13.ok

7/21/2019 13.ok

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/13ok 1/30

UNIT 13

THE EXPRESSION OF QUANTITY

OUTLINE

1. INTRODUCTION.

1.1. Aims of the unit.1.2. Notes on bibliography.

2. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE NOTION OF QUANTITY.

2.1. Linguistic levels involved in the notion of quantity.

2.2. On defining quantity: what and how.

2.3. Grammar categories: open vs. closed classes.

3. THE EXPRESSION OF QUANTITY.

4. REGARDING NUMBER.4.1. In nouns.

4.1.1. Singular vs. plural .4.1.2. Count vs. noncount .

4.2. In numerals.4.3. In pronouns.

4.3.1. Specific pronouns.4.3.1.1. Central pronouns.

4.3.1.2. Relative pronouns.4.3.1.3. Interrogative pronouns.4.3.1.4. Demonstrative pronouns.

4.3.2. Indefinite pronouns.

4.3.2.1. Universal pronouns.4.3.2.2. Partitive pronouns.4.3.2.3. Quantifying pronouns.

5. REGARDING DETERMINERS.5.1. Predeterminers.

5.2. Central determiners.5.3. Postdeterminers.

6. REGARDING PARTITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.6.1. Of-partitives.

6.2. Quantity partition.6.3. Quality partition.

7. REGARDING OTHER MEANS.

8. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS.9. CONCLUSION.10. BIBLIOGRAPHY.11. APPENDIX NOTES.

7/21/2019 13.ok


2/30

1. INTRODUCTION.

1.1. Aims of the unit.

Unit 13, untitled The Expression of Quantity , is primarily intended to serve as an introduction to the

different ways of expressing quantity in English. In doing so, the study will be divided into six main

chapters. Thus, Chapter 2 provides a theoretical framework for the notion of quantity within a

grammar linguistic theory, in which some key terminology is defined in syntactic terms so as to

prepare the reader for the descriptive account on quantity expressions in subsequent chapters.

Chapter 3, then, is mainly introductory so as to present the notion of quantity regarding number,

determiners, partitive constructions, and other means. The aim is to establish an introductory link to

next section. Chapter 4, then, offers a descriptive account of the different ways of expressing

amount by means of number (1) in nouns ( singular vs. plural and countable vs. uncountable nouns),

(2) numberals (cardinal, ordinal ), and (3) pronouns, where a survey on specific and indefinite

pronouns is provided in order to link it to next section, that is Chapter 5, on determiners. Once

determiners are examined, Chapter 6 accounts for specific quantitative partitive constructions and

Chapter 7 deals with other means of expressing quantity.

Chapter 8 provides an educational framework for the expression of quantity within our current

school curriculum, and Chapter 9 draws a conclusion from all the points involved in this study.

Finally, in Chapter 10, bibliography will be listed in alphabetical order. A final section, Chapter 11,

includes appendix notes on the discussion.

1.2. Notes on bibliography.

In order to offer an insightful analysis and survey on the expression of quantity in English, we shall

deal with the most relevant works in the field, both old and current, and in particular, influential

grammar books which have assisted for years students of English as a foreign language in their

study of grammar. For instance, a theoretical framework for the expression of quantity is namely

drawn from the field of sentence analysis, that is, from the work of Flor Aarts and Jan Aarts

(University of Nijmegen, Holland) in English Syntactic Structures (1988), whose material has been

tested in the classroom and developed over a number of years; also, another essential work is that ofRodney Huddleston, English Grammar, An Outline (1988).

Other classic references which offer an account of the most important and central grammatical

constructions and categories in English regarding the expression of quantity, are Quirk &

Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English (1973); Thomson & Martinet, A Practical English

Grammar (1986); and Greenbaum & Quirk, A Student’s Grammar of the English Language (1990).

Current approaches to notional grammar and, therefore, the expression of quantity are Angela

Downing and Philip Locke, A University Course in English Grammar (2002); Gerald Nelson,

7/21/2019 13.ok


3/30

English: An Essential Grammar (2001); Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, The

Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002); and Sidney Greenbaum, The Oxford

Reference Grammar (2000).

2. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE NOTION OF QUANTITY.

Before describing in detail the different ways of expressing quantity in English, it is relevant to

establish first a theoretical framework for the notion of quantity, since it must be described in

grammatical terms and also, by using key terminology. In fact, this introductory chapter aims at

answering questions such as where the notion of quantity is to be found within the linguistic level,

what it describes and how, and which grammar categories are involved in its description. Let us

examine, then, in which linguistic level the notion of quantity is found.

2.1. Linguistic levels involved in the notion of quantity.

In order to offer a linguistic description of the notion of quantity, we must confine it to particular

levels of analysis so as to focus our attention on this particular aspect of language. Yet, although

there is no consensus of opinion on the number of levels to be distinguished, the usual description

of a language comprises four major components: phonology, grammar, lexicon, and semantics, out

of which we get five major levels: phonological, morphological and syntactic, lexical, and semantic

(Huddleston, 1988).

First, the phonology describes the sound level , that is, consonants, vowels, stress, intonation, and so

on. Secondly, since the two most basic units of grammar are the word and the sentence, the

component of grammar involves the morphological level (i.e. the internal structure of words) and

the syntactic level (i.e. the way words combine to form sentences). Third, the lexicon, or lexical

level , lists vocabulary items, specifying how they are pronounced, how they behave grammatically,

and what they mean. Finally, another dimension between the study of linguistic form and the study

of meaning is semantics, or the semantic level , to which all four of the major components are

related. We must not forget that a linguistic description which ignores meaning is obviously

incomplete.

Therefore, we must point out that each of the linguistic levels discussed above has a corresponding

component when analysing the notion of quantity. Thus, phonology deals with pronunciation of

singular and plural forms (i.e. bus, buses); morphology deals with plural markers (i.e. –s, -es);

syntax deals with the establishment of rules that specify which combinations of words constitute

grammatical strings and which do not (i.e. determiner + noun); lexis deals with the expression of

amount by means of idioms (i.e. stubborn as a mule), verb choices (i.e. rain vs. pour ), adverbial

expressions (i.e. speaking loud ), or partitive constructions (i.e. a piece of furniture); and finally,

7/21/2019 13.ok


4/30

semantics deals with meaning where syntactic and morphological levels do not tell the difference

(i.e. ‘You are here’ – you, 2nd

person singular or you, 2nd

person plural ).

2.2. On defining quantity: what and how.

The aim of this section is to define the term ‘quantity’ by linking the notion of quantity (what it is)

to the grammar categories which express it (how it is showed). Actually, the notion of quantity

refers to the ‘number’ or ‘the amount of’ items we are dealing with, and it is the answer to questions

such as How much...? and How many...? Obviously, they both ask for similar information, except

for a specific difference about the ‘exact amount of’, which can be definite (i.e. two, four ),

indefinite (i.e. some, any), or drawn from other means as those mentioned above.

Answers are directly drawn from different sources, such as nouns (i.e. one book, two books),

pronouns (i.e. nobody, everybody, somebody), determiners (i.e. a, the, my, some, every, each), or

verbs (i.e. shout vs scream), and also from other grammatical structures such as partitive

constructions (i.e. a glass of milk ) or idioms (i.e. She is as cold as a cucumber ) among other means.

All these expressions play their role in a linguistic description in terms of function, within a larger

linguistic structure (i.e. subject, object, determiner, and so on), and category or class (i.e. noun,

adjective, verb, and so on) when we view them as something that has individual characteristics.

Both function and word class are relevant for our present purposes since we must examine the

expression of quantity through them. These expressions can be grouped together into word classes

(also called parts of speech) following morphological and syntactic rules. In doing so, we mayassign words to the same class we imply that they share a number of properties, for instance, on

morphological grounds (i.e. typical endings for nouns, such as –s and ‘s) or on the syntactic ground

(i.e. indefinite pronouns functioning as determiners: any of you). We must not forget the semantic

criteria when dealing with verbs (i.e. speak, whisper, shout ) or the phonological one when

pronouncing singular and plural nouns.

Since the expression of quantity deals namely with nouns, let us examine first their nature in

morphological and syntactic terms before describing other categories involved in it. In doing so, we

shall handle appropriate syntactic terms, using the required key terminology on this field, thus noun,

determiner, pronoun, indefinite pronoun, and so on.

2.3. Grammar categories: open vs. closed classes.

In order to confine the notion of quantity to particular grammatical categories, we must review first

the difference between open and closed classes. Yet, grammar categories in English can be divided

into two major sets called open and closed classes. The open classes are verbs, nouns, adjectives

and adverbs, and are said to be unrestricted since they allow the addition of new members to their

membership, whereas the closed classes are the rest: prepositions, conjunctions, articles (definite

7/21/2019 13.ok


5/30

and indefinite), numerals, pronouns, quantifiers and interjections, which belong to a restricted class

since they do not allow the creation of new members.

Then, as we can see, when expressing quantity we are dealing with open and closed classes that,

when taken to phrase and sentence level, may function as grammatical expressions and special

structures. The classification of phrases reflects an established syntactic order which is found for all

four of the open word classes (i.e. verb, noun, adjective and adverb), and also for closed classes (i.e.

prepositions, articles). However, it is very often possible to replace open classes by an equivalent

expression of another class (i.e. indefinite pronoun in a variety of functions: subject (noun), object

(pronoun) or predicative (determiner)) as we shall see later.

3. THE EXPRESSION OF QUANTITY.

As stated before, since the aim of this chapter is to define the term ‘quantity’ by linking the notion

of quantity (what it is) to the grammar categories which express it (how it is showed), we shall offer

a descriptive approach to the possible answers to questions such as How much...? and How many...?

in a wide variety of expressions (definite, indefinite, partitive constructions, or idioms). Yet, our

study will be primarily based on the notion of number , since singular and plural categories are the

original markers for quantity.

Then, the expression of quantity will be first examined through the category of number, and then,through the grammatical categories, open and closed, related to it, such as nouns (i.e. one book, two

books), numerals, pronouns (i.e. nobody, everybody, somebody), indefinite pronouns as determiners,

determiners (i.e. a, the, my, some, every, each), or by other means concerning verbs (i.e. shout vs

scream) and other grammatical structures like partitive constructions (i.e. a glass of milk ) or idioms

(i.e. She is as cold as a cucumber ).

All these expressions play their role in a linguistic description in terms of function, within a larger

linguistic structure (i.e. subject, object, determiner, and so on), and category or class (i.e. noun,

adjective, verb, and so on) when we view them as something that has individual characteristics. It is

worth noting that quite often, we may find an overlap of categories when expressing ‘the amountof’ something, as for instance, between indefinite pronouns and determiners (each, both, all ). But,

we shall see it later. Now, let us start with the expression of quantity in relation to number category.

4. IN TERMS OF NUMBER.

In order to describe quantity in terms of number, we must relate this notion to the general term

‘noun’ , which is applied to a grammatically distinct word class in a language having the properties

7/21/2019 13.ok


6/30

of, first, denote persons or concrete objects, second, function as subject or object in clause structure,

and third, the most important property for our present purposes, that is, the class to which the

categories of number , gender and case have their primary application in languages.

In this section, we will find three main headings regarding the expression of number, first, in nouns;

second, in numerals; and third, in pronouns. The latter subclassification will lead us directly to a

further expression of quantity by means of determiners, indefinite partitive pronouns, quantifiers,

and finally quantitative partitive constructions. These last sections will be examined separately.

4.1. In nouns.

Number, in English, applies both to nouns and (in combination with person) to verbs, so that we

may contrast, say, The dog bites and The dogs bite. As far as English is concerned, number is

evidently an important category for the characterisation of nouns, whereas gender and case are not:

they apply to only a very few nouns of the pronoun sub-class (Huddleston, 1988). Moreover, at the

English particular level, the three most important properties of nouns concern their function, their

dependents and their inflection.

(1) Regarding their function, nouns usually occupy the head position in the structure of Nominal

Phrases (NPs), being optional among subject, object, predicative, complement, or modifier of

another noun. (2) Regarding dependents, nouns take a different range of dependents than other

words, among which the most distinctive are: determiners (i.e. the, a, my, which, some, this, that,

etc); adjectives as pre-head modifiers; and restrictive relative clauses (i.e. who, which, whose, etc).And finally, (3) regarding inflection, and the most relevant to us, nouns enter into inflectional

contrasts of number, singular vs. plural, where the plural is formed by a variety of morphological

processes.

The inflectional contrasts of number are directly related to the four main subclasses of noun, thus

common nouns, proper nouns, pronouns, and cardinal numerals. Regarding nouns, they are divided

into proper and common nouns. The former cannot be preceded by articles, numerals and

quantifiers whereas the latter can. Although proper nouns have unique reference (a particular

person, country, town, etc) they are occasionally treated as count nouns so that they can be

pluralized and preceded by numerals, articles and by quantifiers (many, few, several ).

Common nouns may take a further sub-classification into count vs. noncount nouns (also called

‘countable’ and ‘uncountable’/‘mass’) and a further, but not so relevant, semantic distinction

expressed by concrete vs. abstract nouns. But in order to examine determiner and number contrast

in common nouns, we must address the number category singular vs. plural .

Let us examine, first, the properties of number in nouns regarding (1) singular vs. plural , (2) count

vs. noncount expressions of amount. Later, number category will be examined in numerals and in

pronouns. It is worth pointing out that, since cardinal numerals lie at the periphery betweeen the

7/21/2019 13.ok


7/30

noun and determinative classes, it will be more convenient to leave them for consideration in

subsequent chapters, under the definition of quantifiers .

4.1.1. Singular vs. plural.

The contrast singular vs. plural is drawn from the category of number which operates through

subject-verb concord and pronominal reference, where every noun form is understood

grammatically as either singular or plural (Greenbaum & Quirk, 1990). Singular , then, relates to the

quantity one for count nouns, to the unique referent for most proper nouns, and to undifferentiated

amount for noncount nouns whereasplural relates to the quantity more than one for count nouns, to

the unique referent for some proper nouns (i.e. the Canaries=the Canary Islands), and to individual

operational units that reflect plural composition (i.e. scissors, outskirts, stairs).

Note that within the term ‘plural’, we include different types ( Appendix 1), thus first, variable vs.

invariable plurals. Within variable plurals, we distinguish first, regular plurals (adding –s/-es) and

irregular plurals (voicing, mutation, -en plural, zero plural and foreign plurals). Second, within

invariable plurals, we further distinguish on the one hand, singular invariables (concrete vs. abstract

noncount nouns, proper nouns, some nouns ending in –s (news), and abstract adjectival heads), and

on the other hand, plural invariables ( summation plurals, pluralia tantum in –s, some plural proper

nouns, unmarked plural nouns, and personal adjectival heads: the rich). Finally, in addition to

singular and plural number, we may distinguish dual number in the case of both, either, and neither,

since they can only be used with reference to two.

First, regarding variable plurals , we shall distinguish between regular and irregular plural

formation. Since the vast majority of English nouns are count, they take plural formation in a

regular and predictable way in (a) sound and (b) spelling. Regarding (a) sound, the plural of a noun

is usually made by adding –s to the singular, which is the unmarked form, and is regularly realized

in three ways at the phonological level: first, /s/ after bases ending in voiceless sounds except

sibilants (i.e. books, roofs, lips, hats); second, /z/ after bases ending in voiced sounds except

sibilants (i.e. trees, bars, days, beds, dogs, pens); and third, /iz/ after bases ending in a sibilant (i.e.

horses /s/, noises /z/, brushes, mirages, churches, and bridges).

Regarding (b) spelling, for the most part, plurals are formed by simply adding –s to the singular (i.e.

cat-cats, girl-girls). Other regular plurals add –es in nouns ending in –z, -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x and –o

(i.e. waltzes, gases, dresses, wishes, matches, boxes and tomatoes). However, at the sound level, all

of them get an extra syllable /iz/ when pronounced, except for those words ending in -o (i.e. echoes,

potatoes), which are realized as /schwa+s/. Moreover, note that words or foreign origin or

abbreviated words ending in –o add –s only (i.e. dynamo-dynamos, kilo -kilos, photo-photos,

soprano-sopranos) and are not pronounced /iz/.

7/21/2019 13.ok


8/30

The spelling –(e)s is also found in the following two cases, where the spelling of the base is

affected: first, in words ending in a consonant symbol + -y, where y changes into i (i.e. body-bodies,

country-countries). Note that words ending in a vowel symbol + y, the plural is formed by adding –

s. Second, there is a change in the words ending in –f, where the f of the base is changed into v (i.e.

calf-calves, knife-knives, leaf-leaves).

Yet, there are some exceptions to the general pluralization rule which may present some

irregularities . Thus, first, (1) voicing , which is a change in the base, from voiceless to voiced

consonant, when a the regular suffix –s/-es is added (i.e. bath-baths, house-houses). Note that this

may be reflected in spelling (i.e. knife-knives) or not (i.e. mouth-mouths). Secondly, (2) mutation,

when a few nouns undergo a change of vowel sound and spelling (‘mutation plurals’ ) without an

ending (i.e. foot-feet, louse-lice, tooth-teeth, goose-geese, man-men). Thirdly, (3) – en plural ,

pronounced with schwa, involves both vowel change and an irregular ending, as for instance, child-

children, ox-oxen, and brother-brethren, when used in the sense of ‘fellow members’.

(4) Fourth, zero plurals, which on being unquestionable count, have no difference in form between

singular and plural, when referring to animals in general (i.e. sheep, cattle), and in particular, to

those viewed as prey (i.e. They hunted two reindeer/woodcock and caught two trout/salmon ). Note

the difference here between, on the one hand invariable nouns, which are either singular (i.e. The

music is so trendy) or plural (i.e. All the cattle are in the field ), and, on the other hand, zero plural

nouns, which can be both singular and plural (i.e. This sheep is small/all those sheeps are small ).

(5) Finally, foreign plurals within regular type formation are those used in technical usage, whereas

the –s plural, which is an English regular form is more natural in everyday language (Compare formulas (general) and formulae (in mathematics). Numerous nouns adopted from foreign

languages, especially Latin and Greek, still retain the foreign inflection for plural. Let us examine

the main types of foreign plurals in present-day English.

Thus, from Latin (a) nouns in –us /schwa+s/ with plural –i /ai/ (i.e. stimulus-stimuli; focus, fungus,

nucleus, chorus, circus); (b) nouns in –us /schwa+s/ with plural –a /schwa/ for technical use (i.e.

corpus-corpora, genus-genera); (c) nouns in –a with plural –ae /i:/ or /ai/ (i.e. alumna-alumnae,

formula-formulae, diploma-diplomae); (d) nouns in –um /schwa+m/ with plural –a /schwa/ (i.e.

curriculum-curricula; stadium, aquarium, symposium, ultimatum, bacterium, datum, medium); (e)

nouns in –ex, -ix with plural –ices /isi:z/ (i.e. appendix, index, matrix ).

From Greek, (f) nouns in –is /is/ with plural –es /i:z/ (i.e. basis-bases; analysis, hypothesis,

synopsis, crisis, thesis in opposition to regular plurals in –ises (i.e. metropolis); (g) nouns in –on

/schwa+n/ with plural –a /schwa/ (i.e. criterion-criteria, phenomenon, automaton) in contrast to

regular plurals as in demon, electron, neutron or proton . From French, (h) nouns in – e(a)u with

plural in –s or –x sometimes retain a French plural in writing but a regular English pronunciation /z/

in speech. They are pronounced with a final vowel in the singular and with a regular /z/ in the plural

(i.e. bureau-bureaux or bureaus; similarly: plateau, tableau, adieu). Other French nouns in –s or –x

have no spelling change (i.e. chassis, corps, faux pas, patois).

7/21/2019 13.ok


9/30

From Italian, (i) nouns in –o /schwa+u/ with plural in –i /i/ (i.e. tempo-tempi, and similarly, libretto,

virtuoso). Compare with soprano, only regular plural. Yet, mus icians usually prefer Italian plural

forms for Italian musical terms (i.e. tempo-tempi, libretto, libretti) although regular English endings

are also possible (i.e. librettos, tempos ). From Hebrew, (j) where the foreign plural is –im added to

the noun base (i.e. kibbutz-kibbutzim, and similarly, the usually regular cherub, seraph).

Secondly, regarding invariable plur als , we may distinguish invariable singular vs invariable plural

nouns which are resistant to number contrast, since there are singular nouns that cannot ordinarily

be plural (i.e. meat, sugar ) and plural nouns that cannot ordinarily be singular (i.e. binoculars,

sunglasses). Within singular invariables, which take a singular verb, we distinguish five main

types: (1) concrete noncount nouns (i.e. cheese, gold, furniture); (2) abstract noncount nouns (i.e.

homework, music, solidarity, injustice); (3) some proper nouns (i.e. Shakespeares, her Mondays,

Christmases); (4) nouns ending in –s are particular words, (i.e. news), some diseases (i.e. German

measles, mumps, rickets), names in –ics (i.e. Physics, classics, phonetics), some games (i.e. bowls,

dominoes, fives), and finally, (5) some proper nouns (i.e. Brussels, Athens, Wales, Naples) or

collective nouns (i.e. The United States, committee, council, government, team).

Within plural invariables, we shall distinguish five main types as well. Thus, (1) summation plurals

(or binary nouns), which refer to entities which comprise or are perceived as comprising two parts

such as tools, instruments, or articles of dress (i.e. scissors, forceps; tweezers, scales; shorts, tights).

Countability is usually achieved through quantity partition, thus ‘a pair of’, ‘several pairs of’; (2)

pluralia tantum in –s (also called aggregate ) are nouns that only occur in the plural and refer to

entities which comprise or are perceived as comprising an indefinite number of parts (i.e.communications=means of communication, and similarly, The Middle Ages(=Medieval Times),

arms (=weapons),, customs (=customs duty), goods (=a goods train), the Lords (=The House of

Lords), spirits (=mood). Note that with some items there is vacillation between singular and plural

since when they have no –s, there is a difference in meaning (i.e. brain-brains, cloth-clothes, a

troup of scouts-troops, manner-manners).

(3) Some proper nouns are pluralized when a title applies to more than one succeeding name, as in

‘the two Miss Smiths’, ‘the Kennedys’, and ‘the two Germanys’ , especially in British English

commercial use meaning ‘the firm of’ (i.e. the Johnsons or the Smiths). Moreover, (4) we also find

unmarked plural nouns which are not plural in form and emerge from some pluralia tantum, thusThe data is/are useful, and similarly cattle, clergy, offspring, people, police, poultry, and vermin.

And finally, (5) some personal adjectival heads of human nature, such as the rich, the young .

Remember that compound nouns form the plural in different ways, thus adding plural in the first

element (i.e. passer-by, passers-by); in both first and last element (i.e. manservant, menservants),

and the last and most usual way, adding plural in the last element (i.e. boyfriend, boyfriends; grown-

up, grown-ups). Also, initials can be made plural (i.e. MPs=Members of Parliament, VIPs=very

important persons, UFOs=unidentified flying objects).

7/21/2019 13.ok


10/30

4.1.2. Count vs. noncount.

As seen before, nouns also reflect the category of number with the contrast between count vs.

noncount nouns (also known as uncountable nouns or mass nouns), which is an important

difference within common nouns regarding different interpretations of ‘the amount of’. Thus, the

term ‘count’ refers to an ‘individual interpretation of an item’ from a larger set of discrete units that

could be counted, that is, individual countable entities (i.e. table, building, tree, car, book,

computer, disk ), whereas ‘noncount’ refers to an ‘undelimited’ interpretation of a substance (liquid

or solid) rather than a unit, that is, an undifferentiated mass or continuum (i.e. sand, soap, jam,

paper, water, air, hair ).

It will be noticed that the categorization coun and noncount cuts across the traditional distinction

between ‘abstract’ (broadly, immaterial) nouns like intelligence, warmth, greed and ‘concrete’

(broadly, tangible) nouns like bottle, cow, house. However, there is a considerable degree of overlap

between abstract and non-count nouns, as in difficulty-difficulties, experience-experiences, sound-

sounds (i.e. He’s not had much difficulty –noncount- vs. He’s had many difficulties –countable-).

Regarding count and noncount main features, we may say that countable nouns are easily detected

because of plural forms, and that uncountable nouns are namely reflected in general abstract terms

such as (1) names of substances (i.e. bread, beer, coffee, gold, oil, stone, wine); (2) abstract nouns

(i.e. advice, courage, experience, fear, information, mercy, relief ); (3) other nouns considered

countable in other languages (i.e. baggage, camping, damage, furniture, shopping, weather ).

Another feature of uncountable nouns is that they are always singular and are not used with

indefinite articles, but often preceded by quantifiers like some, any, no, a little (i.e. I don’t want(any) advice or help; I want (some) information).

Hence, a plural triggers a count interpretation, as well as numerals, quantifiers (many, few, several,

much, little), and definite or indefinite articles. Common countable nouns can be preceded by

numerals, quantifiers (except for much, little), and definite/indefinite articles whereas common

noncount nouns can only be followed by the quantifiers much and little and the definite article.

Consider the example of ‘John likes French cheeses only’ vs. ‘I am not fond of cheese’ or ‘They

heard strange noises last night’ vs. ‘Don’t make much noise’.

With singular nouns, the determiners one, a, another, each, every, either, neither force a countinterpretation, whereas enough, much, most, little and unstressed some or any induce a noncount

interpretation (compare another/every cake with enough/some cake). A singular common noun

without any determiner will normally take a noncount interpretation (i.e. He drinks whisky or She

had lost all interest in the project ). It should be borne in mind that the majority of nouns can be

used with either kind of interpretation when using partitive constructions (i.e. a piece of, an item of,

a bottle of, a loaf of, and so on).

7/21/2019 13.ok


11/30

4.2. In numerals.

The expression of quantity by means of numerals, is namely give by three sets (Huddleston, 1988):

cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc) which give the exact amount of something by means of

whole numbers, ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc) which express the sequence order of

items, and third, fractions. We must not forget that, since cardinal numerals lie at the periphery

betweeen the noun and determinative classes, it will be more convenient to leave them for

consideration in subsequent chapters, under the definition of quantifying pronouns.

To some extent they form a system sui generis, since they are not readily describable in terms of the

categories that we use elsewhere in the language. For instance, it is not easy to decide whether the

cardinal numbers larger than a hundred are to be analysed as single words or expressions. We might

then regard them as very peripheral members of the word category. However, we shall concentrate

on their main features.

Cardinal numbers, for instance, certainly have uses in which they are nouns, notably those where

they carry the plural inflection (i.e. They went out in threes/twos). One major use is as determiner in

a noun phrase (NP) structure (i.e. one mistake, thirty-five apples, three replies). In some way, they

have affinites with determiners, and they may occur in the plural (i.e. thousands of people). The

ordinal numbers, on the other hand, are basically adjectives, having both attributive and predicative

uses (i.e. He was the third person in the queue/He was third in the queue). They co-occur, except

for first, only with count nouns, and they usually precede any cardinal number in the noun phrase

(i.e. The first three planes were Italian ). Fractions are noun phrases with the structure of determiner

+ noun. Note the inflectional number contrast in the noun (i.e. one third vs. two thirds).

Moreover, we shall offer some general considerations on these three particular expressions of

number: (1) Both types, cardinal and ordinal, can function pronominally or as premodifiers, except

that nought (Br.E)/zero (Am.E). (2) This figure ‘0’ is called ‘nought’, oh, zero, and nill . We say

‘nought’ when it occurs chiefly as the name of the numeral, being replaced by the determiner no or

the pronoun none in general use. We use ‘oh’ to say numbers and figures at the same time

(pronounced as the letter ‘o’), and also when saying figures separately, as in telephone numbers,

post codes, address numbers. Then, figures are pronounced in groups of three or four, but not in

groups of two (as in Spanish). When used to refer to temperature, we must used ‘ zero’ , for both

British English and American English (i.e. It is zero degrees Celsius today), and we say ‘nil’ whentalking about games, sports, and scores (i.e. They won four-nill ).

(3) Pronominally, the ordinals are preceded by an article (Today is the eleventh of June) and

resemble superlatives with ellipted heads. Ordinals are used when talking about fractions and

decimals (i.e. 1/6=one sixth; 2/5=two fifths) or when expressing order or priority (i.e. He was the

first one to cross the line). (4) And finally, we must bear in mind that not only cardinals and

ordinals provide the notion of quantity, but also singular and plural measurements in fractions and

decimals with the structure ‘of a + singular noun’ (i.e. two sixths of a centimetre ) or

‘decimals’+plural noun (i.e. 2,8 milimetres=two point eight millimetres).

7/21/2019 13.ok


12/30

4.3. In pronouns.

Once we have examined the properties of number in nouns regarding singular vs. plural and count

vs. noncount expressions of amount, and in numerals, let us examine the category of number in

pronouns. As we have seen, pronouns belong to the category of pro-forms, particularly associated

with noun phrases, which constitute a heterogeneus class of items. Pronouns, in general, share

several features, such as not to admit determiners, to have case, gender, and number distinction, and

not to have singular and plural forms morphologically related.

Pronouns, then, fall into the following classification ( Appendix 2): (1) specific pronouns and (2)

indefinite pronouns. Within (1) specif ic pronouns we find (a) central pronouns ( personal, reflexive,

reciprocal, and possessive), (b) relative pronouns, (c) interrogative pronouns, and (d) demonstrative

pronouns. Within (2) indefinite pronouns , we find (a) universal pronouns, (b) partitive pronouns

(assertive, non-assertive, and negative), and (c) quantifying pronouns, also called quantifiers .

Before going into detail into this section devoted to pronouns, we must point out that pronouns

often share certain characteristics with determiners since they have similar forms, and number

category in particular. Therefore, we shall deal with those similarities under the heading of

determiners in next section, that is, pronouns that behave as determiners.

4.3.1. Specific pronouns.

4.3.1.1. Central pronouns.

Regarding specific pronouns, we shall start by examining central pronouns, which are divided into

(1) personal, (2) reflexive,(3) reciprocal, and (4) possessive . First, (1) personal pronouns display a

person contrast, that is, they have 1st, 2

nd, and 3

rd person forms which show gender contrast

( feminine, masculine, and nonpersonal ), case contrast ( subjective, objective), and finally, relevant

for our present purposes, number contrast ( singular and plural ).

Following Greenbaum & Quirk (1990), number has to be treated separately for each of the three persons of pronouns. With the 3

rd person, number is closest in value to that with nouns (i.e a male

officer vs. officers); with the 2nd

person, there is a number contrast only in the reflexive pronoun (i.e.

Look at your hand, Jack ). Also, possessive series has a separate plural in the reflexive (yourself,

ourselves), where there is an interrelation between number and person whereas relative and

interrogative pronouns and determiners distinguish between personal and nonpersonal gender.

Secondly, (2) reflexive pronouns , also called self-pronouns (Aarts, 1988), are marked for person

and number, but not for case, and they are always coreferential with a noun or another pronoun,

agreeing with it in gender, number, and person (i.e. Veronica herself saw the accident ). However,

7/21/2019 13.ok


13/30

the item determining the reflexive may be absent from the clause in question (i.e. Look at

yourself/yourselves in the mirror!).

Third, (3) reciprocal pronouns bring together two sentences with a reciprocal structure somewhat

similar to a reflexive (i.e. David and Paula like each other/one another ). They are used

independently in sentences with plural or coordinated subjects. One another is sometimes preferred

to each other when reference is made to more than two.

Fourth, (4) within the class of possessive pronouns we can distinguish the categories of person

(first, second, third), gender (in the 3rd

person singular only), and number (except for the 2nd

person). There are two subclasses of possessive pronouns according to their function: dependent

and independent. First, those which function dependently as determiners in the structure of the noun

phrase (i.e. ‘This is my bicycle’ ) or as independent items (‘This bicycle is mine’ ).

4.3.1.2. Relative pronouns.

Regarding relative pronouns, they comprise two series: first, wh- items (who, whom, whose, which)

and second, that and zero. Moreover, we can make a further distinction between personal (who,

whom, whose), and non-personal (which, whose). In neither series are there distinctions of person or

number, so they are not relevant for our present purposes.

4.3.1.3. Interrogative pronouns.

Similarly, interrogative pronouns do not show number contrast, except for the distinction between

What/Which girls do you like best? where ‘which’ implies the choice from a limited number of

known girls whereas ‘what’ implies a choice from a non-specified indefinite number of girls.

4.3.1.4. Demonstrative pronouns.

Finally, demonstrative pronouns do show number contrast and can function both as determiners and

pronouns: this and that (singular), these and those (plural). This/these refer to what is near

(spatially, temporally and psychologically), that/those to what is remote (i.e. Is this book yours?-

Who is that lovely girl?- These photographs are the best - Were those Mary’s children? )

7/21/2019 13.ok


14/30

4.3.2. Indefinite pronouns.

Regarding indefinite pronouns ( see Appendix 5), we namely find (1) universal pronouns, (2)

partitive pronouns (assertive, non-assertive, and negative), and (3) quantifying pronouns (as only

pronouns, as pronouns and determiners, and only as determiners). We shall examine their

relationship with number category will be discussed following Quirk & Greenbaum (1973) and

Aarts (1988).

4.3.2.1. Universal pronouns.

First, in order to examine universal pronouns ( Appendix 3), we must consider first the universal

compound indefinites (everyone, everybody, everything; no one, nobody, nothing ), where the

suffixes –one and –body are used for people whereas the ending –thing is for objects, and –where

for places. Note that all except no one are written as single words. These words are used to express

‘totality’ or ‘lack of exception’.

These function only as pronouns, and despite their entailment of plural meaning, they take singular

verbs (i.e. Everybody was out; no one wanted to come ), so ‘every- compounds’ and ‘each’ are used

with personal count nouns in singular, and ‘everything’ and ‘each’ with un-personal count nouns. In

plural, both personal and non-personal count nouns refer to ‘all/both’ and ‘all’ is used for both

singular and plural nouns.

Among the ir main grammatical features, we can mention that ‘every’ and its compounds, despitetheir singular form, have collective reference, and ‘every’ entails reference to a number of three or

(usually) more. Also, since universal pronouns denote people, they can take genitive suffixes as in

everybody’s car . Regarding ‘each’, it may appear alone as a pronoun, but it is common to find the

expression ‘each one’. ‘Both’ and ‘all’ are used for count nouns in plural. ‘All’ is also used for

nouncount nouns and ‘both’ refers to dual number. They may appear medially with plural reference

(i.e. They both/all are quite intelligent ), referring to two people. In very formal style, ‘all’ is used to

mean ‘everybody’ (i.e. All those who speak Italian), and is also used in negative constructions (i.e.

Not all the people speak Italian here).

4.3.2.2. Partitive pronouns.

Secondly, partititive pronouns are considered to be parallel to the universal pronouns, where we

have three sets of partitive pronouns with associated determiners (every, all, both, a(n), some, any,

either, neither, none, no): first, assertive partitive indefinites, second, non-assertive partitive

indefinites, and thirdly, negative partitive indefinites.

To start with, (1) assertive partitive indefinites express a positive but uncertain number of identity.

They are used pronominally in affirmative sentences, where some and any have clear contextual

7/21/2019 13.ok


15/30

reference to a noun phrase (i.e. I would like some nuts, I haven’t any wine, He saw nothing ). The

assertive pronouns somebody and somebody refer to people (personal) in count nouns (i.e.

Somebody came yesterday) whereas somewhere and something refer to places and things,

respectively (non-personal) in count nouns as well (i.e. My bag must be somewhere; I saw

something strange).

‘Some’ is used for plural count and noncount nouns, both personal and non-personal (i.e. You need

some lawyers/water ) whereas ‘several’ is only used for plural count nouns, again personal or non-

personal (i.e. You had several attacks/houses). When ‘some’ is used used to talk about an uncertain

or indefinite quantity (i.e. Would you like some sugar?), it is pronounced with the weak form, with

schwa. Note that although ‘some’ is used in interrogative form here, its basic meaning is still

assertive. It may appear in this way in negative, interrogative or conditional sentences as well.

However, when used as a pronoun (i.e. I already have some), it is pronounced with a strong form

/s^m/. This strong form is given in three more situations: first, when it is used with singular count

nouns to suggest ‘lack of interest and contempt’ (i.e. He met some girls I do not know); second, in

contrast to ‘others’, ‘all’, or ‘enough’ (i.e. Some people like news, other do not ); third, when it

appears with a number to impress, meaning ‘about’ (i.e . He stole some ten million dollars).

(2) Non-assertive partitive indefinites express two ideas at the time, but still an uncertain number of

identity since the basic meaning is negative. The contexts which require the any series namely

involve (a) the negatives not, never, no, neither, nor ; (b) the ‘incomplete’ negatives hardly, little,

few, least, seldom, etc ; (c) the ‘implied’ negatives before, fail, prevent, reluctant, hard, difficult , and

comparisons with too; and (d) negative, interrogative and conditional sentences.

In negative and interrogative sentences we have anyone and anybody for singular personal count

nouns (i.e. I didn’t see anybody) and anything for singular non-personal count nouns (i.e. She didn’t

buy anything ). In plural, for count nouns in general, any (as some) is used for noncount as well (i.e.

She had no bananas/idea ). Since any is the negative counterpart of some, we may find it

functioning as a pronoun (i.e. Did you find the pepper?- No, I didn’t find any). Its counterpart

‘either’ functions as a determiner, meaning ‘one or the other’, and occassionally ‘both’. However,

we shall deal with determiner function in next section.

(3) Negative partitive pronouns include ‘nobody’ and ‘no one’ for personal reference in countsingular nouns whereas ‘nothing’/’nowhere’ have non-personal reference. ‘None’ and ‘neither’ are

used for singular count nouns, both personal and non-personal, and only ‘none’ is used for plural

count and noncount nouns. Regarding their use, we must point out three main uses: (a) they may

function as pronouns (i.e. None/neither passed the driving test ); (b) they may refer to a singular or

plural noun mentioned before (i.e. She bought lots of clothes and I bought none); and (c) they may

be followed by an of-partitive, which is typical of the indefinites which have both a pronoun and a

determiner where the final part is a personal pronoun/noun preceded by a definite determiner (i.e.

Neither of the students/them came to the party).

7/21/2019 13.ok


16/30

It is worth noting that the relationship between either, neither, and none is similar to that between

each, every, and none among the universal pronouns. Both as pronouns and as determiners, either

and neither have in fact a strictly dual reference (i.e. None of the thirty students/Neither of the

two/Either student may fail the exam).

4.3.2.3. Quantifying pronouns.

Also called quantifiers, this type of pronouns refer to the increase or decrease of ‘the totality, lack

of, or partial amount’ of something. They may be classified into three main subclasses following

Aarts (1988): (1) quantifiers which can only function as pronouns (i.e. Someone must laugh now),

(2) quantifiers which can function both as a pronoun and as determiner (i.e. Some of the boys are

orphans), and (3) quantifiers that function as determiner only (i.e. Every politician is responsible

for our society).

First, (1) quantifiers which can only function as pronouns , are the universal and partitive pronouns

together, thus someone, somebody, something; anyone, anybody, anything; everyone, everbody,

everything; and no one, nobody, nothing,and none. Some examples will show how they function as

the head of a noun phrase, functioning as universal pronouns: ‘ I seem to have forgotten everything’

and None of the girls has/have been invited ’. Note that the word none has pronominal

characteristics in that it can serve as a substitute for plural count nouns and noncount nouns (i.e.

John has got lots of friends but I’ve got none; We asked for petrol but they had none).

We must bear in mind that numerals are included in this type, and in particular, cardinal numberssince they give the exact number of count nouns. It is relevant here to establish the difference

between two similar cardinal numerals: a/an vs. one. Regarding the uses of ‘one’ as the main

marker for singular, it has three main features: (a) the so-called numerical one, when used with

animate and inanimate singular count nouns. It is a stressed variant of the indefinite article a(n).

‘A’ or ‘an’ are unstressed forms of ‘one’ and are normally used in informal style whereas ‘one’, on

the contrary, is used in formal contexts (i.e. This car costs a thousand pounds vs This car costs one

thousand dollars). With hundred, thousand, million, the indefinite article (a or an) often replaces

one. ‘One’ is particularly used when emphasizing the number of items (i.e. I have a car vs. I have

one car ).

It is in contrast with the dual two and both and the plural numerals three, four , several and indefinite

some. It has similar contrasts when used pronominally (i.e. I need a a nail vs. I need one; I need

some nails vs I need some; A boy vs one of the boys). Also, in contrast with the other (i.e. One

bought a shirt, and the other one a jacket ), and the somewhat formal or old-fashion use of one

meaning ‘a certain’ before personal names (i.e. I used to sat next to one Charlie Brown at school ).

(b) Another feature is the replacive one, used as an anaphoric substitute for a singular or plural

count noun (i.e. I have a beautiful table.- Is it like this one?). It has the singular form one and the

7/21/2019 13.ok


17/30

plural ones. It can take determiners and modifiers (though not usually possessives or plural

demonstratives). It may also be modified by the –s genitive (i.e. I prefer Peter’s car to Charles’s

one).(c) The last feature refers to an indefinite one which means ‘people in general’, implying

inclusion of the speaker (i.e. One could do it easily). It has the genitive one’s and the reflexive

oneself (i.e. It is one’s problems).

Second, (2) quantifiers which can function both as pronouns and as determiners are namely

divided into two types: first, enumerative quantifiers for singular and count nouns (a, an, one, and

numerals) or plural count and noncount nouns ( some, enough, both, all ). Second, general

quantifiers for count nouns (many, (a) few, several ) and noncount nouns (much, (a) little).

So, we shall include in this type the following quantifiers, functioning both as pronouns and

determiners: some, any, each, all, both, either, neither; much, many (more, most); (a) little, less,

least; (a) few, fewer, fewest; plenty of, a lot of, lots of, a great deal of; enough, and several (‘ Each

student should have an exam’, ‘So far I have discovered few mistakes’, and ‘Much of what he said is

irrelevant’).

Within enumerative quantifiers, we also include cardinal and ordinal numbers with the same

characteristics as for ‘only pronouns type’ stated above, and the uses of ‘a/an’ vs. ‘one’. Apart from

numerals, we include general quantifiers which comprise a variety of words and expressions. For

instance, many and much are not different in meaning but they differ in context, since many is used

only with plural count nouns (i.e. He said many stupid things) and much only occurs with noncount

nouns.

Note that when ordinarily used, they both usually appear in questions and negatives (i.e. How much

water do you want? Or There aren’t many places to go here’ ). Yet, in order to get a formal style,

they appear in affirmative sentences using synonymous expressions, called phrasal quantifiers,

such as ‘a great deal of’ or ‘a large number of’+plural noun (i.e. There are a large number of

witnesses to win the case’ ) or ‘a large amount of’+ singular noun (i.e We have a great deal of time ).

In informal style, they appear again in affirmative sentences but using other expressions, such as

plenty of, a lot of, lots of, or loads of , used for both count and noncount nouns.

Many and much have other particular uses, for instance, when combined with ‘too’, ‘so’, or ‘as’ inorder to provide a negative feeling to the ‘amount of’ under consideration. For instance, ‘too many

children were at home yesterday’ implies a negative connotation to the sentence as well as ‘ so many

children that I couldn’t sleep’ . ‘Many’ may be used predicative ly, together with ‘few’, in formal

style (i.e. His faults were many/few).

Similarly, ‘few’ or ‘a few’ or ‘several’ are used with count nouns whereas ‘little’ and ‘a little’, or ‘a

little of’ occur with noncount nouns, in singular. They are usually given in formal style and tend to

be avoided in informal one, being substituted by ‘not many’, ‘not much’ or ‘only a few’ or ‘only a

little’. When comparing ‘few’ and ‘little’, we find a positive/negative contrast depending on

7/21/2019 13.ok


18/30

whether the definite article is used or not. For instance, when using the article ‘a few biscuits’ or ‘a

little butter’, they have a positive meaning, thus ‘several biscuits’ and ‘some butter’. However,

when no article is placed before, they mean respectively ‘not many biscuits’ and ‘not much butter’,

with a negative meaning.

Several is rarely preceded by a determiner, and is always used with plural count nouns (i.e. He had

several lovers). The quantifier enough is used with both count and noncount nouns (i.e. There are

(not) enough chairs/There is (not) enough wine). Occasionally it follows the noun, when noncount,

but this strikes many people as archaic or dialectal. Moreover, ‘each’ operates with singular

reference (i.e. Each member was pressed to vote) and is targeted on the individual among the

totality whereas ‘all’ and ‘both’ make plural and dual universal reference (i.e. Both men were

arrested ). Syntactically speaking, the three of them may appear medially (i.e. The cars were all for

export ).

‘Neither’ is used with singular verbs (i.e. Neither parents realized what was going on) and its

opposite is ‘either’, meaning ‘one or the other’ (occasionally meaning ‘both’). With ‘either’ we only

use a singular noun (i.e. Either room is ok ). Finally, we shall mention the comparatives much, more,

most; little, less, least; and few, fewer, fewest where ‘more’ refers to count and noncount nouns,

‘less’ only noncount, and ‘fewer’ only count nouns. We must not forget other words, grammatically

and semantically related to cardinal and ordinal numbers, such as next, last, and (an)other .

Third, (3) quantifiers that function as determiner only. To this subclass belong every and no, as in

‘ Everybody has its rights’ and ‘He has no money and no prospects’ . This last function as only

determiners will be dealt with in next section, which is labelled the expression of quantity‘regarding determiners’.

5. REGARDING DETERMINERS.

There are three classes of determiners regarding the expression of quantity, and therefore, number.

Thus, predeterminers, central determiners, and postdeterminers since they co-occur with the noun

classes: singular count (i.e. car, bottle), plural count (i.e. cars, bottles), and noncount nouns (i.e.

furniture, intelligence). Depending on the items they are combined with, they will have differentrealizations, and some of the pronouns seen before, will turn into determiners.

The function determiner marking number can be realized by a wide range of items, such as the

definite article, the indefinite article, possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, numerals, and

certain indefinite pronouns (Appendix 4) marking number, which were considered to be pronouns

and determiners at the same time. These comprise words such as each, all/both, no and the every

compounds (count pronouns) and all /none (noncount).

7/21/2019 13.ok


19/30

For instance, each/none entails reference to two or more, and has individual reference (i.e. The

knives were each tried in turn. None was sharp enough); with all and both , we make plural and dual

universal reference (i.e. They produce cars, and all are for export; all these cars are for export ).

The converse of all is no(ne); that of both is neither , usually with singular concord (i.e. The police

interviewed two suspects but neither was arrested; Neither suspect was arrested ).

These items occur in a fixed order with respect to each other (i.e. all his three children), and

consequently, it is useful to distinguish three determiner sub-functions: (1) predeterminer, (2)

central determiner, and (3) postdeterminer. The classes of items that can realize each of these

subfunctionss are listed in Appendix 6 . The choice of a given item from one column may impose

certain restrictions on the selection of items from other columns, for instance many + plural nouns,

regarding the expression of quantity.

5.3. Predeterminers.

Predeterminers form a class mutually exclusive, precedin those central determiners with which they

can cooccur. It is relevant to distinguish two subsets: (1) all, both, half , and (2) the multipliers.

First of all, regarding (1) all, both, half , they have in common the positive characteristics of being

able to occur before the articles, the demonstratives, and the possessives, hence their relevance in

our discussion (i.e. all/both/half the/these/our students). However, they also have the negative

characteristic of not occurring before determiners that themselves entail quantification: every, each,

(n)either, some, any, no, enough.

On an individual description, the items ‘all’ and ‘half’ occur with plural count nouns and with

noncount nouns, as in all the books/all the music and all books/all music, and half the book(s)/half

the music. Note that, of the mentioned items, ‘half’ is the only one that can be followed by the

indefinite article or numerals since fractions other than ‘half’ are usually followed by an of-phrase

article (i.e. She read a quarter of the book; half an hour ). However, ‘both’ occurs with plural count

nouns, as in both the books/both books’.

Secondly, regarding multipliers, we include the items once, twice, three times, expressions of

emphasis and costing. Therefore, the items ‘double’ and ‘twice’ can combine with both singular and plural heads (i.e. all poetry; four times Peter’s salary; half this cheese; twice these sums). On the

other hand, expressions such as ‘many’, ‘such’ and ‘what’, when realizing the predeterminer

function, are obligatory followed by the indefinite article (i.e. many a time, such a disgrace, what a

pity).

7/21/2019 13.ok


20/30

5.4. Central determiners.

Central determiners include the definite and indefinite articles as their commonest determiners since

their distribution is dependent upon the class of the accompanying noun (singular or plural). In

order to relate definiteness to number, we have the following system for count and noncount nouns.

First, beside the sole definite article the, we thus have two indefinite articles a and zero marker , the

former occurring with singular count nouns, its zero analogue with noncount and plural count nouns

(see Appendix 7 ). Both the and a have a different form when the following word begins with a

vowel (i.e. a car vs. an apple), though the does not display this difference in writing but in speaking

(i.e. the book vs. the air /di/ ).

Second, like the definite and indefinite article, there are several other determiners that can cooccur

equally with singular count, plural count, and noncount nouns: (a) the demonstrative pronouns (this,

that, these, those) as in I prefer this/that/these/those picture(s); (b) the possessive pronouns (my,

our, your, his, her, its, their ) as in I admire her house/her books/her taste; (c) the relative pronouns

(which, what, whose) as in Which house do you prefer? Or What time is it?; (d) specifying genitive

(all Peter’s clothes).

(e) Other items include the negative determiner no (i.e. He has no car ), the universal determiners

every and each (i.e. We need to interview every/each student ), the nonassertive/negative dual

determiners either and neither (i.e. Parking is not permitted on either side of the street/Parking is

permitted on neither side of the street ), the general assertive determiner some (i.e. I would like some

bread ), the general nonassertive determiner any (i.e. We haven’t any bread ), the quantitativedeterminer enough (i.e. We have enough bread ). Among the rest, we find the quantitative much (i.e.

We have much bread ).

Note that the definite article, the demonstrative and possessive pronouns, and the genitive are alike

in that they can be preceded by the predeterminer items all, both, double, half and twice, and

followed by cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers and the words last and next . They also collocate

with most of the other postdeterminer items. The indefinite article, for instance, can be preceded by

half, many, such and what . An exception in combinations is that of every + a possessive (i.e . his

(John’s, whose) every wish).

5.5. Postdeterminers.

Postdeterminers take their place immediately after determiners just as predeterminers take their

place immediately before determiners. They include cardinal and ordinal numbers, next, last; few,

fewer, fewest; little, less, least; many, more, most; other, own, same, such . Postdeterminers items

exhibit such a wide range of collocational possibilities and restrictions that it is very hard to

formulate general rules governing their behaviour. Yet, postdeterminers fall into two classes:

ordinals ( first, fourth, last, other ) and quantifiers (cardinal numbers, many, few, plenty of, a lot of ).

7/21/2019 13.ok


21/30

We should note a contrast involving few, a few, a little, little (already discussed before), and also

between assertive and nonassertive usage. For instance, some items are predominantly assertive

(such as plenty of, a few, a little, a good many), while others are predominantly nonassertive (such

as much, many).

We shall illustrate their use by means of some examples. Thus, seven days, one more drink; the first

two pages; the next few years, the last two weeks; few other people, little more news; many more

accidents; (many) other problems, my own car, the same man. However, the status of the item such

is different. It may be looked upon as a predeterminer when followed by the definite article.

However, it may be also preceded by some central determiners and cooccur with some

postdeterminers, as in any such questions, no such nonsense, some such concept, few such

candidates, two such blunders, many such incidents.

6. PARTITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.

As we have seen before, both count and noncount nouns can enter constructions denoting part of a

whole. Such partitive expressions may relate to (a) quantity or (b) quality, and in either case the

partition may be singular or plural. Obviously, for our present purposes, we shall deal mainly with

the former. It thus affords a means of imposing number on noncount nouns, since the partition is

generally expressed by a count noun of partitive meaning, such as ‘piece’ or ‘sort’, which can be

singular or plural, followed by an of-phrase.

In this section, we shall deal then with the different ways of expressing quantity by means of-

partitives, quantity and quality partition through phrasal quantifiers.

6.3. Of-partitives.

We have already dealt with of-partitives when dealing with partitive indefinite pronouns, so it will

be familiar to us when checking this point again. It is typical of the indefinites (pronouns and

determiners) to fuse these roles in of-expressions where the final part is a personal pronoun or a

noun preceded by a definite determiner, for instance, some are doing well or some students aredoing well .

We shall revise singular count partition, plural count partition, and noncount partition. (1) First,

regarding singular count partition, we include each of, one of, any of, either of, none of, neither of

(the students); (2) second, with plural count partition, we include all of, both of, some of, many of,

more of, most of, (a) few of, fewer/fewest of (our supporters); and (3) third, with noncount partition,

we distinguish all of, some of, a great deal of, much of, more of, most of, (a) little of, less of, least

of, any of, none of (Vivaldi’s music). Note that comparative forms can be preceded by items of

absolute meaning (i.e. There were a few more of our friends than I had expected ).

7/21/2019 13.ok


22/30

Cardinal numerals are readily used in of-partitives (i.e. three of my friends are coming tonight ). So

too the ordinals, and these can be used with both count and noncount expressions (i.e. One third of

his books were burned ). With half, there is considerable freedom in usage, as a predeterminer (i.e. I

saw half the show) or otherwise, pronominally (i.e. I saw half of the show). Outside of-partitives, we

find another , with a limited use as a pronoun, as in ‘There was another of those making noises’ but

‘another was reported yesterday’ . By contrast, other does not enter into of-partitives, but in its

plural form is otherwise common in pronoun usage (i.e. You should treat others as you would like to

be treated yourself ).

6.4. Quantity partition.

Quantity partition is to be divided into (1) noncount means, (2) plural count nouns concerning

specific sets of nouns, and (3) singular count nouns. Quantity partitives may be expressions of

precise measure (i.e. a yard of cloth, two kilos of potatoes), and also of fractional partition (i.e. He

ate a quarter of that beef ). Since there is no necessary connection between countability and

referential meaning, many English nouns can simulate the plural only by partitive constructions

where their translation equivalents in some other languages are count nouns with singular and plural

forms (i.e. some information=some pieces of information; his anger=his bursts of anger ).

First, regarding (1) noncount means, phrasal quantifiers provide a means of imposing countability

on noncount nouns as the following partitive expressions illustrate: general partitives, as in plentyof, a lot of, lots of, a great/good deal of, a large/small quantity/amount of, a great/large/good

number of . As these examples suggest, it is usual to find the indefinite article and a quantifying

adjective, the latter being obligatory in Standard English with deal .

Other typical partitives can be used very generally when talking about noncount nouns, referring to

‘little bits of’ concerning measures, thus a pint of beer, a spoonful of medicine, a pound of butter, a

slice of cake/bread/meat, a roast of meat, a few loaves of bread, a bowl of soup, a bottle of wine, a

cup of coffee, a packet of sugar, a blade of grass, some specks of dust, and so on. Moreover, general

partitives may be included, as in two pieces/a bit/an item of news/information/furniture .

Second, regarding (2) plural count nouns, here we tend to have partitives relating to specific sets of

nouns, as in a flock of sheep/pigeons, two flocks of sheep; an army of ants; a company of actors; a

crowd of people; a series of concerts, two series of concerts; a pair of scissors. Third, (3) regarding

singular count nouns, we find a piece of a leather belt, a page of a book, two pieces of a broken

cup, two acts of a play .

7/21/2019 13.ok


23/30

6.5. Quality partition.

Quality partition is expressed most commonly with kind, sort, and type, both in count and noncount

nouns. Thus, when dealing with count nouns, we find a new kind of computer, several new kinds of

computer(s), one sort of silk tie, two sorts of silk tie(s), a type of trousers, two types of food .

Similarly, with noncount nouns, we find a delicious kind of bread/some delicious kinds of bread, a

fashionable sort of wallpaper/fashionable sorts or wallpaper, a beautiful type of bird/some

beautiful types of birds . Other quality partitives include variety , and (especially with such materials

as drinks, coffee, whisky, rum or tobacco), blend .

7. REGARDING OTHER MEANS.

Other means of expressing quantity may be drawn from (1) semantic choice of verb, (2) adverbial

phrases, and (3) certain idioms which may imply the notion of quantity. Thus, first, within the

semantic choice of verb, we may increase or decrease the ‘amount of’ the item implied in our

speech by means of using different verbal choices, as for instance, the contrast between rain vs.

pour , run vs. rush, eat vs. gulp, hit vs. smash , talk vs. whisper , and so on.

Secondly, within adverbial phrases, we may increase or decrease the notion of quantity by using

certain adverbs in a sentence, such as the so-called frequency adverbs. For instance, compare the

sentences ‘I always go swimming four times a week’ (100% frequency) vs. ‘I never go swimming’(0% frequency). Thirdly, in a similar way, certain idiomatic expressions may imply a relevant

difference in quantity, both concrete or abstract. For instance, compare ‘Charles is a bit stubborn’

vs. ‘Charles is stubborn as a mule’, ‘It is raining’ vs. ‘It is raining cats and dogs’, ‘She is very

sensitive’ vs. ‘She is cold as ice’.

8. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS.

The various aspects of the expression of quantity dealt with in this study is relevant to the learningof the vocabulary of a foreign language since differences between the vocabulary of the learner's

native language (L1) and that of the foreign language (L2) may lead to several problems, such as

the incorrect use of quantity expressions, especially because of the relevant differences between

countable and uncountable nouns in English, still problematic for Spanish students of English.

This study has looked at the expression of quantity within lexical semantics, morphology and

syntax in order to establish a relative similarity between the two languages that Spanish-speaking

students would find it useful for learning English if these connections were brought to their

attention. An adult Spanish ESL student generally perceives that there is a great distance from

7/21/2019 13.ok


24/30

Spanish to English, but a realization of how many words there are in common between current

Spanish and English can offer a learner a ‘bridge’ to the new language.

The similarities and differences discussed in this study are based on a search for translation

equivalence in order to make student study easier. Current communicative methods may frown on

explicit teaching of similarities, but we must remember that learners search for equivalents and

translate from the L2 no matter how much teachers preach against it; offering learners

metalinguistic information about equivalents in lexical items simply makes it official. Learners use

‘hooks’ no matter how much teachers try to avoid them in a communicatively-based classroom .

It has been suggested that a methodology grounded in part in the application of explicit linguistic

knowledge enhances the second language learning process. In the Spanish curriculum (B.O.E.

2002), the expression of quantity is envisaged from earlier stages (ESO) up to higher stages

(Bachillerato), and has been considered an important element of language teaching because of its

high-frequency in speech. We must not forget that the expression of quantity is mainly drawn from

closed class categories, such as nouns, pronouns, and indefinite expressions, which have a high

frequency of use when speaking or writing.

Hence, the importance of how to handle these expressions cannot be understated since you cannot

communicate without it. Current communicative methods foster the ‘teaching’ of this kind of

specific linguistic information to help students recognize new L2 words. Learners cannot do it all on

their own. Language learners, even 2nd year Bachillerato students, do not automatically recognize

similiarities which seem obvious to teachers; learners need to have these associations brought to

their attention.

So far, we have attempted in this discussion to provide a broad account of the expression of quantity

between Spanish and English that we hope prove successful and complete.

9. CONCLUSION

Although the questions How much? And How many? may appear simple and straightforward, theyimply a broad description of the means that make an appropriate answer suitable for students and

teachers. So far, in this study we have attempted to take a fairly broad view of the expression of

quantity since we are also assuming that there is an intrinsic connexion between their learning and

successful communication.

Yet, we have provided a descriptive account of Unit 13, untitled The Expression of Quantity , whose

main aim was to introduce the student to the different ways of expressing quantity in English. In

doing so, the study provided a broad account the notion of quantity, starting by a theoretical

7/21/2019 13.ok


25/30

framework in order to get some key terminology on the issue, and further developed within a

grammar linguistic theory, described in syntactic terms as we were dealing with syntactic structures.

Once the notion of quantity was presented, we discussed how number, determiners, partitive

constructions, and other means reflected this notion. Obviously, so many items with so many

different terminology can make students feel unable to learn all the rules and exceptions involved in

it. However, current communicative methodology is intended to give a better account of the relation

between form and speech when communicating.

In fact, lexical items and vocabulary, and therefore, the expresión of quantity, is currently

considered to be a central element in communicative competence and in the acquisition of a second

language. As stated before, the teaching of quantity expressions comprises four major components

in our educational curriculum: phonology, grammar, lexicon, and semantics, out of which we get

five major levels: phonological, morphological and syntactic, lexical, and semantic.

In fact, for our students to express quantity properly, they must have a good knowledge at all those

levels. First, on phonology which describes the sound level , that is, consonants, vowels, stress,

intonation, and so on. Secondly, since the two most basic units of grammar are the word and the

sentence, they must have good grammatical knowledge, which invoves the morphological level (i.e.

the internal structure of words) and the syntactic level (i.e. the way words combine to form

sentences).

Third, the lexicon, or lexical level , lists vocabulary items, that is, different items to express quantity,

specifying how they are pronounced, how they behave grammatically, and what they mean. Finally,another dimension between the study of linguistic form and the study of meaning is semantics, or

the semantic level , to which all four of the major components are related, specially for those ways

of expressing quantity such as verbal choice or adverbial expressions.

Therefore, it is a fact that students must handle the four levels in communicative competence in

order to be effectively and highly communicative in the classroom and in real life situations. The

expression of quantity proves highly frequent in our everyday speech, and consequently, we must

encourage our students to have a good managing of it.

7/21/2019 13.ok


26/30

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

- Aarts, F., and J. Aarts. 1988. English Syntactic Structures. Functions & Categories in Sentence

Analysis. Prentice Hall Europe.

- B.O.E. RD Nº 112/2002, de 13 de septiembre por el que se establece el currículo de la Educación

Secundaria Obligatoria/Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia.

- Council of Europe (1998) Modern Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. A Common

European Framework of reference.

- Downing, A. and P. Locke. 2002. A University Course in English Grammar . London: Routledge.

- Greenbaum, S. and R. Quirk. 1990. A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. LongmanGroup UK Limited.

- Greenbaum, S. 2000. The Oxford Reference Grammar . Edited by Edmund Weiner. Oxford

University Press.

- Hymes, D. 1972. On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride and J. Holmes (eds.),

Sociolinguistics, pp. 269-93. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

- Huddleston, R. 1988. English Grammar, An Outline. Cambridge University Press.

- Huddleston, R. and G.K. Pullum. 2002. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.

Cambridge University Press.

- Nelson, G. 2001. English: An Essential Grammar . London. Routledge.

- Quirk, R & S. Greenbaum. 1973. A University Grammar of English. Longman.

- Thomson, A.J. and A.V. Martinet. 1986. A Practical English Grammar . Oxford University Press.

7/21/2019 13.ok


7/21/2019 13.ok


28/30

(2) Classification of pronouns (Quirk & Greenbaum, 1973)

central

Personal ( subject – I, you-, object –me, him-, genitive –their )

Reflexive (myself, yourself, himself, ourselves, themselves)

Reciprocal (each other, one another )

Possessive (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs)

relative Who, which, that, whose

interrogative Who, whom, whose, which, what

Specific

pronouns

demonstrative This, that, these, those

universal Each, all, every, and every compounds.

partitive

Assertive ( someone, something; some, several )

Non-assertive (anyone, anybody, anything, anywhere )

Negative (no one, nobody, nothing, nowhere, neither )Indefinite

pronouns

quantifying

As only pronouns

As pronouns and determiners (General and enumerative:

many, much, few, little, one, some,etc)

As only determiners

(3) Universal pronouns (Quirk & Greenbaum, 1973).

COUNT

Personal Non-Personal

NON COUNT

Singular Pronoun

everyone

everybody

each

everything

everywhere

eachUNIVERSAL

PRONOUNS

Plural Pronoun They (...) all/both

(them) all/both

all

7/21/2019 13.ok


29/30

(4) Universal indefinites (Greenbaum & Quirk, 1990)

NUMBER FUNCTION COUNT

PERSONAL NONPERSONAL

NON COUNT

Pronoun everyone everything

everybody

each

Positive

Singular

Determiner every

each

Plural Pronoun

Determiner

all/both

all/both

all

Pronoun no one nothing

nobody

none

Negative

Singular

Pronoun and

determiner neither

Plural Pronoun none

none

Singular or

plural

Determiner no

(5) Partitive indefinites (Greenbaum & Quirk, 1990)

NUMBER FUNCTION COUNT

PERSONAL NONPERSONAL

NON COUNT

Assertive

Singular

pronoun

determiner

someone somethingsomebody

a/an

Plural

pronoun and

determiner some

some

pronoun

anyone anything

anybodyNon-assertive

Singular

determiner either

any

Plural

pronoun and

determiner any

any

Negative

Singular

pronoun

determiner

nobody nothing

no one

none/neither

Plural

pronoun and

determiner none

any

no

none

7/21/2019 13.ok


30/30

(6) Determiners classification (Aarts, 1988).

Determiner

FUNCTION

Predeterminer Central determiner Postdeterminer

REALIZATION all

both

double

half

twice

many (a)

such (a)

what (a)

definite article

indefinite article

demonstrative pronouns

possessive pronouns

relative pronouns

genitive

another

any

each

either

enough

every

much

neither

no

some

what

which

whose

cardinal numbers

ordinal numbers

next, last

few, fewer, fewest

little, less, least

many, more, most

other

own

same

such

(7) Central determiners (Greenbaum & Quirk, 1990).

COUNT NONCOUNT

definite the book the musicSINGULAR

indefinite a book music

definite the booksPLURAL

indefinite Books (zero)

13.ok

Documents

Transcript of 13.ok