Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

Binominal constructions 601
Container, part and collective nouns exhibit similar restrictions: the examples in
(70) to (72) show that quantificational, size and “partitive” adjectives are possible,
whereas adjectives denoting other properties give rise to marked results.
(70) a. talrijke glazen bier a′. ?? een versierd glas bier
numerous glasses [of] beer a decorated glass [of] beer
b. een grote kist sinaasappelen b′. ?? een houten kist sinaasappelen
a big box [of] oranges a wooden box [of] oranges
(71) a. een halve reep chocola a′. ? een gestolen reep chocola
a half bar [of] chocolate a stolen bar [of] chocolate
b. een klein stuk krijt b′. ? een gebroken stuk krijt
a small piece [of] chalk a broken piece [of] chalk
(72) a. vele groepen studenten a′. ? een verspreide groep studenten
many groups [of] students a dispersed group [of] students
b. een enorme vlucht kraanvogels b′. ? een opgeschrikte vlucht kraanvogels
an enormous flight [of] cranes a frightened flight [of] cranes
Recall from Section 4.1.1.2.2, sub II, that an attributive adjective preceding N1 can
be used to modify N2. Thus, all types of attributive adjectives may precede these
N1s provided that they can be construed with N2: an example like een smakelijk glas
bier ‘a tasty glass of beer’ is acceptable with the attributive adjective expressing a
property of the N2 bier ‘beer’. An interesting case, about which we have little to
say, is geef me een nieuw glas bier ‘give me a new glass of beer’: in this example
the adjective nieuw ‘new’ is construed with N1, but it does not attribute a property
to the glass in question; it is rather interpreted as “another glass of beer”.
VI. Summary
Table 3, which summarizes the findings of this section, shows that quantifier nouns
can entertain far fewer syntagmatic relations than container, part and collective
nouns. The latter can be preceded by all sorts of determiners, quantifiers and
numerals, and do not exhibit special restrictions concerning attributive
modification. The former, on the other hand, exhibit all kinds of restrictions: the
element een preceding quantifier nouns may not be an indefinite article but must be
something else, and definite determiners, quantifiers, numerals, possessive
pronouns, and attributive modifiers do not occur at all; demonstrative pronouns may
appear with some but not all quantifier nouns. Measure nouns again show a more
mixed behavior: the notation —/+ indicates that the element in question can be used
when the noun has a referential, but not when it has a quantificational interpretation.
The findings in Table 3 are consistent with the classification given in (38), which
groups the five noun types into the three supercategories in the top row.