Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

Determiners: articles and pronouns 755
A. Geen + N
The “not a single” reading is particularly common for noun phrases in subject
position, as in (220a); in non-expletive constructions, all subjects containing geen
are of this type. Objects containing geen can receive this interpretation as well, and,
for topicalized objects, this reading is in fact the only one available; cf. the
discussion of (207).
(220) a. Geen schip is 100% waterdicht.
no ship is 100% watertight
‘Not a single ship is 100 per cent watertight.’
b. ? Geen schip levert men 100% waterdicht af.
no ship delivers one 100% watertight prt.
‘Not a single ship is 100 per cent watertight at the point of delivery.’
Prosodically, the “not a single” reading of geen phrases is directly recognizable by
the fact that there is main stress on the element immediately following geen. This is
often the head noun, but when an attributive adjective is present, it is the adjective
that receives greatest prominence.
(221) a. [geen SCHIP] is 100% waterdicht
b. [geen NIEUW schip] is 100% waterdicht
Despite the fact that geen is part of the noun phrase, it can take scope outside the
noun phrase, which is clear from the fact that geen can license negative polarity
items like ooit; cf. Section 5.1.5.1.1, sub I. This is illustrated in (222a) for a subject
and in (222b) for a topicalized object.
(222) a. Geen computerprogramma is ooit volledig storingsvrij.
no computer.program is ever completely error.free
b. ? Geen computerprogramma heeft dit bedrijf ooit storingsvrij afgeleverd.
no computer.program has this company ever error.free delivered
B. Geen enkel(e) +N
The “not a single” reading of geen phrases is particularly common for subjects of
comparative constructions.
(223) a. Geen schip vaart sneller naar Engeland dan het onze.
no ship sails faster to England than ours
b. Geen limonade smaakt lekkerder dan deze.
no lemonade tastes nicer than this.one
A distinction within this class of constructions should be made, however, between
comparatives like the ones in (223), where particular makes or brands of the same
product type are compared, and those like (224), where two different types of
product are compared. In contrast to the primeless examples, the primed examples
in (224) sound distinctly odd.