Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

Binominal constructions 579
of indefinite phrases into clause-initial position triggers a partitive reading, which
may be more readily available on the referential reading of N1.
(11) a. Er demonstreert/demonstreren een aantal studenten.
there protestssg/protestpl a number [of] students
‘A number of students are demonstrating.’
b. Een aantal studenten demonstreert/demonstreren.
a number [of] students protestssg/protestpl
‘A number of students are demonstrating.’
When N1 is a measure noun, there are also two options: in (12), the verb may exhibit
singular agreement, in which case it agrees with the singular N1 kilo ‘kilo’, or plural
agreement, in which case it agrees with the plural N2 appels ‘apples’. To our ear,
the primeless examples are equally good, whereas the primed examples with the QC
in clause-initial position, which is always somewhat marked, clearly prefer singular
agreement.
(12) a. Er ligt een kilo appels op tafel.
there liessg a kilosg [of] apples on the.table
a′. ? Een kilo appels ligt op tafel.
b. Er liggen een kilo appels op tafel.
there liepl a kilo [of] applespl on the.table
b′. *Een kilo appels liggen op tafel.
This suggests that in this case we are also dealing with an ambiguity between a
purely quantificational and a more referential reading of the noun. This seems to be
supported by the fact illustrated in the primeless examples in (13) that measure
nouns exhibit different behavior with respect to pluralization in the two
constructions: these examples show that N1 is marked for the plural when it agrees
with the verb, but not when the verb agrees with N2, the substance noun melk ‘milk’.
From this we must conclude that when the measure noun liter is not the syntactic
head of the QC, it loses its ability to form a plural, which might be construed as an
indication that it has lost its referential status of count noun.
(13) a. Er staan/*staat twee liters melk in de koelkast.
there stand/stands two liters [of] milk in the fridge
a′. ? Twee liters melk staan in de koelkast.
b. Er staat/*staan twee liter melk in de koelkast.
there stands/stand two liter [of] milk in the fridge
b′. *Twee liters melk staat in de koelkast.
This is further supported by the fact that there is also a semantic difference between
the examples. In (13a) we perceive the milk as two quantificational units of one liter
each; henceforth, we will call this the PACKAGE UNIT READING, given that there is an
implication that the milk was purchased in containers that each contain one liter of
milk. In (13b), on the other, we do not perceive the milk as being available in certain
units: there may be a single container that contains two liters of milk or there may be
more, as long as the total quantity is (about) two liters. The primed examples show