On word order and non-conservative percentage quantification in Slavic and German

Abstract

This paper discusses conservative and non-conservative construals of percentage quantifiers (%Qs), e.g., 50% of the women vs. 50% women, in Slavic and German. Based on data from corpora and cross-linguistic questionnaires, we make the novel empirical generalization that word order plays a crucial role in distinguishing between these two readings, irrespective of whether there is an additional difference between definite vs. bare nominals (German, Bulgarian, Macedonian) or not (the other Slavic languages). Specifically, non-conservative %Qs appear low in the structure, inside the VP, whereas conservative %Qs either appear in their canonical position, depending on their syntactic role as subject or object (German, Bulgarian), or high/VP-externally (the other Slavic languages). We propose that non-conservative %Qs are always interpreted low and combine with the predicate on a par with semantically incorporated nominals and, with intransitves, existential constructions. We argue against previous accounts that ascribe a crucial role to focus for the non-conservative reading to arise, in taking focus to merely be derivative from the requirement of non-conservative %Qs to appear low, paired with a general rule for sentential stress placement.