Hárman, sokan, mindannyian

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the semantics of -AN-suffixed numerals and quantifiers in Hungarian. The main aim is to provide a compositional analysis that captures the wide variety of uses of -AN-marked numerals. While in the literature -AN has been treated as an adverbial suffix, I claim that the -AN-marking on numerals and quantifiers is a different mechanism than its phonologically similar adverbial counterpart. I present a number of grammatical phenomena in support of the assumption that -AN is associated with the [+plural] and [+human] features and I propose that they are realized as a presupposition. I argue that -AN is a predicate at type <e,t>, λx: HUMANS.(x) and show that -AN-suffixed numerals are complex predicates that presuppose a plurality of human beings and have the cardinality property provided by the numeral. In accounting for all positions -AN-marked numerals and quantifiers occur in, two main categories emerge: the predicative position and adnominal pronominal constructions.