Quantifying Number in the Noun Phrase: A Comparative Study between English and Macedonian

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the theoretical insights for English gained by means of a contrastive analysis with Macedonian on the issue of grammatical/semantic number in the NP, with a particular focus on the features of partitivity, collectivity and distributivity reflected through marked external (grammatical) means. Quantifying the NP provides information on the fragmentation of the whole, togetherness of the whole (with non-determinedness of entities), or the individuality of each element of the whole. The quantitative characteristics are visible in the NP structure, while the syntactic relationships formally realize the connection between the quantity in the NP and semanticity. Through excerpted examples from authentic source materials (in English and Macedonian) and translations, it will be concluded that both languages have more commonalities than differences in the morphology and semantics of these features, although precision of language means is necessary to avoid miscommunication.