9 Quantifiers
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Giuliana Giusti
Abstract
The chapter focuses on those quantity words that combine with a nominal expression. It distinguishes three main classes: quantifiers proper, quantity adjectives, and semi-lexical quantity nouns. Quantifiers select a full nominal expression (DP) as their complement, which can be either definite or indefinite. Quantifiers like ‘all’ select a definite DP, which can appear separated from the quantifier in so-called ‘floating constructions’. Quantifiers like ‘some’ select an indefinite DP, which can be realised by the quantitative clitic en/ne in Catalan, French, and Italian and can occur with a partitive prepositional phrase. Quantity adjectives do not occur in floating or partitive constructions. Semi-lexical nouns require a determiner and combine with an indefinite DP in pseudo-partitive constructions.
Abstract
The chapter focuses on those quantity words that combine with a nominal expression. It distinguishes three main classes: quantifiers proper, quantity adjectives, and semi-lexical quantity nouns. Quantifiers select a full nominal expression (DP) as their complement, which can be either definite or indefinite. Quantifiers like ‘all’ select a definite DP, which can appear separated from the quantifier in so-called ‘floating constructions’. Quantifiers like ‘some’ select an indefinite DP, which can be realised by the quantitative clitic en/ne in Catalan, French, and Italian and can occur with a partitive prepositional phrase. Quantity adjectives do not occur in floating or partitive constructions. Semi-lexical nouns require a determiner and combine with an indefinite DP in pseudo-partitive constructions.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Manuals of Romance Linguistics V
- Table of Contents VII
- Abbreviations XI
- Introduction 1
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I. Romance word classes: theoretical and historical foundations
- 1 Theoretical foundation for a classification of words 13
- 2 How to classify words 41
- 3 Word classes in the history of Western grammar 69
- 4 Parts of speech in the Romance grammars of the Renaissance 97
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II. Word classes in the major Romance languages
- 5 Nouns 117
- 6 Adjectives 147
- 7 Determiners 177
- 8 Pronouns 207
- 9 Quantifiers 237
- 10 Negation and negative expressions 265
- 11 Verb classes 297
- 12 Auxiliary verbs 325
- 13 Grammatical categories of the verb 345
- 14 Verbal categories expressing syntactic dependencies 367
- 15 Adverbs 401
- 16 Focalisers 431
- 17 Modal particles 449
- 18 Prepositions 471
- 19 Conjunctions 499
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III. Word classes in smaller Romance varieties
- 20 Word classes in Occitan 527
- 21 Word classes in Sardinian 549
- 22 Word classes in Romansh 575
- 23 Word classes in Ladin 607
- 24 Word classes in Northern Italian dialects 633
- 25 Word classes in Southern Italian dialects 661
- 26 Word classes in Romance-related Creoles 689
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IV. Romance word classes and their interfaces: new horizons
- 27 Word classes and psycholinguistics 725
- 28 Word classes and learner varieties 743
- 29 Word classes and corpus linguistics 769
- 30 Word classes and neurolinguistics 797
- 31 Exploring the behaviour of connectives within a textometric perspective 819
- Index 843
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Manuals of Romance Linguistics V
- Table of Contents VII
- Abbreviations XI
- Introduction 1
-
I. Romance word classes: theoretical and historical foundations
- 1 Theoretical foundation for a classification of words 13
- 2 How to classify words 41
- 3 Word classes in the history of Western grammar 69
- 4 Parts of speech in the Romance grammars of the Renaissance 97
-
II. Word classes in the major Romance languages
- 5 Nouns 117
- 6 Adjectives 147
- 7 Determiners 177
- 8 Pronouns 207
- 9 Quantifiers 237
- 10 Negation and negative expressions 265
- 11 Verb classes 297
- 12 Auxiliary verbs 325
- 13 Grammatical categories of the verb 345
- 14 Verbal categories expressing syntactic dependencies 367
- 15 Adverbs 401
- 16 Focalisers 431
- 17 Modal particles 449
- 18 Prepositions 471
- 19 Conjunctions 499
-
III. Word classes in smaller Romance varieties
- 20 Word classes in Occitan 527
- 21 Word classes in Sardinian 549
- 22 Word classes in Romansh 575
- 23 Word classes in Ladin 607
- 24 Word classes in Northern Italian dialects 633
- 25 Word classes in Southern Italian dialects 661
- 26 Word classes in Romance-related Creoles 689
-
IV. Romance word classes and their interfaces: new horizons
- 27 Word classes and psycholinguistics 725
- 28 Word classes and learner varieties 743
- 29 Word classes and corpus linguistics 769
- 30 Word classes and neurolinguistics 797
- 31 Exploring the behaviour of connectives within a textometric perspective 819
- Index 843
