Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

896 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
(78) a. Sommige/Enkele deelnemers zijn al vertrokken.
some/some participants are already left
‘Some participants have already left.’
a′. sommige: |A ∩ B| > 1
b. Veel deelnemers zijn al vertrokken.
many participants are already left
‘Many participants have already left.’
b′. veel: |A ∩ B| > n
c. Alle deelnemers zijn al vertrokken.
all participants are already left
‘All participants have already left.’
c′. alle: |A ∩ B| > 1 & A - (A ∩ B) = ∅
Since the quantifiers perform a similar function as the cardinal numbers without
making the cardinality of A ∩ B precise, some Dutch grammars refer to these
quantifiers as “indefinite cardinal numerals”; other grammars, like Haeseryn et al.
(1997) divide these quantifiers into “indefinite cardinal numerals” and “indefinite
pronouns”.
II. Strong and weak quantifiers
The examples in (78) are all “partitive” in the sense that set A is already part of
domain D. Quantifiers can, however, also be used in presentational sentences, that
is, to introduce new entities into domain D, although it is not the case that all
quantifiers can be used in this way: the (a)-examples in (79) show, for example, that
the existential quantifiers enkele and sommige differ in that only the former can be
used in a presentational °expletive construction. This means that the difference
between sommige and enkele is similar to that between the weak and the strong
form of English some, which are given in the glosses and translations as sm and
some, respectively. Like enkele, the degree quantifier veel ‘many’ can be used both
in a partitive construction like (78b) and in a presentational expletive construction
like (79b). As is shown in (79c), the universal quantifier alle ‘all’ cannot be used in
presentational sentences. Because the properties of the quantifier in the partitive and
presentational constructions correlate with, respectively, the weak and the strong
forms of English some, they are often referred to as WEAK and STRONG
QUANTIFIERS.
(79) a. Er zijn al enkele deelnemers vertrokken.
there are already sm participants left
‘Sm participants have already left.’
a′. *Er zijn al sommige deelnemers vertrokken.
there are already some participants left
‘Some participants have already left.’
b. Er zijn al veel deelnemers vertrokken.
there are already many participants left
‘Many participants have already left.’
c. *Er zijn al alle deelnemers vertrokken.
there are already all participants left