Quantification: A Cross-Linguistic Investigation

这是一个为期三年的跨语言项目，专门研究量化的语法和语义。讨论的问题包括：1)名词短语作为表达量化的一种手段是否普遍存在？是否存在没有“本质上是定量的”名词短语的语言？2)名词短语表达和非名词短语表达的量化在语言内部和语言之间的结构和解释有什么异同？3)名词短语和动词短语（或句子）之间的基本区别是由于语义上普遍存在的名动词区别，还是由于它们的闭类函子（说明符）类别DET（限定词）和AUX（助词）的区别？要调查的语言包括英语、德语、荷兰语、意大利语、法语、葡萄牙语、日语、韩语、汉语和不列颠哥伦比亚省的Wakashan语言。

This is a three-year cross-linguistic project dealing specifically with the syntax and semantics of quantification. Questions addressed include: 1) Is the use of noun phrases as one means of expressing quantification universal? Are there languages with no "essentially quantificational" noun phrases? 2) What are the similarities and differences, within and across languages, in the structure and interpretation of quantification expressed with noun phrases and quantification expressed otherwise? 3) Is the basic distinction between noun phrases and verb phrases (or sentences) due to a semantically universal noun-verb distinction, or is it brought about by the distinction in their closed-class functor (specifier) categories DET (determiner) and AUX (auxiliary)? The languages to be investigated include English, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and the Wakashan languages of British Columbia.