Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

950 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
(13) a. in alle helderheid/eerlijkheid/redelijkheid/rust
in all clarity/honesty/fairness/rest
b. voor alle duidelijkheid/zekerheid
for all clarity/security
IV. Weak and strong quantifiers
Noun phrases quantified by high-degree alle in (12) behave like °weak noun
phrases in the sense of Section 6.2.1, sub II: as a subject they typically appear in
°expletive er constructions like (12b&c), and they may also occur as the object in
existential possessive sentences like (12a). In this respect, these noun phrases are
fundamentally different from the noun phrases headed by the universal quantifier
alle, discussed in sub I, which is a strong quantifier: the examples in (14) show that
a noun phrase modified by the universal quantifier alle cannot occur in the expletive
er construction.
(14) a. Alle/*∅ mannen zijn in de kamer.
all/∅ men are in the room
b. Er zijn ∅/*alle mannen in de kamer.
there are ∅/all men in the room
A similar argument cannot be reproduced for the pre-determiner al given that it
never combines with bare plurals (cf. Section 7.1.2.1); the contrast between the
examples in (15) can therefore be attributed to the presence of the definite article.
Nevertheless, the fact that Subsection I has shown that al expresses universal
quantification combined with the fact that universal quantifier alle is strong makes
it reasonable to assume that pre-determiner bare al is also a strong quantifier,
although the point is difficult to prove.
(15) a. (Al) de mannen zijn in de kamer.
all the men are in the room
b. *Er zijn (al) de mannen in de kamer.
there are all the men in the room
7.1.2. Distribution of al and alle inside the noun phrase
This section will discuss the restrictions on the use of the quantifiers al and alle
within the noun phrase. We will focus on the types of nouns that license the
presence of these quantifiers and the co-occurrence restrictions of the quantifier and
other determiners.
7.1.2.1. Pre-determiner bare al ‘all’
This section presents a survey of the distribution of pre-determiner bare al inside the
noun phrase. Subsection I will first discuss the noun phrase types that may contain
this pre-determiner. This is followed in Subsection II by a discussion of the
restrictions al imposes on other elements within the noun phrase.