mal ?bad? in Argentinian Spanish. Questions on quantification and antonymic interpretation in elative variants.

MANGIALAVORI RASIA, MARÍA EUGENIA

Berlin

Workshop; Degrees & Polarity (DEGPOL 2020); 2020

ZAS

mal ?bad? in Argentinian Spanish. Questions on quantification and antonymic interpretation in elative variants.Ma. Eugenia Mangialavori Rasia - CONICETElatives are a key topic for studies on degree modification and (micro)variation. In Spanish, a typical example is bien, which departs from Standard Spanish [SS] by serving not only as manner adv but also as degree elative [ebien]. Here we focus on a yet underexplored use of the adverb mal ?bad? in Argentinian Spanish [AS]. In contrast to the negative manner adv in SS [smal] (1)a, mal in AS is used to convey high degrees in a positive sense of quantification [emal] (1)b. Asymmetry is relevant as for non-AS speakers (1) has univocal reading, while it renders ambiguous in AS. emal shows distinct syntactic and aspectual properties, and a free (cross-categorial) productivity not seen in other nonstandard Spanish elatives (bien (Caribbean Spanish, Rexach et al 2014); bocha/banda (AS, Masullo 2017)), thus indicating major differences with its apparent polar antonymic counterpart (?bien?) that deserve attention. (1)a. Ayer descansó mal. ?Yesterday he rested in an incorrect manner? (he didn?t rest well)[AS]/[SS]b. Ayer descansó mal. ?Yesterday he rested a lot?[AS]/*[SS]Facts: emal deviates from both SS modifier muy/mucho ?a lot? and nonstandard elative Ebien, not only for tendency to antonymic (neg adverbial vs. pos elative):●Like other elatives, emal is incompatible with imperatives and exclamative force (3)-(4). ●Yet, linearization is distinct and key to (elative|manner) interpretation (preverbal>elative; postv>elative) (cf. (2),(5),(7)).●emal is not constrained to predicative or attributive uses and shows no categorial restrictions, freely combining with P/V/N (2),(8) to consistent entailments (e.g. regardless of N type (9)).●emal does not form antonymous pairs (10). This matters as, if emal were either the same type of elative as ebien, or an elative variant of ?standard? mal (7)a, it would be expected to yield low(est) or negative degrees, contrary to fact. ●A locality constraint draws a contrast with SS adv mucho, elative demasiado and (otherwise similar) English bad (11)a. ●emal is licensed as modifier by a process of composition targeting: (i)the event, on a scale linked to the contribution of the lexical root (14), (ii)the derived state in statives, and accomplishment, often to ambiguous event/object quantification (sabe mal ?he knows too much?/?lot (of things)?), or else (iii)the object per se, yielding an out-of-the-scale flavor associated as elative. (2)a. El camión está (Smal/smuy/ebien/*emal) cargado. ?The truck is (smalwrongly/smuy-ebienvery) loaded?b. El camión está cargado (*Smal/*smucho/*smuy/okemal).?The truck is (extraordinarily) loaded?(3)Por favor, estudia/descansa (smucho/*emal).?Please, study/rest smuchoa lot/* emal extraordinarily much?.(4)a.{sMuy/eBien} rica te quedó la comida. ?The meal (by you) turned out very tasty?b.*eMal rica te quedó la comida / La comida te quedó rica okemal.?The meal was extraordinarily tasty?(5)Cortó (smucho/ebien/*emal) el pan (*s mucho/*ebien/emal). ?He cut the bread a lot/completely/badly? (6)a. Cortó el pan (ebien/Smuy/*emal) fino (*ebien/*Smuy/emal). ?He sliced the meat very/≈badly thin? b. (eBien/SMuy/*eMal) fino. ?extremely/very thin?cf. Fino (*ebien/*Smuy/emal) ?≈badly thin? (7) a. Cortó mal el pan.?He cut the bread smalwrongly? b. Cortó el pan mal. ?He cut the bread emalbadly?(8) a. {(??eBien/SMuy/*SMucho) en calma (okmal). ?Well/Very/Much/Extraordinarily in calm? b. calmarse (*ebien/*smuy/oksmucho/okemal). ?Calm down smuchoa lot/emalextraordinarily?.(9) a.{(*eBien/*SMuy/SMucho) sueño.|(??eBien/SMuy/*SMucho) amigo}b. okAmigo emal.| oksueño mal. ?Extraordinary friend/sleep? (lit friend/sleep badly)?(10)a.{sbien/??ebien} ganado ?sCorrectly/eVery won? b. (smal) ganado (emal).?Won sincorrectly/eby far?(11)a. Duele (*realmente) emal. ?It hurts (okreal(ly)) bad?b. Duele (okrealmente) mucho/demasiado It hurts (real*(ly)) a lot/too much?(12)Pintó un cuadro emal/*ebien. (lit. He painted a picture bad) ?He produced an extraordinary painting?Defining elatives as degrees out of a conventional scale (Spanish, Bosque 2002), as opposed to superlatives (max. degree on the scale), is key to wider distribution (e.g. compatibility with max. degree (13) and nongradable As (ciego mal ≈?badly blind?)). It also explains why emal is trivial to telicity (16) (below): by introducing a nondiscrete high value which is not upper end of a scale (Kennedy 2007 i.a.), modification with emal does not yield an eventuality carried out to full extent, consequently reflecting the idea of an outstanding/extraordinary degree (but not completion).Analysis: To explain these syntactic and aspectual properties, we submit AS diverges in allowing emal (not ebien) to freely occur as internal VP-(or XP-) quantifier, just as (the also crosscategorial) SS muy/mucho (without morphological alternation, and with antonymic interpretation). In general, the sense of quantification imposed on the event bears on the denotation of the scale introduced by √, reflecting a generalized measuring-out effect long linked to lexicalized scales (Levin& Rappaport[LR] 2010 i.a.). This holds for denominals and deadjectivals, assuming that in the latter degree modifiers measure the event by imposing a measure on a property scale named by √ (17)c; while in transitive and unergative denominals measuring-out holds on the extension of the entity named by √, reflecting the well-known effect (Tenny 1985, Krifka 1998) in unincorporated variants ((17)a,b) (Harley 2005:47 i.a.). On l-syntactic approaches to verb formation and VP structure (Hale & Keyser 1993), these cases are similar in that the incorporated √ comes from the same (object) position: sister-to-vº, the position crucially associated with measuring-out effects. emal would thus pose an interesting case where measuring-out over a lexically-contributed scale (Harley 2005) can be discussed further. Yet, we must assume that emal is allowed to have an aspectual effect on the event(uality) by directly modifying √. To account for this, we follow Bosque & Masullo?s (1998) analysis of comparable aspectual modification in SS, according to which verbs formed by root incorporation present a configuration [vP[vº[Q-√s]] where Q represents a hidden quantifier containing a quantificational/degree feature that licenses the relevant adjunct (SS mucho in their example) by checking a quantificational feature (14). Analyzing mal as a bearing quantifier properties explains its incompatibility with other measure phrases (Doetjes 1997) (Caminó emal *10km. ?He walked (*bad) 10 km?). Yet, our proposal differs from BM?s as it directly relies on the scalar properties defined by √ (in Harley?s account, a lexicalized ±quantized feature applied to scalar-denoting Roots) conforming to configurational conditions. This allows for a unified analysis for the finer aspectual entailments produced by the modifier correlated to event type (temporal readings in activities, degree readings in states and accomplishments (inner state, e.g. se lustró mal ?it became badly polished?) (15). This approach is consistent with the standard l-syntactic analysis of VP structure and a configurational account of measuring-out effects, which would be coherently defined here by emal, with √ occupying the relevant position (19), and reflecting expected effects. We preserve the analysis of unergatives (e.g. descansar ((1),(15)) as ?hidden? transitives given by incorporation of the √ in measure-out position (18)a, and of locatum verb (e.g.(15)b) configurations (18)c applying also to stative transitives like respetar (HK 2002:38) [⥵∅ do √respeto much=respect a lot], with emal always in the relevant position (cf. Q in (19)a). Quantification by emal on the scale supplied by √ thus follows from the same basic principles of verb structure and measuring out in foundational constructionist syntactic accounts (Hale & Keyser 2002), readily extending to deadjectivals (17). It also correctly captures the sense of measure lexically licensed namely by motion verbs (along spatial scales (17)a), vs. unergatives formed by incorporation of incremental themes, measured by amount of substance produced (17)b, which along with change of state ((17)c), define the three subtypes of degree calculation on lexicalized scales (Levin&Rappaport 2010). If correct, the idea of direct composition with √ offers a simple explanation for syntactic-semantic properties (crosscategorial productivity, aspectual effects, and locality constraints) of this nonstandard elative. In sum: mal raises inevitable questions on adverbs making use of the same scale, in reverse directions (Cresswell 1976, Seuren 1984, von Stechow 1984, Bierwisch 1989, Kennedy 1999) in elative variants, as well as on the crosslanguage availability of similar patterns (Dutch slechts 'only', German arg 'bad', e.g. in Ich habe arg Lust ins Kino zu gehen [I have ARG lust to-the cinema to go] ?I'd really like to go to the movies'; Gehrke p.c., but see Durrell 2004: 186) along with productivity asymmetries (e.g. unavailability in closely-related languages like Portuguese as opposed to Spanish). This being a first approach, much remains to be seen.(13) a. (??eBien/#SMuy/*eMal) cerrada. ?well/very closed?b. Cerrada emal. ?extraordinarily closed? (14) a. Llovió mucho. (√rain.3s.pst bad) 'It rained a lot' (=vDO a lot of rain) (Inherent quant.) (BM 1998)b. Comió mucho. (√food.3s.pst bad)?He ate a lot (=vDO a lot of food)? (argumental quant.) (BM 1998)(15)a. descansar mal (√rest.inf bad) ?rest badly? [⥵hacer descanso mal ?do extr. rest?] b. lustrar mal (√rest.inf bad) ?(shoe)shine badly? [⥵poner (con) lustre mal ?with ext. (shoe)shine?] c. respetar mal (√respect.inf bad) ?respect badly? [⥵tener (con) respeto mal ?have ext. respect?](16)descansó/comió emal (*en una hora). ?He rested/ate ≈badly (extraordinarily much) (*in an hour)? (17)AS|*SS: a. Caminó emal. (lit. √thread.3sg.pst badly) ?He walked (extraord.) much? [⥵∅ did much thread] b. Sudó emal. (lit. √sweat.3sg.pst badly) ?He sweated (extraord.) much?[⥵∅ produced much sweat] c. Oscureció emal. (lit. √dark.3sg.pst badly) ?It darkened (extraord.) much?[⥵∅ became much dark](18)a. vP [DP, v? [vº, √np] ) [NOM BASE]b. vP [DP, v? [vº, √ap]][ADJ BASE]c. vP [V P [DP, √p]] [PP](HK 2005)(19)a. vP [DP, v? [vº, Qi√np] Qi]]b. vP [DP, v? [vº, Qi√ap] Qi]]c. vP [vº P [DP, Qi√p] Qi]]