$$ \begin{array}{*{20}l} {12\,{\text{is}}\,{\text{true}}\,{\text{iff}}\,{\text{wide}}_{\Delta } = {\text{wide}} \uparrow_{{{\text{wide}}\,\left( {\text{road}} \right)\,\left( {{\text{init}}\,\left( {{\text{widening}}\,{\text{event}}} \right)} \right)}} \left( {\text{road}} \right)\,\left( {{\text{fin}}\,\left( {{\text{widening}}\,{\text{event}}} \right)} \right)} \hfill \\ {\quad \,\geqslant\, {\text{expectation}}\,\left( {{\text{wide}}_{\Delta } } \right).} \hfill \\ \end{array} $$
(8)

Given that the change of degree in the width of the road is greater than the interlocutors’ expectation, result-deviation interpretation is available.

For an instance of the [[V] A le2] structure, result-deviation interpretation can arise as well if the degree ‘A’ measure is greater than the interlocutors’ expected degree. A revised version of 11 is shown in 13.

figure j

Similar to 12, gao ‘high’ encodes a measure function that measures the height of the painting. The composition of result-deviation interpretation of 13 is shown in Eq. (9).

$$ 13\,{\text{is}}\,{\text{true}}\,{\text{iff}}\,{\text{high}}\,\left( {\text{painting}} \right)\,\left( {\text{reality}} \right) \,\geqslant\, {\text{high}}\,\left( {\text{painting}} \right)\,\left( {\text{expectation}} \right)\,. $$
(9)

Equation (9) says that the actual position of the painting is higher than that of interlocutors’ expected position, resulting in a result-deviation interpretation of 13.

5 Conclusion

This paper examines how both the result-realization and result-deviation interpretations of ‘V+A+le2’ construction arise under the framework of degree semantics. Interactions among scales associated with adjectives, syntactic structures, standard of comparisons and different interpretations are shown in the Table 1.

Table 1. Interpretations of ‘V+A+le2’ construction
Full size table

As seen in the table, the ‘V+A+le2’ construction is a comparative construction. Its different interpretations depend on choices of standards of comparison which are further influenced by the syntactic structure of the construction and the scale associated with the adjective. The sentence structure determines the kind of function denoted by the construction while the scale associated with ‘A’ determines whether the construction is allowed to have a result-deviation interpretation or not.