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- Apart from articles (see the paradigms le, un,
du), and if no predeterminer is present,
determiners stay at the left end of a NP. In general (except for a range of
proper nouns that can occupy a non-terminal syntactic position, except for nominals
in titles or proverbs, or nominals after a preposition or in an enumeration),
a noun or a nominalized adjective needs a determiner or
an article in order to form a NP to which a syntactic function can be associated.
In a NP, all determiners can be preceeded by an adjectival predeterminer
(seul, tout);
cardinal determiners can also be preceeded by an adverbial predeterminer (environ,
quelque).
Remark: In traditional grammars, the morphological units which we consider as indefinite,
possessive, demonstrative, cardinal and interrogative/ exclamative determiners
are considered as indefinite, possessive, demonstrative, cardinal and interrogative/
exclamative adjectives.
Concerning determiners, different acceptions are encountered.
Morphological, syntactical and semantical
levels must be distinguished. Our acception of determiners refers to the
category.
Given N a common noun, NP a nominal phrase which stays not in a title, proverb,
after a preposition or in an enumeration,
If N can only occupy the position of a NP with X, X can be a determiner.
- Son /pos=d manteau est trop grand / *Manteau est trop grand
- Cette /pos=d fille est gentille / *Fille est gentille
- Une place pour chaque /pos=d chose / *Une place pour chose
- Quelle /pos=d heure est-il? / *Heure est-il?
- Il a quelques /pos=d ennuis / *Il a ennuis
- Il est venu plusieurs /pos=d fois / *Il est venu fois
- Pierre part chaque /pos=d été / *Pierre part été
- Ils ont deux /pos=d enfants / *Ils ont enfants
- Diverses /pos=d personnes ont appelé / *Personnes ont appelé
- Toute /pos=d personne intéressée est la bienvenue / *Personne intéressée est la bienvenue
Given Art an article, N a common noun,
If X+N cannot be preceeded by Art, X is a determiner.
Remark: Some morphological units can be adjectives if they are preceeded by an article,
or they can be determiners if they are not preceeded by an article.
- Plusieurs /pos=d hommes sont venus - *Les plusieurs hommes
- Toute /pos=d personne est la bienvenue - *La toute personne
- Son /pos=d manteau est trop grand - *Le son manteau
- Cette /pos=d fille est jolie - *La cette fille est jolie
but:
- Deux /pos=d hommes sont venus - Les deux /pos=a hommes sont venus
- Quelques /pos=d filles sont venues - Les quelques /pos=a filles qui sont venues ...
If a predeterminer is present in a NP, the determiner doesn't stay at the very left
end of the NP. In the case of tout as predeterminer, its place in the NP is not fixed:
- tous les enfants sont partis
- les enfants sont tous partis
We can distinguish between the following categories of predeterminers:
- Adjectival predeterminers tout, seul:
|
adjectival predeterminer |
| D e s c r i p t i o n | E x a m p l e s | | |
| tout + determiner | après toutes /pos=a ces /pos=d années | | |
| seul + determiner | seul /pos=a cet /pos=d homme | | |
- Adverbial predeterminer environ, quelque:
|
adverbial predeterminer |
| D e s c r i p t i o n | E x a m p l e s | | |
| environ + cardinal determiner | environ /pos=adverb cinquante /pos=d personnes | | |
| quelque + cardinal determiner | quelque /pos=adverb cinquante /pos=d personnes | | |
Confusions can be made between the pos-values determiner
and the determinative use and meaning of other morphological units.
Indeed, distinctions must be made between the following levels:
- morphological level: pos-values determiner
- syntactical level: [X [de Y]], with [de Y] as a complement of X
- semantical level: [[X] de [Y]], with X a quantifier and Y the semantic head.
|
determinative use of morphological units |
| D e s c r i p t i o n | E x a m p l e s | | |
| X = N | quantité /pos=n de gens | | |
| X = Adj + N | bon /pos=a nombre /pos=n de gens | | |
| X = Det + N | un /pos=article kilo /pos=n de farine | | |
| X = Det + Adj + N | une /pos=article immense /pos=a majorité /pos=n de personnes | | |
| X = pronoun | beaucoup /pos=p de personnes | | |
| X = adverb | autant /pos=adverb de gens | | |
Next: Confusion with other pos-values
Up: pos-value d
Previous: pos-value d