Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

(18) Twee van de studenten werden gearresteerd.
two of the students were arrested
Numerals and quantifiers 877
The data in (17b&b′) show, however, that this one-to-one correspondence cannot be
maintained. This does not mean that we cannot make a distinction between purely
quantificational and partitive indefinite noun phrases, but that we must keep in mind
that the distinction is probably not syntactic in nature, but rather forced upon us by
the context in which the indefinite noun phrase is used. For the moment, we may
therefore simply conclude that the meaning expressed by the numeral is restricted to
indicating the cardinality of the intersection A ∩ B in Figure 1.
6.1.1.3. Noun phrases containing a cardinal numeral
This section discusses noun phrases containing a cardinal numeral. Section 6.1.1.3.1
starts with a discussion of the properties of the head noun. This is followed in
6.1.1.3.2 by a brief discussion of determiners in noun phrases containing a cardinal
numeral. Section 6.1.1.3.3 concludes with a discussion of the position of the
cardinal numerals within the noun phrase.
6.1.1.3.1. The head noun
The examples in (19) show that the cardinal numerals, with the exception of één
‘one’, are normally followed by a plural count noun. There are, however, many
exceptions to this general rule, which we will discuss in the remainder of this
section.
(19) a. één boek/*boeken c. honderd boeken/*boek
one book/books a.hundred books/book
b. twee boeken/*boek d. honderd en één boeken/*boek
two books/book hundred and one books/book
I. Substance nouns
The primeless cases in (20) show that substance nouns may follow a numeral when
they refer to conventional units of the substance denoted by the noun. One might
wish to explore the possibility that these noun phrases are actually binominal
constructions involving an empty noun corresponding to the container noun in the
primed examples; cf. the discussion of example (60) in 1.2.2.1.3.
(20) a. drie koffie a′. drie koppen koffie
three coffee three cups [of] coffee
‘three, e.g., cups of coffee.’ ‘three cups of coffee’
b. twee suiker b′. twee klontjes/pakken suiker
two sugar two lumps/packs [of] sugar
‘two, e.g., packs/lumps of sugar’ ‘two packs/lumps of sugar’
There is, however, a conspicuous difference between the primeless and primed
examples, which suggests that a binominal analysis of the primeless examples in
(20) is not feasible; the examples in (21) show that the two nominal constructions
differ in number, the noun phrase drie koffie triggers singular agreement on the
finite verb in (21a), whereas the binominal construction drie koppen koffie triggers