This book examines the semantics of comparative constructions using words such as more, as, too, and so on, and proposes a new account that rejects a fundamental assumption of the degree semantics framework. The findings have implications not only for semantics but also for language acquisition and cognitive science more broadly.

• 1: Introduction


• 2: Measurement and degrees


• 3: Measuring stuff and process


• 4: Measuring states


• 5: Measuring pluralities


• 6: Measuring occasions


• 7: Measuring accuracy


• 8: The limiting theory


• 9: Beyond semantics


• References


• Index

Alexis Wellwood is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Southern California, as well as the creative force behind the USC School of Philosophy's Meaning Lab. Her research and teaching focuses on the nature of linguistic meaning, in particular the interplay between morphosyntactic structure and nonlinguistic cognition in determining meaning. This research has been influential in linguistic semantics, language acquisition, philosophy of language, cognitive psychology, and computer science.