Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

754 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
This is illustrated by the unacceptability of scrambled counterparts of the primeless
examples in (216), given in (217).
(217) a. *? Er is geen brief vandaag verstuurd.
b. *Er spelen geen kinderen vandaag op straat.
c. *Er stond geen melk gisteren in de ijskast.
It seems that noun phrases with geen behave like indefinites even in generic
contexts. In order to see this, consider the generic constructions in (218). Example
(218a) shows that the generic plural noun phrase must be scrambled to a position in
front of the °clause adverb waarschijnlijk ‘probably’; cf. Section 8.1.3.1, sub III.
The noun phrase with geen in (218b), by contrast, cannot be placed to the left of
waarschijnlijk.
(218) a. Hij begrijpt < formules> waarschijnlijk niet.
he understands formulae probably not
‘He probably doesn’t understand formulae.’
b. Hij begrijpt waarschijnlijk .
he understands no formulae probably
‘He probably doesn’t understand formulae.’
To conclude this section, note that negative sentences with generic bare noun
phrases sometimes feature intriguing semantic differences between the variants
involving niet and their counterparts with geen. Example (219a), for example,
allows two subtly different lexical meanings of accepteren ‘to accept’; the speaker
either does not wish to receive any charity, or he is opposed to the existence of
charity as a phenomenon. This latter reading is conspicuously more prominent in
(219b).
(219) a. Ik accepteer geen liefdadigheid.
I accept no charity
b. Ik accepteer liefdadigheid niet.
I accept charity not
5.1.5.1.3. Special semantics
The previous sections have discussed the core semantics of the negative article
geen. This section addresses a number of more or less specialized meaning
contributions of geen. We will start our discussion with the “not a single” reading,
which stays close to the core semantics of negative quantification, but we will see
that there are contexts in which the semantic contribution made by geen can diverge
substantially from the core meaning; negative quantification is sometimes even
entirely absent in some of geen’s uses.
I. “Not a single” reading
The negative article geen sometimes expresses a meaning that is stronger than
simple negation and which we will refer to as the “not a single” reading. This
reading requires that geen be followed by some stressed element, and can
sometimes be enhanced by the addition of certain elements.