Quantification

This chapter provides an analysis of the indefinite items quis, aliquis, quispiam, quidam, quisquam, nemo, quiuis/quilibet based on a typological-functional approach to indefinites which is supplemented by quantificational aspects. The main functional distinctions regarding indefiniteness are specificity and non-specificity, knowledge of the speaker, negation, negative polarity, and free-choice. The distinction between specific and non-specific NPs underlies the difference in Latin between aliquis and quis. When the speaker is able to identify the referent of an indefinite pronoun, 'knowledge of the speaker' is the parameter that accounts the use of the indefinite quidam. Analyses are also provided for the negative indefinite nemo, which expresses sentential negation, for quisquam as a negative polarity item, and for the free-choice indefinites quiuis/quilibet, which are generally semantically similar to universal quantifiers like omnes and quisque, but which also express the meaning of 'irrelevance'.