Quantification in Natural Languages (Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy) [Hardcover]

Elke Bach (Editor), E. Jelinek (Editor), A. Kratzer (Editor), Barbara B.H. Partee (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0792333527 | ISBN-13: 978-0792333524 | Edition: 1

This extended collection of papers is the result of putting recent ideas on quantification to work on a wide variety of languages. A central perspective of many of the papers follows the recognition of two broad types of quantificational strategies, one associated with nominal structures and determiners, the other with adverbial and other non-nominal expression (`D-quantifiers' and `A-quantifiers'). The papers demonstrate both the unity and the variety of natural language quantificational forms and meanings. Many of the papers also shed new light on questions of language typology and syntactic and morphological variation. The languages discussed include English, Dutch, Italian, American Sign Language, Hindi, and a number of languages of Australia, Greenland, and the Americas. These comparative studies provide initial data for a typology of quantificational structures in natural languages, with important implications for the study of universal grammar. The book consists of research papers aimed at linguists, philosophers, and psychologists interested in semantics and linguistic form. An introduction presents a sketch of the background of this research and some of the central issues discussed, with pointers toward the included papers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`We recommend unreservedly its careful and patient study to anyone with the slightest interest in the empirical facts and/or (their implications for) the formal properties of quantification.' Linguistics, 34 (1996)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 780 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (February 28, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792333527
• ISBN-13: 978-0792333524
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,978,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)