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Comparison among degrees or individuals?: A view from Japanese 'ichiban' superlatives

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Two distinct denotations have been proposed for the superlative morpheme -est in the literature, differing in whether comparison is made among degree sets (2-place -est) or individuals (3-place -est). This paper investigates cross-linguistic evidence for this distinction. We argue that the Japanese superlative morpheme ichiban (literally ‘No.1’) exclusively employs the 3-place -est denotation, which compares individuals rather than degrees. Our empirical focus is on two types of modal superlatives in Japanese, with further implications for the (un)availability of elative superlatives and the negation of existence usage in this language.

Source: Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung

DOI: 10.18148/sub/2024.v29.1294

Authors: Tanaka, Eri, Mizutani, Kenta

Language: English

Topic: Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W7082662716

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