Abstract
This paper discusses Japanese numeral quantifiers that are used to count individuals, rather than quantities, of a substance, and which may occur either as floated or non-floated quantifiers. It is argued that such morphologically complex numeral quantifiers (NQs) are semantically complex as well: The numeral within the NQ is the quantifier itself, the classifier its domain of quantification. The proposed analysis offers a unified semantic account of floated and non-floated NQs that adheres closely to their surface morphology and syntax. It explains why floated NQs generally force a distributive reading. It covers both classifiers construed with objects and classifiers construed with events. In addition, it captures the fact that the classifier must agree with the NP it is construed with.
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This paper derives from my CUNY thesis, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Bob Fiengo, Bill McClure, Marcel den Dikken, and Atsu Inoue for their guidance. I thank my fellow linguists for inspiring discussions on various issues related to this paper. For suggestions and valuable comments, I would also like to thank the audience at several conferences and meetings where parts of the material in this paper were presented. My profound gratitude for the present form of the paper goes to two anonymous reviewers as well as the NALS editors Angelika Kratzer and Irene Heim for truly constructive criticisms and suggestions. All shortcomings are mine.
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Kobuchi-Philip, M. Individual-denoting classifiers. Nat Lang Semantics 15, 95–130 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-007-9011-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-007-9011-1