Chinese adverbial Quan as a dual-function operator: A domain restrictor and a universal quantifier
Issue: Vol 8 No. 2 (2012)
Journal: Linguistics and the Human Sciences
Subject Areas: Writing and Composition Linguistics
DOI: 10.1558/lhs.v8i2.169
Abstract:
Although Tomioka and Tsai (2005) claim that unlike dou, quan is a domain restrictor without any quantificational or distributive force, in this paper, we will argue that in addition to being a domain restrictor, quan has to be analysed as a universal quantifier, hence a dual-function operator, when (a) there is an appropriate quantificational domain, contributed by either a set of individuals denoted by plural NPs or a set of degree triggered by the predicate, and there exist no other adverbial quantifiers or distributive operators occurring to the right of quan; (b) when quan follows dou; and (c) there exists a focus in the sentence with which quan associates. Ambiguity would arise when quan functions as both a domain restrictor and a universal quantifier. Our analysis can account for not only the similarities between quan and dou, but also, more importantly, their differences in semantic properties and sentence distributions.
Author: Peppina Po-lun LEE, PAN Haihua, ZHANG Lei
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