Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

Pre-determiners 949
(11) a. Al de zebra’s kwamen plotseling op ons af. [specific]
all the zebras came suddenly at us prt.
‘All the zebras suddenly came running towards us.’
b. # Al de zebra’s zijn gestreept. [generic]
all the zebras are striped
Another way to describe these data is by saying that the noun phrase alle zebra’s
can be used either to refer to the set of zebras in the domain of discourse (domain
D), or simply to all zebras in the speaker’s conception of the universe. The noun
phrase al de zebra’s, on the other hand, can only be used to refer to the zebras in
domain D. This means that the meaning of this noun phrase is strictly
compositional: the noun phrase de zebra’s refers to the zebras in domain D and the
pre-determiner al emphasizes that literally all the entities in domain D that satisfy
the description of the NP zebra’s are included in the set referred to by the definite
noun phrase. The fact that alle and al de differ in this way suggests that a “fusion”
approach to alle, according to which alle is a contracted form of the pre-determiner
al and the definite determiner, cannot be upheld.
III. High degree quantification
That a fusion “approach” to alle is not feasible is also suggested by the fact that
alle, but not al de, can be used to express high degree quantification. Examples of
this use are given in (12): that the semantic contribution of alle in (12a) is not
universal quantification but degree modification is clear from the fact that alle tijd
does not mean “all time(s)” but “lots of time”. This example also shows that the
pre-determiner al cannot be used in this way. Other examples of the same type are
given in (12b&c). Note in passing, that using all in the English translation of (12a)
is impossible (although it does occur in the translation of the saying Ik heb alle tijd
in de wereld ‘I have all the time in the world’); examples (12b&c), however, can be
rendered in English with the aid of the quantifier every.
(12) a. Ik heb alle/*al de tijd.
I have all/all the time
‘I have lots of time.’
b. Er is alle/*al de reden tot klagen.
there is all/all the reason to complaining
‘There is every reason to complain.’
c. Er was alle/*al de gelegenheid tot het stellen van vragen.
there was all/all the opportunity to the posing of questions
‘There was every opportunity to ask questions.’
The high degree reading is frequently found in noun phrases with alle headed by
abstract non-count nouns, especially when these noun phrases are embedded in PPs
headed by in ‘in’ or voor ‘for’. Some examples are given in (13). Note that the
semantics of in alle eerlijkheid/redelijkheid in (13a) is accurately rendered in
English with the aid of all (in all honesty/fairness), which suggests that high degree
quantification is possible with English all as well. Dutch uses alle in this high
degree meaning rather more profusely than English, though.