Semantic Analysis of ‘sukunai-sukoshi’ and ‘takusan-ooi’ in Japanese

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  • 「少し・少ない」および「たくさん・多い」の意味論的分析
  • 「スコシ・スクナイ」オヨビ「タクサン・オオイ」ノイミロンテキブンセキ

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In this paper we will examine four quantificational expressions, ‘sukoshi (few),’ ‘sukunai (few),’ ‘takusan (many)’ and ‘ooi (many)’ in Japanese. We will discuss the unsolved question raised by Sugimoto (1982), that is, why sentences such as ‘Sukunai hito-ga Boo-o mita (‘Few people saw Boo’) is unacceptable, though there is no problem to use ‘sukunai’ in a predicate position, and show that monotonicity and comparativeness are relevant to this puzzle. We will also investigate the semantic relationship between these quantificational expressions and kind-level/stage-level predicates.

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