Quantifiers Linguistics 140 Winter, 2014Quantifiers Definition: Words or phrases that indicate a nonspecific amount or quantity of the noun that follows. Quantifiers can be determiners … I want some ice cream. (determiner) …or when the referent is clear, pronouns: I want some too. (pronoun)Word classes More quantifiers used as pronouns Quantifier Pronoun I saw several kangaroos. He asked for a volunteer and got several. I don’t know many girls. Teachers are poorly paid … many leave the profession. Few people remember life without TV. There are a lot of shows on TV … few are worth watching.Quantifiers Quantifiers Radden, G. & R. Dirven. 2007. Cognitive English Grammar. Philadelphia/Amsterdam: Johns Benjamins, p. 131Quantifiers Why a continuum? He took a few biscuits, with the result that few were left for the rest of us. He then took a little butter, with the result that little was left for us.Quantifiers Quantifier continuum • The continua show that the quantifiers do not directly contradict each other but convey different meanings: • a few/a little: neutral or positive connotation • few/little: negative connotationQuantifiers Quantifiers that modify nouns are determiners • Some quantifiers take the form of a partitive construction: a lot of, a number of, a great deal of, a couple of • These phrasal quantifiers are NOT true partitives for several reasons: • Nouns can’t be modified as in partitives: They lost a good deal of money in the stock market. (OK) *They lost two good deals of money in the stock market. (Not OK) • Like other quantifiers, they can precede partitives: A couple of pounds of sliced turkey last about a week.Quantifiers Subject-verb agreement: When quantifiers modify a subject, the main verb agrees with the noun that follows them: A lot of effort goes into these productions. A lot of students have returned from vacation.Quantifiers Quantifiers with nonspecific and specific groups What do you see as the difference in use between several and several of the in the text below? The Chinese have given a pair of pandas to the Bronx Zoo. They have had several offspring. Several of the offspring have been sent to other zoos around the country.Quantifiers: Nonspecific and specific reference Reference to a nonspecific group: Most students ask questions. All students want A's. Many students want less homework. Reference to a specific group: Most of the students in my English class ask questions. (most - specific to those who are in my English class) All of the students in my class want A's. (all - specific to those who are in my class) Many of the students in my school want less homework. (many - specific to those who are in my school) Question: Could you delete of the in the examples for this second group above? What if you added of the to the first set of examples?Quantifiers English learner errors with most: * Most of students came to the department party. What are two ways you could correct this and what would be the meaning difference? 1. Most students came … 2. Most of the students came…Word classes: Partitives, Collectives, and Quantifiers Determiner order in noun phrases predeterminers core determiners postdeterminers quantifiers all, both, half articles cardinal numbers multipliers double, twice possessives ordinal numbers fractions such a, what a, … demonstratives general ordinals next, last, another quantifiers some, any, no, each, every, [n]either, enough quantifiers many, much, (a) few, (a) little, several, more, less, most, least phrasal quantifiers a great deal of, a lot of,