Prices go Up, Surge, Jump, Spike, Skyrocket, Go through the Roof... Intensifier Collocations with Parametric Nouns of Type PRICE

The paper looks into the expression of intensification with parametric nouns such as PRICE, COST, FEE, RATE, etc., focusing on collocations these nouns form with intensifying adjectives, inchoative and causative intensifying verbs and corresponding de-verbal nouns. Degrees of intensification possible with these nouns are discussed, as well as analytical vs. synthetic expression of intensification (a steep increase in prices ~ a spike in prices). Sample lexicalization rules are proposed—namely, rules that map semantic representations of intensifier collocations headed by nouns of this type to their deepsyntactic representations. The theoretical framework of the paper is Meaning-Text linguistic theory. 1 The Problem Stated The paper looks into the expression of intensification with parametric nouns such as PRICE, COST, FEE, RATE, etc., hereafter PRICE type nouns, or {NPRICE} for short (see Table 1, Section 3 below). More precisely, it describes collocations these nouns form with intensifying adjectives, as well as with inchoative and causative intensifying verbs and corresponding deverbal nouns. A cursory comparison is provided with antonymic, i.e., attenuating, expressions entering in collocations with {NPRICE}. A parametric noun (cf. Mel’čuk, 2013: 214) corresponds to (at least) a two-place predicate, ‘P of X is α’, with X being the thing parameterized and α, the value of the parameter: the priceP [of gas]X is [$1.85 per gallon]α, the speedP [of the vehicle]X is [70 miles per hour]α, the quantityP [of oil]X is [30 tons]α, etc. The α value may not be explicitly quantified, but characterized as being big or small (on some scale): The price of gas is high. | The speed of the vehicle is low. | The quantity of oil is huge. | Etc. I will be interested namely in the case where α of an NPRICE, without being explicitly quantified, is qualified as high, or ‘big’ [STATIVE], or rising—‘getting bigger’—[INCHOATIVE], or else being caused to rise [CAUSATIVE]. These cases are illustrated, respectively, in (1), (2) and (3); the examples come from Google searches (some have been slightly modified). (1) STATIVE: ‘⟦P of X being α,⟧ α is (very) big’, etc. a. Post-paid service plans often charge steep 〈astronomical, prohibitive〉 overage FEES. b. California divorce COST is high 〈whooping high, exorbitant〉. (2) INCHOATIVE: ‘⟦P of X being α,⟧ α begins to be bigger than αʹ by β (β being big)’ a. Electricity COSTS went up 〈rose sharply, surged, skyrocketed〉 in August. b. Make sure your mortgage payments do not increase1 if there is a rise 〈a major hike, a spike〉 in interest RATES. 1 An NPRICE parametric noun typically has additional dependents; thus, the person who determines the price of something corresponds to an argument (in our terms, semantic actant) of PRICE; similarly, the person who incurs the cost of something corresponds to a semantic actant of COST; FEE has two additional semantic atants: the one who sets it and the one who pays it; and so on. These actants are not directly relevant for the present discussion. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Dependency Linguistics (Depling 2017), pages 145-153, Pisa, Italy, September 18-2