_______________________________________________________________________ Quantity is mainly expressed through two devices, which will constitute the two basic chapters or our dissertation, namely the grammatical concept of "number" and quantifiers. I. NUMBER 1.1. General considerations. Outside the numerals (cardinals and ordinals), we have grammatical expressions of number in most substantives, in some pronouns and in some verbal forms, but neither in adjectives or adverbs. In English only two numbers are distinguished, singular and plural. The only remainder of dual is "both". The singular denotes "one", and the plural "more than one". There is also number concord between subjects and finite verbs, i.e., a singular S requires a singular V and a plural S requires a plural V. Invariables cannot change their number but are either singular ("gold") or plural ("cattle"). The singular category includes common mass nouns and proper nouns. Count nouns are variable nouns and can occur with either singular or plural number. 1.2. Number in Nouns. According to number, nouns ca be classified into: a. Singular invariable nouns ( no plural): 1. Concrete mass nouns: "gold, silver" 2. Abstract mass nouns: "music, homework " 3. Proper nouns 4. Invariable nouns ending in -s: i. "news" ii. Some diseases: "measles, mumps" iii. Subject names in "-ics": "linguistics, classics" iv. Some games: "billiards, bowls" v. Some proper nouns: "Athens, Brussels"
5. Abstract adjectival heads: "the evil, the good" b. Plural invariable nouns: 1. Summation plurals: "bellows, binoculars" 2. Pluralia tantum in "-s": "Clothes, the Middles Ages." 3. Some proper nouns: "the West Indies, The Midlands" 4.Invariable unmarked plurals: "cattle, the police" 5. Personal adjectival heads: "the rich, the sick" c. Variable nouns: 1. Regular Plurals: It is formed by means of an -"s" suffix. The realization of this "-s" noun suffix in speech and writing follows the same rules as the 3rd person singular verb suffix "-S", and, in speech, as the contracted forms of "is" and "has" as well as the genitive. i. Pronunciation: The following rules apply: - If the singular noun ends in a voiceless consonant that is not a sibilant (p, t, k, f, Ө), the "s" is pronounced as a voiceless /s /; kæts/ , taps / tæp /, packs / pæks / . e.g. cats / - If the noun ends in a voiced consonant that is not a sibilant (b, d, g, v, ð, m, n, ŋ, r, l) or a vowel, the s of the plural is , songs /soŋz , pronounced as a voiced s /z/ ; e.g. bags /bægz/ / hives /haivz/ / / ba:z / , jobs dzobz , bars / _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2
_______________________________________________________________________ s or a similar sibilant -If the last letter pronounced is - s (s,z,ſ,z, tſ) the -es ending is pronounced /iz/; e.g. blouses ´bauziz/, bushes /‟buſiz/, churches /‟tſə:tſiz/, judges /dz ^dziz/. th produce voicing of the /Ө/: -Some words ending in - th produce mouths /ðz/ Mouth /Ө/ paths /ðz / Path /Ө / Some words produce both plurals: Truths / Өs / or /ðz/ Youths /Өs/ or /ðz / But the majority only have the regular plural in / Өs Өs /: births, lengths, deaths, moths, months. Etc. With "house" there is voicing of the s: houses / „həuziz/ ii. Spelling:
This suffix is written "-s" after most nouns including those ending in silent "e" (college -colleges). But there are several classes of exceptions: 1. Addition of "e", "es" after sibilants: "gases, boxes" 2. Treatment of "-y": unchanged after vowel ("days"), changed into "-ies" otherwise ("spies") 3. Doubling of consonant: "Quizzes" 4. Apostrophe's in some cases: The 1960's, dot your i's" 5. Nouns in "-0" have two spellings: "-os" (kangaroos, radios") and "-oes" ("noes, heroes") 2. Irregular plurals: They are by definition unpredictable. They have to be learned as individual lexical units. In many cases where foreign words are involved, it is of course helpful to know about pluralization in the relevant languages, particularly Latin and Greek. i.Mutation: It involves a change of the medial vowel in the following seven nouns: "foot, tooth, goose, louse, mouse, man, woman". ii. The -en plural: only three: "brother, child, ox". iii. Zero plural: note the difference between, on the one hand, "music" (always singular), "cattle" (always plural) and "sheep" (both singular and plural) This zero plural occurs with: 1. Animal names: fish, deed, trout 2. Nationality names: Japanese, Chinese. 3. Some quantitative and partitive nouns: hundred dozen but: dozens of glasses 4. Nouns in "-s": "alms, barracks, gallows, headquarters" 5. Nouns in "-es": "series, species"
iv. Foreign plurals: mainly in technical language: 1. Nouns in "-us": cacti, corpora (Latin) 2. Nouns in "-a": formulae, antennae (Latin) 3. Nouns in "-um": curricula, memoranda (Latin) ______________________________________________________________________ 3
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4. Nouns in "-ex, -ix": "vortices, matrices (Latin) 5. Nouns in "-is": bases, parentheses (Greek) 6. Nouns in "-on": criteria, phenomena (Greek) 7. Nouns in "eau": plateaux, bureaux" (French) 8. Zero: "chassis, corps" (French) 9. Nouns in "-0" graffiti, soli (Italian) 10. Nouns in "-im": "cherub(im), kibbutz(im)" (Hebrew) 1.3. Plural of compounds: Compound form the plural in several ways: 1. Plural in the last element. The normal thing for compounds is to add the pl. suffix to the last element only, especially if this is a noun, but also in many cases where it is not a noun. , Assistant directors, gin-an tonics, housewives, grown-ups, close-ups, forget-me-nots"
2. Plural in first element. When the compound consists of a noun followed by a prepositional phrase or by a particle like "by, in up, ... " the plural suffix is normally added to the first element: 'Brothers-in- law, passers-by, runners-up, listeners-in The same is true of such compounds as “goings -on” consisting of an “ -ing” form +a particle. But combinations of a V base + particle add the pl. suffix to the last element, as we have seen in 1 3. Plural in both first and last element: this is nearly always the case if the compound has the noun “man” or “woman” as their first element to indicate the sex of the person(s) denoted by the second element: “menservants, women doctors, men -students”
But not in other compounds with these two words: 'man-eaters, woman-haters'. 1.4. Plural of proper names: They have unique reference and do not have the characteristics of common nouns. In particular, they lack the plural morpheme, as a general rule. However, proper names can be reclassified as common nouns, in which case they have the characteristics of count nouns. In that way, the pl. of a personal name may in the first place denote two or more individuals belonging to the same class: 'In the party there are three Johns and two Marys' 'The Robinsons (the family) are here.' The pl. of a proper name may mean 'people like N' as in: 'Two Turners': two pictures by Turner.
'The Hebrides', 'the East/west Indies" and other geographical names ending in '-s' are not plural of proper names, but plural proper names. Finally, we have already pointed out that nationality names ending in '-ese' have zero plural.
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_______________________________________________________________________ 1.5. Meaning of the plural: The meaning of the plural is obvious in most cases: 'horses' means 'one horse+ a second horse + a third horse' and so on. It is perhaps less obvious to see that 'we' is not the plural of 'I', and the same happens with 'the sixties'. The use of the plural is perfectly logical in combinations like 'the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the third and fourth chapters ... ' but sometimes the singular is preferable in analogous combinations, because the use of the pl. might lead to misunderstanding. For ex.: "the older and younger son of the house of Crawley were never at home together‟. Where the pl. form of the V shows the pl. idea, while the noun is in the singular, because the form 'sons' might suggest the existence of more than two.
Some plurals have acquired meanings which are not found in the corresponding singular: air (of the atmosphere) airs (give yourself airs) Colour colours (flag) Custom customs (duties) Manner manners (behaviour)
1.6. Number in pronouns. Most of them are the same in singular and plural, but there are a few with separate forms for the to numbers: I-we, he/she/it-they, myself-ourselves, yourself-yourselves. Himself/herself/itselfthemselves, this-these, that-those (these last two also adjectives). Although originally English used 'thou' in addressing one person and 'ye' in addressing more than one, the distinction has faded away nowadays; but a new way of expressing plural has developed in formulae as 'you people, you girls, .. .' mainly in American English
1.7. Number in verbs. No distinction is made in verbs between the two numbers except in the present tense, and there it is found in the third person only, which in the singular ends generally in '-s'. In the past we have the solitary example 'was', plural 'were'; in all other V, the plural is like the singular. As for the use of that plural, it generally occurs when the Subject is plural or is a multiple S (connected by 'and'): 'Time and tide wait for no man' But when two words in the singular are connected by means of 'or (nor)', grammarians prefer the V in singular: 'Neither Coleridge nor Southey is a good verse reader' But as the idea is often addition rather than separation, there is good excuse for those writers who use the plural. 'Without that labour, neither reason, art, nor peace are possible to man' (Ruskin) Usage waves in arithmetic formulae: 'What are/is six and six? There is also a natural hesitation when 'is/are' is to be placed between two words of different number: 'Our only guide was/were the stars' ______________________________________________________________________
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2. Quantifiers
Quantifiers in English can be divided into three main groups: numerals, indefinite pronouns /determiners, and partitive constructions. 2.1. Numerals
Numerals may be cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers and fractions (or decimals). Numerals can be considered open class, in that there is an infinite number of them, and at the same time closed class, in that they are mutually exclusive; new numerals cannot be created in the same way as new nouns. 2.1.1. Cardinal Numbers
Cardinal numbers refer to definite quantities. Numbers 1-13 are unsystematic, whereas numbers 14-99 are systematic, formed by adding regular elements to the other numbers, although there are several slight variations, such as twenty, forty, fifteen, and fifty. There are various ways of expressing the numerical absence of quantity: - Nought: used as the name of 0, especially in British English. - Zero: More widely used in American English, and in temperatures and mathematics.
əu/, commonly used in telephone numbers. - Oh: pronounced as the vowel "0", / əu/,
- Nil: used in sports such as football, rugby, etc. - Love: used in tennis, badminton and other racket sports. The origin if this may come from the French l'oeuf - the egg, from the resemblance in shape between an egg and the figure 0. - Zip: used in informal American English.
- Scratch: a term used in golf for a zero handicap. One is used with singular count nouns; two, three, etc. with plural count nouns. One may be used numerically, or as an emphatic form of the indefinite article. It can be used with hundred, thousand, million, etc., or may be replaced by a: £100: One hundred pounds or a hundred pounds.
Hundred, thousand, million etc., are used in the singular when accompanied by a numeral: three million, seven thousand dollars, but can also be used in the plural when used indefinitely: hundreds of trees. Thirties, forties, fifties, etc., can be used in plural to show a range of ten years. Cardinal numbers can be premodified by intensifiers: nearly twenty years, some forty minutes ago, over six inches. Approximate quantities can be expressed using odd, or so, or ______________________________________________________________________ 6
_______________________________________________________________________ thereabouts, ish: -
He's thirty odd. he's thirtyish. There were seventy people or so. There were seventy or so people. There were seventy people or thereabouts.
2.1.2. Ordinal Numbers
Ordinals refer to the position of a number in a sequence. The first three ordinals are first, second, third. Other ordinals are formed by adding "th" to the cardinal numerals. They can function either as determiners or pronouns. They can be used in conjunction with a cardinal numeral; in this case, the ordinal numeral is usually first: the first three months, although it is also possible to find the three first months. Some other items function in a similar way to ordinal numerals: additional, another, other(s),further, etc. 2.1.3. Fractions
Vulgar fractions are written and read as follows: ½ a/one half 1/3 a/one third ¼ alone quarter (fourth in American English) 3/8 three eighths 7/8 seven eighths Decimals are written with a period (.), and read as follows: 2.5
Two point five
3.14
Three point one four
27.109
Twenty-seven point one oh nine
0.5
Oh / nought / zero / zero point five
2.1.4. Currency
Monetary expressions of quantity are as follows, taking as examples pounds (£) and dollars ($). Note that the sign is placed before the numeral, but said after it: £25 Twenty-five pound(s) $400m Four hundred million dollars ______________________________________________________________________ 7
_______________________________________________________________________ With pence and cents, the sign is placed after the numeral: 5p
Five pence / p (pronounced /pi:/)
30c
Thirty cents
When a combination of pounds and pence, or dollars and cents, is used, it is common in informal English not say the lesser unit: £3.50
Three pounds fifty
$5.75
Five dollars seventy-five
The following expressions for monetary quantities are used in informal English, especially in London and the south east: £5 £10 £25 £100 £500 £1000
a fiver a tenner a pony a ton a monkey a grand
2.2. Indefinite Pronouns and Determiners Determiners
Indefinite pronouns and determiners are used to express quantity. They are called indefinite owing to their general reference, in contrast to other pronouns, such as demonstrative, reflexive, and personal pronouns, which have a specific reference. They can be divided morphologically into compound pronouns and of- pronouns, and can have one of four syntactic functions: universal, assertive, non-assertive and negative. Many can function as pronouns or determiners. 2.2.1. Compound Pronouns
These quantifiers are composed by a determiner morpheme (every, some, any, no) and a nominal morpheme (-one, -body, -thing):
Universal Assertive Non-assertive Negative
Personal Reference Everybody Everyone Somebody Someone Anybody Anyone Nobody No one
Non-personal Reference Everything Something Anything Nothing
As it can be seen, they are regular in formation, with the exceptions that no one is spelt as əu/. All these two words, and the pronunciation of nothing with the vowel /^/I instead of / əu/. pronouns are singular, although they may refer to more than one thing or person: - Everybody is ready - Somebody has eaten my porridge ______________________________________________________________________ 8
_______________________________________________________________________ - Is anybody there? - There's nobody here Plural forms may be used in coreference to compound pronouns, for example: Everybody picked up their bags
The personal compound pronouns can be used with a genitive 's: Is this anybody's coat?; it must be somebody's. They frequently combine with else: Everyone else is already here. If a genitive is used with else, it is added to else, and not to the pronoun itself: This is someone else 's pen. Compound pronouns can also be postmodified by normal restrictive noun-phrase postmodifiers, such as prepositional phrases and relative clauses: - He's just someone I met once - We'll find something for afters - Is there anything to eat? Adjectival modification is added after the pronoun: someone new, everything nice, etc. However, adjectival premodification can be found in informal usage: He s got a new someone in his life 2.2.2. Of-pronouns
The remaining indefinite pronouns, also quantifiers, are called of- pronouns by Quirk et al. They share the following characteristics: - They can be followed by a partitive of- phrase: Some of them have arrived; most of the boys are here
- They can function as noun phrases, replacing other nominal constructions: Many people are right-handed, but some are left-handed
- They are identical to their corresponding determiner, with the exception of none.
These pronouns are shown in the following table:
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Universal Assertive
Count Singular All (of) Each (of) Some (of)
Multal
Paucal
One Non-assertive Negative
One (of) Any (of) Either (of) None (of) Neither (of)
Plural All (of) Both (of) Some (of)
Many of More (of) Most (of) A few (of) Fewer / less (of) Fewest / least (of) (ones) any (of) None (of) Few (of)
Noncount Singular All (of)
Some (of) Much (of) More (of) Most (of) A little (of) Less (of) Least (of) Any (of) None (of) Little (of)
All these of- pronouns can be used to substitute other nouns, but some may also be used to represent people in general, although this use is somewhat old fashioned and is now generally confined to literary language. For example: - Many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew ch.22, v.14). - Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews ch.13, v.2). - Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night). This has been parodied by the American historian Daniel Boorstin: - Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers. - Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege (anon). Universal pronouns • All / both:
All is used with plural nouns for quantities of more than two, and both is used with quantities of two only: Both sides of the road; all the sides of the square.
When all and both are followed by a determiner such as the (but not the zero article), of can be inserted or omitted: Both (of) the girls, all (of) sweets. ______________________________________________________________________ 10
_______________________________________________________________________ All, but not both, can be followed by a singular count noun or a noncount noun: All (of) the cake, all (of) the money.
Its use before a singular count noun is not common; in these cases the whole is more frequent: The whole (of the) cake. When not used with an of- phrase, all and both follow a personal pronoun: We all play football, they both play tennis. All can be used alone as an equivalent to everything, and may be preceded by a possessive pronoun: When all is said and done ...; they gave their all to the cause. All can also be premodified by degree adverbials and modifiers with a negative implication: nearly all, (not) quite all, not all, by no means all. All may be replaced by other phrases: All the men were drunk: They were drunk to a man.
Each / every
Each, every, and the compounds formed with every- have distributive functions, as they refer to members of a given set singly, rather than as a group. Therefore, they are used in the singular. Apart from this difference, they are often equivalent to all:
- Each / every / every footballer has to train hard - All footballers have to train hard All, each and every can also be equivalents in pronominal use, except that each can refer to only two things or people: - We saw a group of people - All of them were smiling - Each ( one) of them was smiling - Everyone of them was smiling However, there may be some difference between all and each / every: - All the men were given an award This could mean that the men shared a single award, or that there was one award per man. This ambiguity is not present in: -
Each (one) / Everyone / Everyone of the men was given an award
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_______________________________________________________________________ Assertive pronouns Assertive is the term used to apply to quantifiers associated with 'assertive territory', i.e. asserting the truth of a given proposition, rather than 'non-assertive territory'. This distinction can be seen in the use of some and any, and their corresponding compound pronouns. • Some
Some is most typically found with plural and noncount nouns, both as determiner and pronoun:
- Some people / some / some of the people / some / some cheese / some / some of the cheese Some can also occur with singular count nouns, especially temporal nouns: - Some day, I'll be old myself - I'm just going outside. I may be some time Some can be followed by of and a singular count noun in a partitive sense: - There's some of the joint (of meat) left
Multal and paucal quantifiers
The multal and paucal quantifiers many, much, a few and a little show a similar distribution: Many (a large number) contrasts with a few (a small number). Much (a large amount) contrasts with a little (a small amount). - Many people / a / a few people have arrived - Much / a little has been written Much, and also many, but to a lesser degree, are found in modern English usage with nonassertive force, and therefore are more commonly used in negative and interrogative sentences. The preference is for the use of other open-class quantifiers such as a great deal / lots of / / plenty of or of or a lot of / plenty of : - A great deal has been written - Lots of people have arrived Many can be preceded by the definite article: the many countries / have visited. Much, many, a little and a few are gradable, and can be accompanied by degree adverbs such as very, too, quite, enough, etc.: - I've got very little to say - There is only a very little left ______________________________________________________________________ 12
_______________________________________________________________________ They also have comparative and superlative forms. These are more and most for many and much, fewer and fewest for a few, and less and least for a little. It is becoming increasingly common for less and least to be used with count nouns, although this is considered inappropriate by many English speakers; many letters have been written to newspapers complaining about this usage: - Eight items or less (at a supermarket checkout) - There are less people here than yesterday • One
One is a quantifier with a number of different functions which can be distinguished morphologically:
- Numerical one: The cardinal number one is singular and count. It is invariable, and can be used as determiner or as the head of a noun phrase: one man, one of the men. - Substitute one: This has the plural form ones and is used to replace a count noun or an equivalent nominal expression: Get the one in the kitchen, is this the one you want? One is sometimes used with the indefinite article in informal usage, with an emphatic sense: there's not a one left! , or in the sense of an amusing person: he's such a one! - Generic one: this is most commonly used in singular with a personal use, and in more formal language, with the genitive form one's and the reflexive oneself. Examples: One likes to create a good impression, One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries (A. A. Milne)
Half, enough, several
A couple usually refers to two, a few is often used to refer to three, and Several always indicates slightly more than a few, but usually fewer than ten. Enough contrasts with too little and too few. For example:
- Half (of) the work has been done - Several (of the) men were eating - Have we got enough food? Enough can occasionally, in more affected language, follow the head noun - Are you man enough to admit it? - There's still time enough.
Other / another
Other can function as a postdeterminer and as such follows other determiners, including quantifiers and numerals: the other one, his other dog, three other books.
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_______________________________________________________________________ Another is considered a fusion of an and other, or a reduced version of one other. As a pronoun, others, the others, the other represent an alternative to previous quantifiers: I've found one glove, but I can't find the other (one). Non-assertive pronouns
The non-assertive pronouns are the compound pronouns anybody, anyone and anything, along with the any and either. There exists a parallel between assertive and non-assertive forms: - He did some work
Assertive
- Did he do any work?
Non-assertive, interrogative, positive
- Did he not do any work?
Non-assertive, interrogative, negative
- He didn't do any work
Non-assertive, negative
As it can be seen, the form not indicates non-assertive forms, but other negative words also indicate non-assertion, e.g. hardly, scarcely, only, little, few: - There is scarcely any hope - There is little likelihood of any improvement The principal superficial markers of non-assertion are negative, interrogative and conditional clauses, but ultimately the choice between some and any (or one of their compounds) is governed by the basic meaning of the sentences. The most common examples are found in negative, interrogative and conditional sentences where the basic meaning is assertive: - Has somebody been in? - Has anybody been in? In the first sentence, the speaker supposes that a visitor has called, whereas in the second this supposition is not present. This is also the case of offers and invitations, where acceptance is presupposed: - Would you like some more cake? Any and either differ in that any represents a choice between three or more options, whereas either has dual meaning and chooses between two options:
- You can take any of those pens - You can park on either side of the road Any is also used with noncount nouns: Don't take any (of the) cake. Any and its compound ______________________________________________________________________ 14
_______________________________________________________________________ pronouns can be used assertively in the sense of it doesn't matter which / who / etc: - Anyone can do it - You can have anything you like Negative pronouns
The negative pronouns are the of- pronouns none and neither, and their compound pronouns nobody, no one and nothing. These correspond to the negative determiners no and neither. In addition, few and little, as distinct from a few and a little, are also negative in meaning. For example: There are no letters for you Neither of the boys passed the exam That's none of your business There is little interest in the scheme Very few of the students will pass No, none and their compound pronouns can be intensified by the postmodifiers at all or what(so)ever. 2.3. Partitive Constructions
Partitive constructions denote a part of a whole. Both count and noncount nouns can be used with partitive expressions, with the construction a + noun + of. The most common of these is a piece of. Noncount nouns represent an undifferentiated mass, but they may be expressed in terms of quantity and countability by using a general partitive noun: a piece of cake, a bit of paper, an item of news, a piece of advice, etc. Countability can also be achieved through reclassification of the noncount item: two cups of coffee, two coffees. The expression a piece of is used with both concrete and abstract nouns. A bit of implies a small quantity. An item of is generally used with abstract nouns. Apart from these general partitives, there are many others with a more specific and restricted use: a slip of paper, a blade of grass, a strip of land, a stretch of motorway, etc. The general partitive a piece of can be used with singular count nouns: a piece of a pie, along with other partitives: a branch of a tree, a page of a book, a verse of a song, etc. It cannot be used with plural count nouns; these take other partitives which are often quite specific: a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle, a bouquet of flowers, a bunch of keys, a crowd of people, etc. In the case of animals, there are several general partitives (a flock of, a herd of, etc.) and a series of species-specific partitives, most of which are not well known or used, although a few are in common use: a pride of lions, a school of whales. Some other curiosities include a flight of bees, an unkindness of ravens or a smack of jellyfish.
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