<i>Jetzt hab ich voll die Panik</i>: Prototype effects of NP-external intensifiers in German

Abstract This paper explores two types of degree modifiers in German, namely total and voll . While most degree modifiers are usually placed inside an NP, total and voll frequently appear in a position outside of an NP, giving them the function of intensifiers rather than pure modifiers. Hence, they become NP-external intensifiers. Previous studies have suggested that these NP-external intensifiers either take an adjective inside the subsequent NP in their scope, or, if there is none, the NP head. Based on corpus data from the deCow16B, we suggest an alternative interpretation where the scope of the intensifier always ranges over the subsequent NP as a whole, irrespective of it containing an adjective or not. We suggest that this can be described based on prototype effects and underdetermination, whether there is an adjective present or not. The NP denotes an exemplar of a (prototypical) category: the category membership is understood as scalar and the NP is intensified on this implicit scale.