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#Unfortunately, you are bello tall
When bleaching is not enough
Andrea Beltrama
University of Chicago
Patterns and Models of semantic change
Naples, July 31st 2015
Roadmap
1 – Intensification and bleaching
a)
The classic view
b)
Issues
2 – Bello tall: the challenge of tracking
beauty
3- Bleaching: Meaning gain or meaning loss?
Roadmap
1 – Intensification and bleaching
a)
The classic view
b)
Issues
2 – Bello tall: the challenge of tracking
beauty
3- Bleaching: Meaning gain or meaning loss?
Bleaching
“The reduction of the independent lexical content of a word so that it
comes to fulfill a particular function”. (Partington 1993)
• Relevant cases:
Auxiliaries: Will = intend  Will = future
Intensifiers: Very = really  Very = high degree
• Relevant work: Sinclair 1992; Partington 1993; Haspelmath 1998,
Musan 2001, Lorenz 2002, Tagliamonte 2007
• Relevant labels (Heine, Claudi, & Hünnemeyer 1991):
bleaching, weakening, fading, desemanticization,
delexicalization
Bleaching
“The reduction of the independent lexical content of a word so that it
comes to fulfill a particular function”. (Partington 1993)
• Relevant cases:
Auxiliaries: Will = intend  Will = future
Negation: Pas =step  Pas = not
• Relevant work: Sinclair 1992; Partington 1993; Haspelmath 1998,
Musan 2001, Lorenz 2002, Tagliamonte 2007
• Relevant labels (Heine, Claudi, & Hünnemeyer 1991):
bleaching, weakening, fading, desemanticization,
delexicalization
Bleaching
“The reduction of the independent lexical content of a word so that it
comes to fulfill a particular function”. (Partington 1993)
• Relevant cases:
Auxiliaries: Will = intend  Will = future
Negation: Pas =step  Pas = not
• Relevant work: Sinclair 1992; Partington 1993; Haspelmath 1998,
Musan 2001, Lorenz 2002, Tagliamonte 2008
• Relevant labels (Heine, Claudi, & Hünnemeyer 1991):
bleaching, weakening, fading, desemanticization,
delexicalization
Bleaching
“The reduction of the independent lexical content of a word so that it
comes to fulfill a particular function”. (Partington 1993)
• Relevant cases:
Auxiliaries: Will = intend  Will = future
Negation: Pas =step  Pas = not
• Relevant work: Sinclair 1992; Partington 1993; Haspelmath 1998,
Musan 2001, Lorenz 2002, Tagliamonte 2008
• Relevant labels (Heine, Claudi, & Hünnemeyer 1991):
bleaching, weakening, fading, desemanticization,
delexicalization
Intensifiers: a test case
What is an intensifier? “A linguistic device that
scales upwards from an assumed norm” (Quirk,
Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik 1985)
{Very, so, pretty, really, well, awfully}
Scalarity as a drain of grammaticalization
(Lorenz 2002)
Very
“Very”: a showcase example of the process
(Tagliamonte 2008).
Independent, adjectival meaning: genuine, true
(“God verray!” 1470)
Intensifier, with no meaning as a stand alone
word (“very interested and anxious spectator”
1780)
Awfully
Issues
Formal issue:
Bleaching as a good metaphor, but hard to formalize
(Eckardt 2006)
Theoretical issue:
Functional meanings are not empty. They have higher
types (von Fintel 1994)
Empirical issue:
Dearth of fine-grained data to verify if the loss of the old
constraints haven’t been replaced by new ones
Issues
Formal issue:
Bleaching as a good metaphor, but hard to formalize
(Eckardt 2006)
Theoretical issue:
Functional meanings are not empty. They have higher
types (von Fintel 1994)
Empirical issue:
Dearth of fine-grained data to verify if the loss of the old
constraints haven’t been replaced by new ones
Issues
Formal issue:
Bleaching as a good metaphor, but hard to formalize
(Eckardt 2006)
Theoretical issue:
Functional meanings are not empty. They have higher
types (von Fintel 1994)
Empirical issue:
Dearth of fine-grained data to verify if the loss of the old
constraints haven’t been replaced by new ones
Issues
Formal issue:
Bleaching as a good metaphor, but hard to formalize
(Eckardt 2006)
Theoretical issue:
Functional meanings are not empty. They have higher
types (von Fintel 1994)
Empirical issue:
Concerning intensifiers, lack of fine-grained data to verify
if old constraints haven’t been replaced by new ones
Roadmap
1 – Intensification and bleaching
a) The classic view
b) Issues
2 – Bello tall: tracking beauty
3- Meaning gain or meaning loss?
Enter bello
Content meaning: beautiful
E’ una bella giornata!
It’s a beautiful day!
Functional meaning: very (Dardano and Trifone 1985)
Abbiamo fatto una camminata bella lunga!
We went for a hike very long
‘We went for a very long hike’
Enter bello
Content meaning: beautiful
E’ una bella giornata!
It’s a beautiful day!
Functional meaning: very (Dardano and Trifone 1985)
Abbiamo fatto una camminata bella lunga!
We went for a hike very long
‘We went for a very long hike’
Enter bello
Content meaning: beautiful
E’ una bella giornata!
It’s a beautiful day!
Functional meaning: very (Dardano and Trifone 1985)
Abbiamo fatto una camminata bella lunga!
We went for a hike bella long
‘We went for a very long hike’
A textbook example of bleaching?
First attestation: 1347
(Santeusanio and Fesenmeier 2001)
Bello: Predicate of personal taste (Lasersohn 2005)
[[belloADJ]] = λxλj.BEAUTIFUL(x)(j)
Bello: Degree modifier (Kennedy and McNally 2005)
[[belloDM]] = λG<d,et>λx.G(x) >> St(G)
A textbook example of bleaching?
First attestation: 1347
(Santeusanio and Fesenmeier 2001)
Bello: Predicate of personal taste (Lasersohn 2005)
[[belloADJ]] = λxλj.BEAUTIFUL(x)(j)
Bello: Degree modifier (Kennedy and McNally 2005)
[[belloDM]] = λG<d,et>λx.G(x) >> St(G)
A textbook example of bleaching?
First attestation: 1347
(Santeusanio and Fesenmeier 2001)
Bello: Predicate of personal taste (Lasersohn 2005)
[[belloADJ]] = λxλj.BEAUTIFUL(x)(j)
Bello: Degree modifier (Kennedy and McNally 2005)
[[belloDM]] = λG<d,et>λx.G(x) >> St(G)
Not so soon!
Two restrictions on the use of bello
1) Lexical restriction
Inherently evaluative adjectives
2) Pragmatic restriction
“Unfavorable” contexts
Not so soon!
Two restrictions on the use of bello
1) Lexical restriction
Inherently evaluative adjectives
2) Pragmatic restriction
“Unfavorable” contexts
Some examples
Non evaluative adjectives
(Examples from Santeusanio and Fesenmeier 2001)
Il vino bello ghiacciato mi rimetteva in una prospettiva umana
The bello cold wine made me feel more human
Il melone è uscito bello rosso
The melon came out bello red
Tutti belli bagnati, si risale sul bus
As we are all bello wet, we get back on the bus
Some examples
Non evaluative adjectives
(Examples from Santeusanio and Fesenmeier 2001)
Il vino bello ghiacciato mi rimetteva in una prospettiva umana
The bello cold wine made me feel more human
Il melone è uscito bello rosso
The melon came out bello red
Tutti belli bagnati, si risale sul bus
As we are all bello wet, we get back on the bus
Some examples
Non evaluative adjectives
(Examples from Santeusanio and Fesenmeier 2001)
Il vino bello ghiacciato mi rimetteva in una prospettiva umana
The bello cold wine made me feel more human
Il melone è uscito bello rosso
The melon came out bello red
Tutti belli bagnati, si risale sul bus
As we are all bello wet, we get back on the bus
Some examples
Non evaluative adjectives
(Examples from Santeusanio and Fesenmeier 2001)
Il vino bello ghiacciato mi rimetteva in una prospettiva umana
The bello cold wine made me feel more human
Il melone è uscito bello rosso
The melon came out bello red
Tutti belli bagnati, si risale sul bus
As we are all bello wet, we get back on the bus
Some examples
Non evaluative adjectives
(Examples from Santeusanio and Fesenmeier 2001)
Il vino bello ghiacciato mi rimetteva in una prospettiva umana
The bello cold wine made me feel more human
Il melone è uscito bello rosso
The melon came out bello red
Tutti belli bagnati, si risale sul bus
As we are all bello wet, we get back on the bus
Lexical restriction
Inherently positive evaluative adjectives
#Lucia è bella carina
Lucia is bella pretty
# La pasta è bella buona
The pasta is bella good
# Tuo padre è bello simpatico
Your dad is bello friendly
Lexical restriction
Inherently positive evaluative adjectives
#Lucia è bella carina (✓molto)
Lucia is bella pretty (✓very)
# La pasta è bella buona
The pasta is bella good
# Tuo padre è bello simpatico
Your dad is bello friendly
Lexical restriction
Inherently positive evaluative adjectives
#Lucia è bella carina (✓molto)
Lucia is bella pretty (✓very)
# La pasta è bella buona (✓molto)
The pasta is bella good (✓very)
# Tuo padre è bello simpatico
Your dad is bello friendly
Lexical restriction
Inherently positive evaluative adjectives
#Lucia è bella carina (✓molto)
Lucia is bella pretty (✓very)
# La pasta è bella buona (✓molto)
The pasta is bella good (✓very)
# Tuo padre è bello simpatico (✓molto)
Your dad is bello friendly (✓very)
Lexical restriction
Inherently positive evaluative adjectives
#Lucia è bella carina (✓molto)
Lucia is bella pretty (✓very)
# La pasta è bella buona (✓molto)
The pasta is bella good (✓very)
# Tuo padre è bello simpatico (✓molto)
Your dad is bello friendly (✓very)
Unless used with sarcasm….
Pragmatic restriction: the speaker
Context: It’s 35 degrees out and John orders a lemonade
Ci voleva questa limonata. Era bella fredda
This lemonadewas much needed. It was bella cold.
# Questa limonata non era niente di che. Era bella calda
This lemonade was nothing special. It was bella warm
✓Questa limonata non era niente di che. Era molto calda
This lemonade was nothing special. It was very warm
Pragmatic restriction: the speaker
Context: It’s 35 degrees out and John orders a lemonade
Ci voleva questa limonata. Era bella fredda
This lemonadewas much needed. It was bella cold.
# Questa limonata non era niente di che. Era bella calda
This lemonade was nothing special. It was bella warm
✓Questa limonata non era niente di che. Era molto calda
This lemonade was nothing special. It was very warm
Pragmatic restriction: the speaker
Context: It’s 35 degrees out and John orders a lemonade
Ci voleva questa limonata. Era bella fredda
This lemonadewas much needed. It was bella cold.
# Questa limonata non era niente di che. Era bella calda
This lemonade was nothing special. It was bella warm
✓Questa limonata non era niente di che. Era molto calda
This lemonade was nothing special. It was very warm
Pragmatic restriction: the speaker
Context: It’s 35 degrees out and John orders a lemonade
Ci voleva questa limonata. Era bella fredda
This lemonadewas much needed. It was bella cold.
# Questa limonata non era niente di che. Era bella calda
This lemonade was nothing special. It was bella warm
✓Questa limonata non era niente di che. Era molto calda
This lemonade was nothing special. It was very warm
Pragmatic restriction: the hearer
Context: you are back from a 4 hour run and your dad says:
Adesso che sei bello stanco, vedrai che bello dormire!
Now that you are bello tired, falling asleep will be awesome!
# Adesso che sei bello stanco, non riuscirai mai a finire il compito!
Now that you are bello tired, you’ll never make it to finish the
assignment!
# Adesso che sei molto stanco, non riuscirai a finire il compito!
Now that you are very tired, you’ll never finish the assignment!
Pragmatic restriction: the hearer
Context: you are back from a 4 hour run and your dad says:
Adesso che sei bello stanco, vedrai che bello dormire!
Now that you are bello tired, falling asleep will be awesome!
# Adesso che sei bello stanco, non riuscirai mai a finire il compito!
Now that you are bello tired, you’ll never finish the assignment!
# Adesso che sei molto stanco, non riuscirai a finire il compito!
Now that you are very tired, you’ll never finish the assignment!
Pragmatic restriction: the hearer
Context: you are back from a 4 hour run and your dad says:
Adesso che sei bello stanco, vedrai che bello dormire!
Now that you are bello tired, falling asleep will be awesome!
# Adesso che sei bello stanco, non riuscirai mai a finire il compito!
Now that you are bello tired, you’ll never finish the assignment!
# Adesso che sei molto stanco, non riuscirai a finire il compito!
Now that you are very tired, you’ll never finish the assignment!
Pragmatic restriction: the hearer
Context: you are back from a 4 hour run and your dad says:
Adesso che sei bello stanco, vedrai che bello dormire!
Now that you are bello tired, falling asleep will be awesome!
# Adesso che sei bello stanco, non riuscirai mai a finire il compito!
Now that you are bello tired, you’ll never finish the assignment!
# Adesso che sei molto stanco, non riuscirai a finire il compito!
Now that you are very tired, you’ll never finish the assignment!
Evaluativity is still there!
Dardano and Trifone 1985: bello adds positive value
De Felice and Duro 1976: bello preserves some of the original
meaning
Intuitively, the use of bello to intensify an adjective conveys that
the speaker has a positive attitude towards the property.
The evaluative component of bello didn’t bleach, but transferred
to another domain.
Evaluativity is still there!
Dardano and Trifone 1985: bello adds positive value
De Felice and Duro 1976: bello preserves some of the original
meaning
Intuitively, the use of bello to intensify an adjective conveys that
someone has a positive attitude towards the property.
The anchor of the attitude can be either the speaker or the
hearer.
Evaluativity is still there!
Dardano and Trifone 1985: bello adds positive value
De Felice and Duro 1976: bello preserves some of the original
meaning
Intuitively, the use of bello to intensify an adjective conveys that
someone has a positive attitude towards the property.
The anchor of the attitude can be either the speaker or the
hearer.
Where is evaluativity encoded?
Is evaluativity part of the at issue meaning, or encoded
on a separate tier?
A: The lemonade was bella cold.
B: #No! It was very cold, but I didn’t enjoy it!
A: # The lemonade was super cold, but not bella cold.
Evaluativity is encoded on a separate tier (Gutzmann
2012)
Where is evaluativity encoded?
Is evaluativity part of the at issue meaning, or encoded
on a separate tier?
A: The lemonade was bella cold.
B: #No! It was very cold, but I didn’t enjoy it!
A: # The lemonade was super cold, but not bella cold.
Evaluativity is encoded on a separate tier (Gutzmann
2012)
Where is evaluativity encoded?
Is evaluativity part of the at issue meaning, or encoded
on a separate tier?
A: The lemonade was bella cold.
B: #No! It was very cold, but I didn’t enjoy it!
A: # The lemonade was super cold, but not bella cold.
Evaluativity is encoded on a separate tier (Gutzmann
2012)
Where is evaluativity encoded?
Is evaluativity part of the at issue meaning, or encoded
on a separate tier?
A: The lemonade was bella cold.
B: #No! It was very cold, but I didn’t enjoy it!
A: # The lemonade was super cold, but not bella cold.
Evaluativity is encoded on a separate tier (Gutzmann
2012)
Summing up
Three components to the meaning of bello:
1) Degree modification: at-issue
Property to a high degree
2)
Evaluativity: non at-issue
Such a degree must fulfill the someone’s desire
3) Presupposition:
The predicate must not be already evaluative
Roadmap
1 – Intensification and bleaching
a)
The classic view
b)
Issues
2 – Bello tall: the challenge of tracking
beauty
3- Meaning gain or meaning loss?
What is bleached
Starting point: predicate of aesthetic judgment
End point: modifier of gradable adjectives
Changes:
✓Loss of (part of) the original meaning
✓Expansion to new syntactic position
What is bleached
Starting point: predicate of aesthetic judgment
End point: modifier of gradable adjectives
Changes:
✓Loss of (part of) the original meaning
✓Expansion to new syntactic position
What is retained
• Evaluative nature of the modifier
• Bello introduces a positive evaluative attitude
anchored to a participant in the conversation
• Evaluativity survives semantic change and is
preserved at the expressive level
Rethinking bleaching
• Assuming that meanings just bleach out is not
fully accurate
• Loss of old restrictions can be replaced by new
ones
• A careful empirical examination of the
intensifier’s distribution is required to make
sense of the historical trajectory
A cross-linguistic process?
✓Unfortunately, the lemonade was pretty cold and
we couldn’t enjoy it fully.
✓This pasta is pretty good!
- Apparently, pretty appears to be further along
the bleaching process
- Cross linguistic variation?
Thanks!
For questions, comments, feedback etc
[email protected]