Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

794 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
sommige(n) ‘some’, vele(n) ‘many’ and alle(n) ‘all’ are also categorized as personal
pronouns. However, since these forms can be considered nominalizations of the
corresponding quantificational modifiers, they will be discussed in Section 6.2.
I. Meaning
The easiest way of explaining the core meaning of quantification personal pronouns
is by using Figure 1 from Section 1.1.2.2.1, repeated below, to represent the
subject-predicate relation in a clause. In this figure “A” represents the set denoted
by the subject NP and “B” the set denoted by the verb phrase. The intersection
A ∩ B denotes the set of entities for which the proposition expressed by the clause
is claimed to be true. In an example like Jan wandelt op straat, for example, it is
claimed that the set denoted by A, viz. {Jan}, is properly included in set B, which is
constituted by the people walking in the street. In other words, it expresses that A -
(A ∩ B) = ∅.
A B
A ∩ B
Figure 1: Set-theoretic representation of the subject-predicate relation
In the discussion below we will not be interested in the fact that the [+HUMAN]
and [-HUMAN] pronouns are associated with two mutually exclusive denotation sets:
with the former, set A is a (possibly contextually defined) set of individuals,
whereas with the latter set A is a (possibly contextually defined) set of non-human
entities. We will rather focus on the implication of the pronouns for the intersection
A ∩ B and the remainder of set A, that is, A - (A ∩ B).
The existential pronouns iemand and iets behave similarly to indefinite noun
phrases in that they indicate that A ∩ B is not empty, and do not imply anything
about the set A - (A ∩ B), which may or may not be empty.
(335) a. Er loopt iemand op straat.
there walks someone in the.street
‘There is someone walking in the street.’
a′. iemand: |A ∩ B| ≥ 1
b. Er zit iets in die doos.
there sits something in that box
‘There is something in that box.’
b′. iets: |A ∩ B| ≥ 1
In contrast to what we did with singular indefinite noun phrases in Section 5.1.1.1,
we follow the philosophical tradition here in assuming that these quantification
pronouns have the cardinality ≥ 1. The reason for this is that the existential
pronouns can be used in yes/no-questions without the implication that there is at