The interpretation of deadjectival verb scales: between the domains of semantics and pragmatics

The focus of this paper is the notion of scale as presented by two different theories: one, semantic, which sees it as property of the lexical item (MCNALLY; KENNEDY, 1999; 2005), and another, pragmatic, to which it is inferred from context (FAUCONNIER 1975). By applying Mcnally and Kennedy's (2005) notions on Brazilian Portuguese and isolating the deadjectival verbs, we've noticed that, though it seems possible at first to classify these verbs through the categories proposed by these authors, such systematization is troublesome as the criteria for categorization are blurred between the properly semantic and the pragmatic, thus compromising the analysis. Through this study, we've differentiated the two types of criteria, stating, likewise, the limitations of both analyses, and we've proposed measures for a more refined model, reassuming Rappaport's (2008) initial ideas.