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On Binding of DP-internal Amount/Degree Variables
Shun’ichiro Inada
The University of Tokyo

In this paper I present an analysis of the syntactic binding of the DP-internal variables by the operator
outside DP. Specifically, I consider two types of the variables of “type d(egree).” These two types correspond to
the numeral expressions in (1): the numeral+classifier (5-hon in (1a)), which expresses the amount of themodified countable noun (kasa ‘umbrella(s)’), and the numeral+unit (70-cm in (1b)), which expresses thedegree of its individual property (e.g., length). In Japanese, both of the numeral expressions seem to appear in“pseudo-partitives.” Schwarzchild (2002) argues that such numeral expressions are interpreted in terms of ameasurement system and the basis for the measurement is “monotonic.” Given that singular count nouns neverprovide a non-trivial part-whole relation, then, the non-monotonic numeral expressions (non-monoNumEs) areunacceptable in pseudo-partitives though they can occur within compounds, as shown in English example (2).
Thus, I argue that the two types are not in the same structural position in Japanese, either: (the variable of) thenon-mono
NumE (70-cm / dDEG) occupies the relatively lower position under NP closer to the modified head noun,whereas (the variable of) the monoNumE (5-hon / dNUM) occupies the higher position, namely Spec,NumberP,within DP as illustrated in (3).
The examples (4)-(8)’ are the data on which I base my discussion. Only the monoNumEs (i.e., number) canundergo “quantifier floating” ((4)). Only the wh-phrases of the monotonic type can be overtly extracted fromwithin DP ((5)). The “excessiveness” of only the monotonic property of the noun can be expressed by attaching-sugi(r)- ‘too’ to the verb ((6)). The possibility of relativization of the “degree nominals (Sudo (2009))” is also
sensitive to the distinction between monotonic and non-monotonic. The “degree relativization” is possible only
when the “degree” is monotonic ((7)). Moreover, without “Comparative Deletion,” the clausal comparatives inJapanese are acceptable only in the case where the monotonic property is the target of comparison ((8)’).
Notice that in Japanese, an absolute numerical value that a noun possesses cannot be expressed by themeasure phrase with the attributive gradable adjective, but is expressed only by the pseudo-partitive-likeconstruction, as shown in (9) (Snyder et al. (1995), Hayashishita (2009)). What is at issue in Japanese when theoperator binds the attributive amount/degree variable from the outside of DP is, thus, the structural position of
the two types of type d variables: monotonic dNUM and non-monotonic dDEG. Given that the monoNumE occupies
the position c-commanding the non-monoNumE in (3), and that a definite countable noun always projects
NumberP that involves an implicit amount, some sort of minimality condition prohibits the DP-externaloperator from binding the non-monotonic degree variable dDEG, as illustrated in (10).
Furthermore, I argue that incremental THEME objects of the creation verbs only denote properties, and thus
only project NP, since the attributive non-monoNumEs modifying such objects can undergo floating ((11)), and canbe bound by the operators outside DP ((12)-(13)). These objects are combined with the verb via a modified
version of Dayal’s (2003) semantics for pseudo-incorporation in line with the Chierchia (1998) and Espinal andMcNally’s (2010) analyses of “bare nominals” in Romance. These “bare nominals” have to describe an object
which is typically a participant in the event described by the verb, and so do the incremental THEMEs in Japanese.
NumberP being absent, there is no d-variable (dnum) intervening, and the non-monotonic d-variable (dDEG) is
successfully bound by the DP-external operator, as illustrated in (14).

[DP {5-hon /70-cm}-no(1){5-CL70-cm}-GENkasa]
umbrella(s)(2)*2pages of story / a 2-page-story(Schwarzchild (2002))(3)[DP [NumberP [MeasurePhrase dNUM] [NP [DegP dDEG] N0]Number0]D0](4)

Hanako-wa [DP{5-hon-no/70-cm-no} kasa-o] {5-hon/*70-cm} nakusita.
‘Hanako lost {5 umbrellas/a 70cm-long umbrella}.’{Nan-hon/?*nan-cm}(5)

Hanako-wa [DP {nan-hon-no/nan-cm-no} kasa-o] nakusita no?

‘{How many umbrellas/how long an umbrella} did Hanako lost?’(6) a.

Hanako-wa [DP takusan-no kasa-o] nakusi-sugi-ta.
‘Hanako lost too many umbrellas.’b.

Hanako-wa [DP nagai kasa-o] nakusi-sugi-ta.
‘Hanako lost {*a too-long umbrella / too many long umbrellas}.’(7)

Hanako-ga[DP kasa-o] nakusita(cf. Nakanishi (2010))?*{kazu/ nagasa}‘(lit.) the {number/length} that Hanako lost the umbrella’(Kawahara (ms.))

Taroo-wa Hanako-ga nakusita yorimo {takusan-no/??nagai} kasa-o nakusita.

(8)‘Taroo lost {more umbrellas/a longer umbrella} than Hanako did.’(Ishii (1991))?*

Taroo-wa Hanako-ga [DP tue-o] nakusita yorimo {takusan-no/ nagai} bou-o nakusita.

(8)’‘(lit.) Taroo lost {more rods/a longer rod} than Hanako lost the stick(s).’(9)(Inada (2010))

the 2-meter-long umbrella (English) / 2-meetoru{*nagai/-no} kasa (Japanese)
2-meter {long/-GEN} umbrella(10)

OpNUM/*DEG … [DP [NumberP [MP dNUM] [NP [DegP dDEG] N0]Number0]D0] : Countable nouns(11) a.

Hanako-wa [ [200-peeji-no] ronbun-o] [200-peeji]kaita.

‘Hanako wrote a 200-page-long paper.’b.

Hanako-wa [ [3-meetoru-no] ana-o][3-meetoru] hotta.

‘Hanako dag a 3-meter-deep hole.’(12)? Taroo-wa Hanako-ga [ronbun-o] kaita yorimo nagai syoosetu-o kaita.
‘(lit.) Taroo wrote a longer novel than Hanako wrote a paper.’(13)

Hanako-wa [nagai ronbun-o] kaki-sugi-ta.
‘Hanako wrote {a too-long paper/too many long papers}.’

(14)

OpDEG

(Nakanishi (2010))… [NP[DegP dDEG] N0] : Incremental THEME of creation verbs

Selected References:
Chierchia, G. (1998) “Reference to Kinds Across Languages,” Natural Language Semantics 6, 339-405.
Espinal, T. and L. McNally (2010) “Bare Nominals and Incorporating Verbs in Spanish and Catalan,” Journalof Linguistics, 1-42.
Ishii, Y. (1991) Operators and Empty Categories in Japanese, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut.
Scwarzchild, R. (2002) “The Grammar of Measurement,” SALT XII, 225-245, Cornel University, New York.