Is' more possible'more possible in German?

Elena Herburger, Aynat Rubinstein

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

While some modals are clearly gradable (e.g. likely), the gradablity of possibility modals is controversial. We argue that one of the major reasons to think that possibility modals can be graded, namely the appearance of German möglich ('possible') and kann ('can') in a comparative construction involving eher, should be rethought. We argue that eher is not a simple comparative marker and propose an analysis of eher möglich in which degrees of epistemic commitment are compared, not degrees of possibility.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of SALT 24
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 24th Semantics and Linguistic Theory Conference, held at New York University, May 30 - June 1, 2014,
EditorsTodd Snider, Sarah D'Antonio, Mia Weigand
PublisherLinguistic Society of America
Pages555-576
Number of pages22
Volume24
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014

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