Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

762 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
combined with pronouns and proper nouns. Subsection III discusses the cooccurrence
restrictions with other elements within the noun phrase.
I. Geen and noun phrase types
Geen is remarkably flexible when it comes to the types of noun phrase that it can
combine with. It is possible for geen to combine with count nouns of all genders
and numbers. Geen can also be construed with non-count nouns. Examples are
given in Table 3.
Table 3: Distribution of geen in noun phrases headed by count/non-count nouns
COUNT
NOUNS
NON-COUNT
NOUNS
SINGULAR
[-NEUTER] [+NEUTER]
geen stad
no town
geen ellende/wijn
no misery /wine
geen huis
no house
geen verdriet/water
no sorrow/water
PLURAL
geen steden/huizen
no towns/houses
n.a.
Though geen can in principle combine with plural count noun phrases, there are
restrictions on the use of plurals in combination with geen: whereas the plural noun
schepen ‘ships’ can be used with geen in the primeless sentences of (244), this is
impossible in the primed examples that feature the more special “not a single”
reading of geen — this reading requires that the noun is singular, as in (220) above.
(244) a. Er varen geen schepen op de zee.
there sail no ships on the sea
‘There are no ships sailing on the sea.’
a′. *Geen schepen zijn 100% waterdicht.
no ships are 100 per cent watertight
b. Ik heb daar geen schepen gezien.
I have there no ships seen
‘I didn’t see any ships there.’
b′. *Geen schepen levert men 100% waterdicht af.
no ships delivers one 100 per cent watertight prt.
The ungrammaticality of the primed examples in (244) matches that of the
corresponding cases featuring geen enkel(e)/één in (245b); that these examples are
unacceptable is not surprising from the point of view of their meaning “not a
single”. What is interesting, though, is that enkel(e) is compatible with plural noun
phrases in other contexts: enkele schepen is perfect as the plural counterpart of een
enkel schip ‘a single ship’. This means that it is not entirely clear what causes the
unacceptability of (245b) with enkel(e).
(245) a. Geen enkel/één schip is 100% waterdicht.
no single/one ship is 100 per cent watertight
b. *Geen enkele/één schepen zijn 100% waterdicht.
no single/one ships are 100 per cent watertight