Some notes on the quantification of color adjectives by "muito" (a lot) and "pouco" (a little)

Abstract

The present investigation aimed to assess whether color adjectives, considering that they are qualificatives, could accept graduation and, if so, what type of scale they would be associated with. The paper begins by focusing on some of the existing literature on gradable adjectives, presenting, afterwards, some works specifically focused on color adjectives. The quantification of color adjectives was analyzed through the combination of the selected adjectives (primary colors: yellow, blue and red plus black and white) with the quantifiers muito and pouco. The results show that, in EP, the semantic investigation of this type of adjective is complex, since the readings obtained were not linear. In fact, there is, on the one hand, a typically gradable reading, which promotes a movement of the adjectives to a higher or lower point of the scale. It is possible, on the other hand, to obtain metaphorical readings, whose non-literal uses can have diverse meanings, which can either refer to physical or emotional states, skin tones, or even meanings that are very specific for EP, such as, for example, to make a yellow smile. It is thus difficult to evaluate the type of scale associated with these adjectives, since, in the case of intensity readings, there may indeed be an approximation to a representative prototype of the color, but the same does not apply to metaphorical readings.