The Quantifier System: One of the Largest and Least Known Parts of English

Abstract

The structure of semantics is still largely unknown territory. Semantic fields appear to be the building blocks of semantic structure, but most semantic fields remain unmapped. This paper analyses the structure of one of those, which I call the "quantifier system," although only one small part of it is filled with well known quantifiers. The system is explained in the same way as I explain it to my ESL students.

Several ideas in this paper may be of use in analyzing other semantic fields. Firstly, I analyze the field in terms of distinctive features, rather as in phonology. Secondly, the semantic terms are sometimes words and sometimes phrases. Thirdly, each semantic term is a group of synonyms. Fourthly, synonyms and antonyms can be understood not just as lists, but as the building blocks of a larger system. Fifthly, semantic groups in English can include words drawn from different parts of speech.

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