Universal Numeric Quantifiers in Japanese
Keywords:
floating quantifier, Japanese, noun phrase, numeral classifierAbstract
This paper examines a subtype of floating quantifiers, in which a universal quantifier along with a numeral appear at a distance from their nominal associate. According to Cirillo (2010), this floating universal numeric quantifier (UNQ) construction is found in some (but not all) Romance and Germanic languages. While Cirillo provides strong evidence for a stranding analysis (cf. Sportiche, 1988; Bošković, 2004) of the floating UNQ rather than an adverbial approach (cf. Bobaljik, 2004; Nakanishi, 2006), his most crucial data could be accommodated under a particular version of the adverbial view, advocated by Doetjes (1997) and Fitzpatrick (2006), which postulates pro inside a base-generated adjunct nominal. Building on Kawashima’s (1994; 1998) observations about Japanese, this paper argues that (i) Japanese also has the adnominal/floating UNQ and (ii) the stranding approach is superior to the pro-based adverbial analysis noted above in handling the floating UNQ. To show this, I will examine in some depth the syntax of adnominal quantification in Japanese (and Chinese) with a special focus on the ways in which numeral classifiers interact with other adnominal elements. Several theoretical consequences of the analysis will be explored, including the nature of quantifier stranding and syntactic locality.Downloads
References
Bale, Alan & Hrayr Khanjian. 2008. Armenian classifiers and number marking, poster presented at SALT XVIII.
Bobaljik, Jonathan. 2004. Floating quantifiers: Handle with care. In Lisa Cheng & Rint Sybesma (eds.), The Second Glot International State-of-the-Article Book. 107-148. Mouton de Gruyter.
Borer, Hagit. 2005. In Name Only. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bošković, Željko. 2004. Be careful where you float your quantifiers. Natural
Language and Linguistic Theory 22, 681–742.
Bošković, Željko. 2008. What will you have, DP or NP? Proceedings of NELS 37.
–114. GLSA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Cheng, Lisa & Rint Sybesma. 1999. Bare and not-so-bare nouns and the
structure of NP. Linguistic Inquiry 30, 509-542.
Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998a. Plurality of mass nouns and the notion of “semantic parameter”. In Susan Rothstein (ed.), Events and Grammar. 53–103. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998b. Reference to kinds across languages. Natural Language Semantics 6, 339–405.
Cinque, Guglielmo. 1994. On the evidence for partial N-movement in the Romance DP. In Cinque, G., Koster, J., Pollock, J.-Y., Rizzi, L., & Zanuttini, R. (eds.), Paths Towards Universal Grammar: Studies in Honor of Richard S. Kayne. 85–110. Washington: Georgetown University Press.
Cinque, Guglielmo. 2010. The Syntax of Adjectives. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Cirillo, Robert. 2010. Issues in the study of floating universal numeric
quantifiers. Linguistics 48 (3), 573–601.
Corver, Norbert. 2010. Dressed numerals and the structure of universal numeric quantifiers. In J.-W. Zwart & M. de Vries (eds.), Structure Preserved: Studies in Syntax for Jan Koster. 91–99. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Doetjes, Jenny. 1997. Quantifiers and Selection: On the Distribution of Quantifying Expressions in French, Dutch, and English, HIL Dissertations. The Hague.
Giusti, Giuliana. 1991. The categorical status of quantified nominals. Linguistische Berichte 136, 438-452.
Fitzpatrick, Justin. 2006. The Syntactic and Semantic Roots of Floating Quantification. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.
Huang, C.-T. James, Y.-H. Audrey Li, & Yafei Li. 2009. The Syntax of Chinese. Cambridge.
Huang, C.-T. James & Masao Ochi. 2011. Classifiers and nominal structure: A parametric approach and its consequences. Proceedings of GLOW in Asia VIII, 191–197, Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
Huang, C.-T. James & Masao Ochi. 2012. Remarks on Classifiers and Nominal Structure in East Asian. Ms., Harvard University and Osaka University.
Iljic, Robert. 1994. Quantification in Mandarin Chinese: Two markers of plurality. Linguistics 32, 91–116.
Inoue, Kazuko. 1978. Nihongo-no Bunpoo Kisoku. Tokyo: Taishukan.
Jenks, Peter. 2011. Thai quantifier float as quantifier raising. Proceedings of GLOW-in-Asia VIII, 198–204, Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
Kawashima, Ruriko. 1994. The Structure of Noun Phrases and the Interpretation of Quantificational NPs in Japanese, Doctoral dissertation, Cornell University.
Kawashima, Ruriko. 1998. The structure of extended nominal phrases: The scrambling of numerals, approximate numerals, and quantifiers in Japanese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 7, 1–26.
Kayne, Richard. 2007. Several, few and many. Lingua, 117(5), 832–858.
Koizumi, Masatoshi. 2000. String vacuous overt verb raising. Journal of East
Asian Linguistics 9, 227–285.
Kurafuji, Takeo. 2004. Plural morphemes, definiteness, and the notion of
semantic parameter. Language and Linguistics 5 (1), 211–242.
Li, Y.-H. Audrey. 1998. Argument determiner phrases and number phrases.
Linguistic Inquiry 29, 693–702.
Li, Y.-H. Audrey. 1999. Plurality in classifier language. Journal of East Asian
Linguistics 8, 75–99.
Miyagawa, Shigeru. 1989. Structure and Case Marking in Japanese. New York:
Academic Press.
Miyamoto, Yoichi. 2009. On the nominal-internal distributive interpretation in
Japanese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 18, 233–251.
Murasugi, Keiko. 1991. Noun Phrases in Japanese and English: a Study in Syntax, Learnability and Acquisition, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
Nakanishi, Kimiko. 2007. Formal Properties of Measurement Constructions. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Nakanishi, Kimiko & Satoshi Tomioka. 2004. Japanese plurals are exceptional. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 13, 113–140.
Oku, Satoshi. 1998. A Theory of Selection and Reconstruction in the Minimalist Perspective, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
Saito, Mamoru. 2007. Notes on East Asian argument ellipsis. Language Research 43, 203–227.
Saito, Mamoru., T.-H. Jonah Lin, & Keiko Murasugi. 2008. N'ʹ-Ellipsis and the structure of noun phrases in Chinese and Japanese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 17, 247–271.
Sauerland, Uli & Kazuko Yatsushiro. 2004. A silent noun in partitives, Proceedings of NELS 34, 101–112.
Shlonsky, Ur. 2004. The form of Semitic noun phrases. Lingua 114 (12), 1465- 1526.
Sportiche, Dominique. 1988. A theory of floating quantifiers and its corollaries for constituent structure. Linguistic Inquiry 19 (2), 425–451.
Tang, C.-C. Jane. 1990. Chinese Phrase Structure and the Extended X-bar Theory, Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca.
Ueda, Yasuki & Tomoko Haraguchi. 2008. Plurality in Japanese and Chinese, Nanzan Linguistics: Special Issue 3 (2), 229-242.
Watanabe, Akira. 2006. Functional projections of nominals in Japanese: Syntax of classifiers. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 24, 241–306.
Watanabe, Akira. 2008. The structure of DP. In S. Miyagawa & M. Saito (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Japanese Linguistics. 513–540. New York: Oxford University Press.
Downloads
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Las ediciones impresa y electrónica de esta Revista son editadas por el Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla, siendo necesario citar la procedencia en cualquier reproducción parcial o total.Salvo indicación contraria, todos los contenidos de la edición electrónica se distribuyen bajo una licencia de uso y distribución “Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivar 4.0 Internacional”
. Puede consultar desde aquí la versión informativa y el texto legal de la licencia. Esta circunstancia ha de hacerse constar expresamente de esta forma cuando sea necesario.
- Abstract 929
- PDF 142
