Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

Determiners: articles and pronouns 799
(350) a. Niemand is onsterfelijk. b′. Niets is tevergeefs.
nobody is immortal nothing is in.vain
‘Nobody is immortal.’ ‘Nothing is in vain.’
a′. *? Er is niemand onsterfelijk. b′. *? Er is niets tevergeefs.
V. Syntactic distribution
Quantificational pronouns can be used in all regular argument positions. In (351)
and (352) this is illustrated for, respectively, the subject and the object position.
(351) a. Er ligt iemand/iets op mijn bed.
there lies someone/something on my bed
‘There is someone/something lying on my bed.’
b. Er ligt niemand/niets op mijn bed.
there lies no.one/nothing on my bed
‘There is no one/nothing lying on my bed.’
c. Iedereen/Alles ligt op mijn bed.
everybody/everything lies on my bed
(352) a. Jan heeft iemand/iets weggebracht.
Jan has someone/something brought.away
‘Jan has brought away someone/something.’
b. Jan heeft niemand/niets weggebracht.
Jan has no.one/nothing brought.away
‘Jan has brought away no one/nothing.’
c. Jan heeft iedereen/alles weggebracht.
Jan has everyone/everything brought.away
‘Jan has brought everyone/everything away.’
The examples in (353) show that [+HUMAN] quantificational personal pronouns can
also be used as the complement of a preposition. The existential pronoun in (353a)
can be either specific or nonspecific, and the negative existential pronoun in (353b)
is interpreted with its normal, non-emphatic, reading.
(353) a. Jan wil op iemand wachten.
Jan wants for someone wait
‘Jan wants to wait for someone.’
b. Jan wil op niemand wachten.
Jan wants for no.one wait
‘Jan doesn’t want to wait for anyone.’
c. Jan wil op iedereen wachten.
Jan wants for everyone wait
‘Jan wants to wait for everyone.’
The situation is somewhat more complex with the [-HUMAN] pronouns due to the
fact that they can undergo °R-pronominalization, that is, the primeless examples in
(354) alternate with the primed examples.