Documentation

Linglib.Semantics.Degree.Adjective

Gradable adjectives #

Adjective-specific degree semantics, layered on the syntactic Adjective (Syntax/Category/Adjective): the GradableAdjective lexeme with its derived Kennedy classification, the two-threshold model for contrary antonyms, multidimensional binding ([Sas13]), and the bridge from a concrete Degree scale to the abstract PolarMeasure.

Main definitions #

Core degree types (Degree, Threshold) live in Core.MeasurementScale; the threshold semantics (positiveMeaning, negativeMeaning) in Semantics/Degree/Basic. The intersective/subsective/privative classification lives in Semantics/Modification/Classification.lean.

Standards and Interpretive Economy ([Ken07]) #

Absorbed from the retired Standard.lean: the classification of gradable adjectives by scale structure and the derivation of standard type from boundedness. Interpretive Economy ([Ken07] eq. (66)) maximises the contribution of conventional meaning: a scale with an endpoint rules out the contextual standard; a totally closed scale admits both endpoint standards (ieAdmits) with the maximum as the pragmatically preferred default (interpretiveEconomy).

Classification carriers #

Positive form standard: how the contextual threshold is determined. For open scales, the standard is the contextual norm ([Ken07]); for closed scales, it is the relevant endpoint fixed by Interpretive Economy.

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      Whether the positive standard depends on contextual domain information.

      [Ken07] argues the comparison class is not a semantic argument of pos (contra [Kle80]), replacing it with the standard-fixing function s: ⟦pos⟧ = λg.λx. g(x) ≥ s(g). For relative (open-scale) adjectives, s still requires contextual domain information; for absolute (closed-scale) adjectives the standard comes from scale endpoints via Interpretive Economy.

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        Kennedy's adjective classification by scale structure and standard type [Ken07] [KMcN05], plus a nonGradable case for adjectives outside the degree-based fragment.

        • relativeGradable : AdjectiveClass

          Standard varies with comparison class — tall, expensive, big.

        • absoluteMaximum : AdjectiveClass

          Threshold fixed at scale maximum — full, straight, closed, dry.

        • absoluteMinimum : AdjectiveClass

          Threshold fixed at scale minimum — wet, bent, open, dirty.

        • mildlyPositive : AdjectiveClass

          Necessity-relative threshold — decent, acceptable ([Bel25]).

        • nonGradable : AdjectiveClass

          Non-gradable: no degree argument, no scale — atomic, prime, deceased, pregnant. Outside the gradable (PolarMeasure) system; consumers that classify a general adjective should map non-gradables here rather than coercing them into a gradable class.

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            Coarse two-way classification: relative vs absolute. Collapses absoluteMaximum and absoluteMinimum.

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              The positive-form standards that Interpretive Economy admits for a scale. IE maximises the contribution of conventional (scalar) meaning, so the contextual/relative standard is admitted only on a totally open scale (which has no endpoint to use). A one-sided closed scale admits its single endpoint; a totally closed scale admits both endpoint standards — IE rules out the relative reading but is silent on the min/max choice ([Ken07] eq. (66), the opaque/transparent and open/exposed cases of eq. (67)–(68)).

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                The out-of-context default positive standard. Where Interpretive Economy admits a unique standard (open / one-sided closed scales) this is forced; for a totally closed scale IE admits both endpoints (ieAdmits) and the default is the maximum on pragmatic grounds — a maximum standard entails a minimum one and stronger meanings are preferred ([Ken07] eq. (66) discussion). So this is Interpretive Economy plus a strengthening default for closed scales, not IE alone; the genuine (variable) IE claim is ieAdmits.

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                  The default standard for a totally closed scale is the maximum — a pragmatic preference (stronger meaning), not an Interpretive-Economy determination; the minimum is equally admitted (ieAdmits_closed_minEndpoint).

                  The default standard is always among those Interpretive Economy admits.

                  Interpretive variability of totally closed scales: IE admits the minimum standard, so the interpretiveEconomy maximum default is a pragmatic preference, not a semantic determination ([Ken07] eq. (67)–(68): opaque/transparent, open/exposed).

                  Interpretive Economy rules out the relative (contextual) standard whenever the scale has an endpoint (Boundedness.IsLicensed).

                  A boundedness is Class A (relative) iff its default standard requires a comparison class — i.e. iff the scale is open. Kennedy's tall, expensive, big.

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                    Two-threshold model for contrary antonyms #

                    structure Degree.ThresholdPair (max : ) :

                    The two thresholds of a contrary antonym pair (happy/unhappy): pos for the positive form (true when degree > pos) and neg for the negative form (true when degree < neg). When neg < pos a gap region [neg, pos] — "neither" — lies between them; that strict inequality is taken as a hypothesis where a gap is needed (contrary_gap_exists, gap_nonempty), not stored as an invariant.

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                      def Degree.instReprThresholdPair.repr {max✝ : } :
                      ThresholdPair max✝Std.Format
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                        instance Degree.instReprThresholdPair {max✝ : } :
                        Repr (ThresholdPair max✝)
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                        def Degree.instDecidableEqThresholdPair.decEq {max✝ : } (x✝ x✝¹ : ThresholdPair max✝) :
                        Decidable (x✝ = x✝¹)
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                          def Degree.instBEqThresholdPair.beq {max✝ : } :
                          ThresholdPair max✝ThresholdPair max✝Bool
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                            instance Degree.instBEqThresholdPair {max✝ : } :
                            BEq (ThresholdPair max✝)
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                            Negation semantics #

                            The two-threshold model for contrary antonyms: the general threshold semantics of Semantics/Degree/Basic (positiveMeaning/negativeMeaning/notPositiveMeaning) read through a ThresholdPair's two poles.

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                            abbrev Degree.contradictoryNeg {max : } (d : Bounded max) (θ : Threshold max) :

                            Contradictory negation not happyd ≤ θ (Degree.notPositiveMeaning).

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                              abbrev Degree.contraryNeg {max : } (d : Bounded max) (θ_neg : Threshold max) :

                              Contrary negation unhappyd < θ_neg (Degree.negativeMeaning).

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                                abbrev Degree.inGapRegion {max : } (d : Bounded max) (tp : ThresholdPair max) :

                                The gap region: d is neither positive nor negative (neg ≤ d ≤ pos).

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                                  abbrev Degree.positiveMeaning' {max : } (d : Bounded max) (tp : ThresholdPair max) :

                                  Positive form happy at the pair's upper threshold — d > pos.

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                                    abbrev Degree.contraryNegMeaning {max : } (d : Bounded max) (tp : ThresholdPair max) :

                                    Negative form unhappy at the pair's lower threshold — d < neg.

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                                      abbrev Degree.notContraryNegMeaning {max : } (d : Bounded max) (tp : ThresholdPair max) :

                                      not unhappy — the complement of the negative form (neg ≤ d).

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                                        Antonym relations #

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                                        The relation between a positive form and its antonym.

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                                          Informational strength #

                                          Informational strength of a gradable adjective within its scale.

                                          Weak adjectives (e.g., "large", "clean") occupy a broader region of the scale. Strong adjectives (e.g., "gigantic", "pristine") occupy a narrower, more extreme region.

                                          A strong adjective entails its weak counterpart on the same pole: "x is gigantic" ⟹ "x is large", but not vice versa.

                                          This distinction is orthogonal to scale structure (relative vs absolute) and polarity (positive vs negative).

                                          Source: [AG24a], [Hor72]

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                                              The gradable adjective #

                                              Spatial configuration type for adjectives in resultative constructions ([Lev26]). Only adjectives describing spatially instantiated states license intr-push open resultatives.

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                                                  A gradable adjective: the syntactic Adjective (Syntax/Category/Adjective) refined with the degree-semantic layer that becomes relevant in this module — the Kennedy standardOverride, and the lexical-semantic facets antonymRelation, resultative spatialConfigType ([Lev26]), and evaluativeValence ([Nou24]). The scale shape (scaleType), positive standard, and Kennedy adjectiveClass are derived views below — the fix for the old stored scaleType that conflated scale shape with pole (wet/dry share one closed .wetness scale, differing only in pole).

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                                                      The scale's intrinsic shape — read off the dimension key, not stored (.open_ for a non-gradable, which has no scale).

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                                                        The effective positive standard: the default from (scale shape, pole), overridable by standardOverride. This is the quantity the old scaleType field conflated — it separates wet (closed + lower ⇒ min) from dry (closed + upper ⇒ max), and lets good (open shape) take a contextual standard rather than a bogus bound. ([Ken07]'s Interpretive Economy on the open/singly-bounded cases.)

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                                                          The entry-level selection implements the type-level theory: an override-free entry's derived standard is always among the standards Interpretive Economy admits for its scale shape. The closed-scale pole dispatch (min for lower-endpoint, max otherwise) picks within IE's admitted pair rather than beyond it.

                                                          Kennedy's adjective class — derived from standard, not stored; .nonGradable exactly when there is no dimension ([Ken07], [KMcN05]).

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                                                            Comparison-class dependence — the relative/absolute distinction, derived.

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                                                              Multidimensional adjectives ([Sas13]) #

                                                              How a multidimensional adjective binds its dimensions ([Sas13]).

                                                              • conjunctive: entity must meet standard in ALL dimensions (e.g., healthy)
                                                              • disjunctive: entity must meet standard in SOME dimension (e.g., sick)
                                                              • mixed: context determines ∀ vs ∃ (e.g., intelligent)
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                                                                  def Degree.conjunctiveBinding {α : Type u_1} (dims : List (αBool)) (x : α) :
                                                                  Bool

                                                                  Conjunctive binding: ∀Q ∈ DIM(P,c). Q(x).

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                                                                    def Degree.disjunctiveBinding {α : Type u_1} (dims : List (αBool)) (x : α) :
                                                                    Bool

                                                                    Disjunctive binding: ∃Q ∈ DIM(P,c). Q(x).

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                                                                      theorem Degree.deMorgan_conjunctive_disjunctive {α : Type u_1} (dims : List (αBool)) (x : α) :
                                                                      (!conjunctiveBinding dims x) = disjunctiveBinding (List.map (fun (d : αBool) (a : α) => !d a) dims) x

                                                                      De Morgan: negating conjunctive binding yields disjunctive binding over negated dimension predicates. This is the formal core of [Sas13]'s Hypothesis 2 — under a negation theory of antonymy, if the positive form is conjunctive, the negative antonym (its negation) is disjunctive.

                                                                      theorem Degree.deMorgan_disjunctive_conjunctive {α : Type u_1} (dims : List (αBool)) (x : α) :
                                                                      (!disjunctiveBinding dims x) = conjunctiveBinding (List.map (fun (d : αBool) (a : α) => !d a) dims) x

                                                                      Degree–PolarMeasure bridge #

                                                                      Bounded max has LinearOrder and BoundedOrder (from Core.MeasurementScale), so the abstract theorems in MeasurementScale.lean apply directly to concrete RSA degree computations.

                                                                      def Degree.adjMeasure {max : } {W : Type u_1} (μ : WBounded max) (entry : GradableAdjective) :
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                                                                        theorem Degree.closedAdj_licensed {max : } {W : Type u_1} (μ : WBounded max) (entry : GradableAdjective) (h : entry.scaleType = Core.Order.Boundedness.closed) :
                                                                        theorem Degree.openAdj_blocked {max : } {W : Type u_1} (μ : WBounded max) (entry : GradableAdjective) (h : entry.scaleType = Core.Order.Boundedness.open_) :
                                                                        ¬(adjMeasure μ entry).IsLicensed
                                                                        theorem Degree.degree_measure_is_id {max : } {W : Type u_1} (μ : WBounded max) :