Cardinal numerals

Meer over het boek

The book offers a detailed analysis of the Old English numeral system within a broader cross-linguistic context. It establishes a theoretical framework for examining numerals and numeral systems in natural languages, linking cognitive science findings on numeracy with typological generalizations about cardinal numerals. The Old English numeral system features unique characteristics absent in contemporary European languages, making it an ideal case for investigating linguistic number expressions, particularly their morpho-syntactic properties and numeral system structures. This innovative approach integrates an in-depth analysis of the numeral system with the grammatical properties of cardinal numerals. The study emphasizes information structure and referent identification in quantificational constructions, providing fresh insights into language-internal variation in agreement patterns between numerals and quantified nouns. The author challenges the view of numerals as a hybrid word class, instead suggesting that the observed morpho-syntactic variation follows identifiable patterns specific to numerals. These patterns are explained through different stages in the development of numeral systems and varying degrees of discreteness in quantified nouns. Additionally, the author highlights that the constraints influencing this variation in Old English have clear parallels in other languages.