Oral Presentation for "Degrees and Standards in the Meanings of Roots"

This talk was presented on 2021 April 8 - 11 at the 39th meeting of the West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics.

Provided abstract:

On scalar approaches, the roots of change-of-state verbs denote measure functions, with comparison to a scalar standard introduced by higher functional material. We propose roots instead denote stative predicates, as in event structural approaches, albeit introducing comparison to an unspecified standard as part of the state. Higher functional material serves to set the specific standard, introduce additional types of comparison, and govern access to degrees for purposes of degree modification.