Pseudo-Partitives and Individuation A Study on Adnominal Genitives in German

Abstract

Pseudo-partitives in German do not normally allow genitive marking of the inner nominal, but in the presence of an adjective this is possible. But even then, it is usually a marked option. It has been suggested that genitive marking is the preferred option if the inner nominal is plural. This is partly true, but we adduce additional observations suggesting that there are also semantic conditions making reference to the degree of individuation of the referent of the inner nominal: genitive marking is preferred if the inner nominal denotes a plurality of referents that are high on the individuation scale.