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Quantifiers in Japanese

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Logic, Language, and Computation (TbiLLC 2007)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 5422))

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Abstract

This paper argues that the generalized quantifier theory does not directly apply to Japanese quantifiers because of the following reasons: (i) the number of noun phrase (NP) arguments is underspecified and (ii) quantities are often expressed by predicative adjectives. It further claims that the word order changes the interpretation. For example, non-split quantifiers correspond to definite NPs that are unique in the domain of discourse, while split NPs are wide-scope indefinites. Adjectival quantifiers are polymorphic, and continuation-based combinatory categorial grammar [1] accounts for different meanings between (non)split quantifiers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Language and Culture, Department of Language and Information Science, Osaka University, 1-8 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-0043, Japan

    Sumiyo Nishiguchi

Authors
  1. Sumiyo Nishiguchi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Kognitionswissenschaft, Universität Osnabrück, 49069, Osnabrück, Germany

    Peter Bosch

  2. Razmadze Mathematical Institute, 1 Aleksidze st., 0193, Tbilisi, Georgia

    David Gabelaia

  3. LAMSADE, Université Paris-Dauphine, 75775, Paris Cedex 16, France

    Jérôme Lang

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Nishiguchi, S. (2009). Quantifiers in Japanese. In: Bosch, P., Gabelaia, D., Lang, J. (eds) Logic, Language, and Computation. TbiLLC 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 5422. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00665-4_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00665-4_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-00664-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-00665-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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