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Quantification has been at the heart of research in the syntax and semantics of natural language since Aristotle. The last few decades have seen an explosion of detailed studies of the syntax and semantics of quantification and its relation to the rest of the theory of grammar, resulting in a highly sophisticated understanding of the mechanisms of quantification. This book considers the ways natural languages vary with respect to their realisation of quantificational notions. Drawing on data from English, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Hausa and others, the authors also link the variation in the expression of quantification to the notions of polarity sensitivity, free-choice and indefiniteness.
This volume investigates the cross-linguistic mechanisms of quantification and how natural languages vary in their expression of quantificational notions. The authors, George Tsoulas, Kook-Hee Gil, and Stephen Harlow, synthesize decades of research in syntax and semantics to examine how quantification interacts with broader grammatical theories. By analyzing diverse linguistic data, they argue that variation in quantificational expression is intrinsically linked to polarity sensitivity, free-choice phenomena, and the nature of indefiniteness.
What You Will Find
Experts in theoretical linguistics recognize this work as a significant contribution to the Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics series. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for advanced students and researchers in the field of formal semantics and syntax.
Page Count:
388
Publication Date:
2013-04-22
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0199692440
ISBN-13:
9780199692446
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