Getting "the most" out of Romance

This dissertation argues that despite the lack of overt superlative morphology, Romance languages have bona fide superlatives which are (morpho-)syntactically distinguished from comparative structures. In particular, I identify and analyze three different strategies that yield superlative import in these languages. A superlative interpretation can arise as a result of an attributive structure (Chapter 2), a predicative one (Chapters 3, 4 and 5) or as part of a modal construction (Chapters 3 and 5). These three strategies involve different constructions and distinct types of quantifications. Attributive superlatives (such as il piu` grasso dei gatti bianchi [Ita], ‘the fattest of the white cats’) are quality only, individual- based superlatives. Modal superlatives (such as il piu` carina possibile in Maria voleva essere il piu` carina possibile [Ita], ‘Mary wanted to be the prettiest possible’) are degree-based superlatives. I analyze them as free relatives which denote a degree description that functions as a Measure Phrase. Lastly, the predicative strategy is argued to involve quantification over individual-degree pairs. Phrases of this type (such as lo studente che ha piu` libri [Ita], ‘the student who has the most books’) are analyzed as maximalizing relative clauses (`a la Grosu and Landman 1998) where abstraction over degrees operates in a construction that denotes entities.In developing a compositional analysis of superlative phrases in Romance, I aim at an ac- curate account of their morpho-syntax. In particular, very close attention is paid to the properties and the contribution of the definite determiner. It turns out that the differenttype of quantification involved in each strategy correlates with distinct properties of the determiner(s) used and with possible variation within the Romance family