Reduplication of adjectives in Chinese: a default state

Abstract

Chinese reduplicated adjectives denote a perceptible state realized from the property denoted by the adjectival base. The 'degree' conveyed by reduplicated adjectives is the by-product of state realization and can be interpreted as the positive degree. A gradable adjective denoting a property that is more perceptible to human sense is more amenable to reduplication, and the rhetorical style of parallelism can make the property denoted by adjectives more perceptible. The gradability requirement on adjectives amenable to reduplication results from the perceptibility requirement on the state denoted by reduplicated adjectives. Depending on the means by which the property denoted by their adjectival base is realized as a state, reduplicated adjectives can be divided into two types.