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Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

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1034 Syntax <strong>of</strong> Dutch: nouns <strong>and</strong> noun phrases<br />

b. Ik ken wel DIT hele huis, maar niet DAT hele huis.<br />

b′. Ik ken wel DIT ( ?? hele) ∅, maar niet DAT hele huis. [RNR]<br />

b′′. Ik ken wel DIT hele huis, maar niet DAT (*hele) ∅. [NP-ellipsis]<br />

I know AFF this whole house but not that whole house<br />

In singular noun phrases, post-determiner inflectible heel readily follows<br />

possessives <strong>of</strong> all kinds, pronominal, genitive <strong>and</strong> semi-genitival possessives alike.<br />

In all examples in (260), heel has the quantificational semantics <strong>of</strong> totality; no<br />

degree or negative polarity readings are available for heel embedded in possessed<br />

noun phrases.<br />

(260) a. mijn hele vermogen/bezit<br />

my whole fortune/estate<br />

b. mijn vaders hele vermogen/bezit<br />

my father’s whole fortune/estate<br />

c. mijn vader z’n hele vermogen/bezit<br />

my father his whole fortune/estate<br />

Table 17 shows that post-determiner heel may also occur in indefinite singular<br />

noun phrases, provided that a determiner is present: the ungrammaticality <strong>of</strong> the<br />

determiner-less examples indicates that, unlike quantifiers like elk ‘every’ or ieder<br />

‘each’ (cf. Section 6.2), heel cannot perform the role <strong>of</strong> a determiner or determinersubstitute<br />

<strong>of</strong> singular noun phrases. Table 17 also shows that heel inflects with<br />

schwa depending on the gender <strong>of</strong> the head noun, just like attributive adjectives in<br />

noun phrases with the singular, indefinite article een (cf. Section 3.2.1); neuter head<br />

nouns feature heel, non-neuter ones hele.<br />

Table 17: Post-determiner [+Q] heel in noun phrases headed by indefinite count nouns<br />

INDEFINITE<br />

ARTICLE EEN<br />

INDEFINITE<br />

ARTICLE ∅<br />

COUNT NOUNS NON-COUNT NOUNS<br />

[-NEUTER] [+NEUTER] [-NEUTER] [+NEUTER]<br />

een hele stad<br />

a whole town<br />

*∅ hele stad<br />

∅ whole town<br />

een heel huis<br />

a whole house<br />

*∅ heel huis<br />

∅ whole house<br />

een hele ellende<br />

a whole misery<br />

*∅ hele ellende<br />

∅ whole misery<br />

een heel verdriet<br />

a whole sorrow<br />

*∅ heel verdriet<br />

∅ whole sorrow<br />

Although the non-count <strong>and</strong> count nouns examples are syntactically similar, they<br />

are semantically distinct. With the count nouns, post-determiner heel contributes a<br />

totality interpretation whereas with the non-count nouns heel receives a degree<br />

reading; an example like een hele ellende is best rendered as quite a misery. Finally,<br />

note that post-determiner heel is excluded in plural noun phrases containing<br />

exclamatives <strong>of</strong> the type een (*hele) boeken dat hij heeft!<br />

B. Indefinite determiner-like elements<br />

The examples in (261a&b) show that post-determiner heel can follow not only the<br />

indefinite article een but also indefinite determiners like zo’n ‘such a’ in (261),<br />

where heel receives a totality interpretation. Note that (261c) is ungrammatical; hele<br />

apparently cannot express a “quite” degree when it is preceded by zo’n.

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