COUNTING, COLLECTING, MEASURING, AND QUANTIFYING IN ENGLISH,
Abstract
The paper demonstrates that preposed collective and measure expressions modifying head nouns in English are derivable from a syntactically and semantically ordered network of rules optionally specifying the internal structure and/or external structure, and/or aggregate or collective structure, of the head plural or uncountable noun. Counting expressions (i.e., precise: '2', '3', '50', etc., vs. relative: 'many', 'few', 'several', etc.) are derivable, via an optional rule, from nonrestrictive predicates. Quantifiers, which may make use of some of the same lexical items that occur as counting expressions, perform a different operation and derive from a more basic phrase-structure rule (i.e., all nouns that are not proper names are quantified in the deep structure). The function of quantifiers is to partition plural set nouns, generic class nouns, and mass or amount nouns into describable precise (e.g., '1/2, '3 out of 5', '40% of') or approximate (e.g., 'few(of)') proportions. (Authors)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 23, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0691096
Entities
People
- Marianne Celce
- Robert M. Schwarcz
Organizations
- System Development Corporation