Is "leading" a superlative adjective? In the following sentence, does "leading" mean "best"?
China's leading singer, Xue is holding a concert today.
Should I necessarily say "one of China's leading singers" so that I do not end up meaning "China's best singer"?
Leading is an adjective and can be used in a number of ways. In the first example, you are trying to say that he/she is the most important singer in China. In the second, you are trying to pick him/her from a list of best singers in China.
Superlative means the highest form or quality of something. And the definition of highest could vary depending on context.
Yes. In a race the "leader" is the front-runner. "Leading" is the adjective version of this.
If you wish to say "China's leading singer" it is normal to include who has determined the leader like:
China's leading singer according to China Singer Magazine for 2014
However, "one of China's leading singers" is commonly used without attribution.
Yeah I think "leading" implies being ahead of everyone else, and if it's a tie, that should be made explicit by saying "one of." But I agree with Digital Chris (haha cool name), the word "leading" implies that there's a certain quantitative measure in which the singer exceeds all others. Without defining what that measure is exactly, sounds kinda wishy washy.
Grammar-wise the adjective "leading" is used in its positive form, not superlative. Not all adjectives have comparative/superlative forms (usually), while their meaning is an extreme of the kind - "unique", "infinite" and others.
"Leading" in your sentence can be viewed as one of such extremes. So you do imply that Xue is the best singer in China. This is a subjective opinion, that's why it's better to stick to "one of the leading singers", unless you want to provide some statistics, saying:
China's leading singer (according to the X poll / according to the number of concert attendees), Xue, is holding a concert today.
