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    7.1.4.Distribution of al and alle as independent constituents
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    The previous sections mainly concentrated on the uses of al, alle + Num/ allebei and alle/beide internal to the noun phrase. This section examines the independent uses of these forms as arguments, predicates and adjuncts, as well as their use as floating quantifiers. Before we start the discussion, we want to point out that there are two spellings for the independent occurrences of alle (and related forms like beide'both'). Unlike the modifier alle, independent alle can be written with a word final -n, which is mute in spoken Dutch. The distribution of the forms with and without -n depends on the feature ±human of the referent or the associate. The examples in (84a&b) illustrate this for the use of alle(n) as a floating quantifier: alle is used with -human noun phrases and allen with +human noun phrases. Alle lacks the orthographic -n, however, if it is followed by a numeral, as in (84b'), which is related to the fact that alle modifies the numeral in this case and that it is the resulting complex phrase that is associated with the noun phrase; cf. the introduction to 7.1.2.2.

    84
    a. Ik heb die koekjes alle/*allen opgegeten.
      I  have  those cookies  all  prt.-eaten
      'Iʼve eaten those cookies all.'
    b. Die jongens zijn allen/*alle uitgenodigd.
      those boys  are  all  prt.-invited
      'Those boys are all invited.'
    b'. Die jongens zijn alle/*allen twee uitgenodigd.
      those boys  are  all two  prt.-invited

    Note that, in the above, +human should be understood as “consistently human”: conjunctions like mannen en hun autoʼs'men and their cars' take alle, not allen, as their independent/floating quantifier.

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    [+]  I.  Distribution as arguments

    The distribution of bare al as an independent argument is extremely limited. Alle and alle + Num are more flexible in their independent uses, but here as well we find restrictions and surprising gaps in the paradigm. We will confine ourselves to giving a concise overview of the relevant data. This subsection concludes with some remarks on alles'everything', which can only be used independently.

    [+]  A.  Subject

    Bare al does not occur independently as a subject; (85) show that it occurs neither with count nor with non-count nouns.

    85
    a. * Wat die mensen betreft, al zijn reeds uitgenodigd.
      what those people concerns  all  are  already  prt.-invited
    b. * Wat die artikelen betreft, al zijn net geplaatst.
      what those articles concerns  all  are  just  published
    c. * Wat die wijn betreft, al is reeds geprijsd.
      what that wine concerns  all  is  already  priced

          The (a)-examples in (86) and (87), featuring alle + Num/ allebei, are grammatical, though not particularly good. Example (86b) shows that (86a) improves significantly if a pronoun is added to the left of the quantifier; cf. also Section 7.1.2.2, sub IB. Example (87b) is still marked due to the fact that strong pronouns cannot readily be used to refer to -human entities; cf. Section 5.2.1.1, sub V. The (c)-examples, in which a plural pronoun is inserted to the right of the finite auxiliary, are fully acceptable; cf. Subsection III on floating quantifiers for more discussion.

    86
    Discourse topic: two favorite friends
    a. ?? Alle twee/Allebei zijn reeds uitgenodigd.
      all two/all-both  are  already  prt.-invited
    b. Zij alle twee/allebei zijn reeds uitgenodigd.
      they  all two/all-both  are  already  prt.-invited
    c. Alle twee/Allebei zijn ze reeds uitgenodigd.
      all two/all-both  are  they  already  prt.-invited
    87
    Discourse topic: two articles on determiners
    a. ?? Alle twee/Allebei zijn net geplaatst.
      all two/all-both  are  just  published
    b. ?? Zij alle twee/allebei zijn net geplaatst.
      they all two/all-both  are  just  published
    c. Alle twee/Allebei zijn ze net geplaatst.
      all two/all-both  are  they  just  published

          The examples in (88) show that alle(n) and beide(n) with +human and -human antecedents do not just differ in orthography but also in syntactic distribution; whereas (88a) is formal but grammatical, (88b) is awkward. The contrast between (88b) and (88c) further shows that within the class of non-human referents a distinction should be made between plural count and substance nouns; if alle takes a substance noun as its referent, the result is entirely unacceptable.

    88
    a. Wat die mensen betreft, allen/beiden zijn reeds uitgenodigd.
      what those people concerns  all/both  are  already  prt.-invited
    b. ?? Wat die artikelen betreft, alle/beide zijn reeds geplaatst.
      what those articles concerns  all/both  are  already  published
    c. * Wat die wijn betreft, alle is reeds geprijsd.
      what that wine concerns  all  is  already  priced

    The split between allen/beiden and alle/beide in (88) resembles the one found between the same elements used as quantifiers of pronominal noun phrases; cf. Section 7.1.2.2, sub IIB4. Note that primeless (88b) improves considerably if a plural pronoun is placed to the right of the finite auxiliary; see Subsection III on floating quantifiers for discussion.

    [+]  B.  Direct/indirect object

    Bare al does not occur independently as a direct or indirect object, as shown by the primeless and primed examples of (89), respectively.

    89
    a. * Wat die mensen betreft, ik heb al reeds uitgenodigd.
      what those people concerns  I  have  all  already  prt.-invited
    a'. * Wat die mensen betreft, ik heb al reeds een uitnodiging gestuurd.
      what those people concerns  I  have  all  already  an invitation  sent
    b. * Wat die artikelen betreft, ik heb al net geplaatst.
      what those articles concerns  I  have  all  just  published
    b'. * Wat die artikelen betreft, ik heb al net een plaats gegeven.
      what those articles concerns  I  have  all  just  a place  given
    c. * Wat die wijn betreft, ik heb al reeds geprijsd.
      what that wine concerns  I  have  all  already  priced
    c'. * Wat die wijn betreft, ik heb al reeds een prijskaartje gegeven.
      what that wine concerns  I  have  all  already  a price.tag  given

    Comparable examples with alle + Num and allebei seem marked but grammatical; furthermore, there appears to be a slight contrast between the direct and indirect object examples for some speakers, the former being somewhat worse than the latter as is shown by the contrast between, respectively, the (a)- and (b)-examples in (90) and (91). Once again, examples like these become fully acceptable if a pronoun or noun phrase is added to the left of the quantifier; see Subsection III on floating quantifiers for discussion.

    90
    Discourse topic: two favorite friends
    a. ?? Ik heb alle twee/allebei reeds uitgenodigd.
      I  have  all two/all-both  already  prt.-invited
    b. ? Ik heb alle twee/allebei reeds een uitnodiging gestuurd.
      I  have  all two/all-both  already  an invitation  sent
    91
    Discourse topic: two articles on determiners
    a. ?? Ik heb alle twee/allebei net geplaatst.
      I  have  all two/all-both  just  published
    b. ? Ik heb alle twee/allebei net een plaats gegeven.
      I  have  all two/all-both  just  a place  given

    The ±human contrast, which we have already signaled in connection with the data in (88), re-emerges in the alle(n) and beide(n) cases in (92) and (93): the -human examples in (93) are systematically worse than the +human ones in (92). As in the subject examples, the use of substance nouns in (93b&b') is entirely impossible. These cannot be saved by adding a pronoun, unlike the count noun examples in the (a)-examples in (93), which become fully acceptable if a plural pronoun is added to the left of the quantifier; cf. Subsection III on floating quantifiers.

    92
    Discourse topic: a certain number of friends
    a. Ik heb allen/beiden reeds uitgenodigd.
      I  have  all/both  already  prt.-invited
    b. Ik heb allen/beiden reeds een uitnodiging gestuurd.
      I  have  all/both  already  an invitation  sent
    93
    a. ?? Wat die artikelen betreft, ik heb alle/beide net geplaatst.
      what those articles concerns  I  have  all/both  just  published
    a'. ?? Wat die artikelen betreft, ik heb alle/beide net een plaats gegeven.
      what those articles concerns  I  have  all/both  just  a place  given
    b. * Wat die wijn betreft, ik heb alle reeds geprijsd.
      what that wine concerns  I  have  all  already  priced
    b'. * Wat die wijn betreft, ik heb alle reeds een prijskaartje gegeven.
      what that wine concerns  I  have  all  already  a price.tag  given
    [+]  C.  Object of preposition

    It is impossible for bare al to be used in the examples in (94), the prepositional counterparts of the double object constructions in the primed examples in (89), in which al is the object of the preposition aan.

    94
    a. * Ik heb reeds een uitnodiging aan al gestuurd.
    +human
      I  have  already  an invitation  to all  sent
    b. * Ik heb net een plaats aan al gegeven.
    -human
      I  have  just  a place  to all given
    c. * Ik heb reeds een prijskaartje aan al gegeven.
    -human
      I  have  already  a price.tag  to all  given

    Bare al normally does not occur as the object of other prepositions either. An idiomatic example which basically exhausts the possibilities is het ergst van al'the worst of all'. This example has a more or less productive paradigm in the sense that the superlative adjective can in principle be replaced with any other superlative (cf. English worst/best/most/... of all). We can also mention the fixed expressions al met al'all in all', bovenal'above all' and vooral'particularly/especially'.

          For alle + Num and allebei, grammatical variants of the examples in (94) can be constructed, although some speakers consider the examples in (95) less felicitous than their double object counterparts in (90b) and (91b).

    95
    a. ? Ik heb reeds een uitnodiging aan alle twee/allebei gestuurd.
    +human
      I  have  already  an invitation  to all two/all-both  sent
    b. ? Ik heb net een plaats aan alle twee/allebei gegeven.
    -human
      I  have  just  a place  to all two/all-both  given

          The examples in (96) show that alle(n) and beide(n) can occur as the complement of aan if they have a +human referent, but that the result is somewhat marginal if they have a plural -human referent; as before, it is impossible for independent alle to be associated with a substance noun. There is no discernible contrast between the examples in (96) and their double object counterparts in (92b) and the primed examples in (93). The judgments are more or less the same, if alle(n) and beide(n) function as the complement of some other preposition.

    96
    a. Ik heb reeds een uitnodiging aan allen/beiden gestuurd.
      I have  already  an invitation  to all/both  sent
    b. ?? Wat die artikelen betreft, ik heb net een plaats aan alle/beide gegeven.
      what those articles concerns  I have  just  a place  to all/both  given
    c. * Wat die wijn betreft, ik heb reeds een prijskaartje aan alle gegeven.
      what that wine concerns  I  have  already  a price.tag  to all  given

          While the result of independent forms in subject, direct object and indirect object positions can systematically be improved by insertion of a plural pronoun to the left of the quantifiers, a more complex picture emerges when they function as the complement of a PP. The (a)-examples in (97) show that the +human examples in (95a) and (96a) become perfectly grammatical by inserting the strong pronoun hen, but not when we insert the weak pronoun ze. This peculiar fact that the weak pronoun cannot be used if the quantifier is the complement of a preposition probably also accounts for the fact, illustrated in the (b)-examples in (97), that insertion of a plural pronoun does not improve the -human cases in (95b) and (96b), given that strong pronouns cannot be used to refer to -human entities; cf. Section 5.2.1.1, sub V, as well as Section 7.1.2.2, sub IB and Section 7.1.2.2, sub IIB).

    97
    a. Ik heb reeds een uitnodiging aan hen/*ze alle twee/allebei gestuurd.
      I  have  already  an invitation  to them  all two/all-both  sent
    a'. Ik heb reeds een uitnodiging aan hen/*ze allen/beiden gestuurd.
      I  have  already  an invitation  to them  all/both  sent
    b. * Ik heb net een plaats aan hen/ze alle twee/allebei gegeven.
      I  have  just  a place  to them  all two/all-both  given
    b'. * Ik heb net een plaats aan hen/ze alle/beide gegeven.
      I  have  just  a place  to them  all/both  given

          The contrast in acceptability between the strong and weak form of the pronoun in the (a)-examples suggests that the modifier must form a constituent with the pronoun if it functions as the complement of a PP; cf. Section 7.1.2.2, sub IIB4. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that scrambling or topicalization of the PP must pied-pipe the quantifier. This is illustrated in (98) for (97a) with allen.

    98
    a. Ik heb aan hen <allen> reeds een uitnodiging <*allen> gestuurd.
      I  have  to them    all  already  an invitation  sent
    b. Aan hen <allen> heb ik reeds een uitnodiging <*allen> gestuurd.
      to them    all  have  I  already  an invitation  sent

    From this we can safely conclude that the modifier and the pronoun form a constituent. This may also account for the fact that examples such as (99) featuring the pronominal PP waar ... aan as indirect object are ungrammatical if the quantifier is present.

    99
    a. mijn vrienden waar ik een uitnodiging aan (*allen) gestuurd heb
      my friends  where  I  an invitation  to      all  sent  have
      'my friends to whom Iʼve sent an invitation'
    b. de artikelen waar ik net een plaats aan (*alle) gegeven heb
      the articles  where  I  just  a place  to      all  given  have
      'the article to which I have just given a place'

    The reason for the ungrammaticality is that R-pronominalization is excluded if the pronoun is part of a larger phrase. This is illustrated for the existentially quantified -human pronoun iets by the examples in (100). The (a)-examples show that if iets is the complement of a preposition, R-pronominalization is preferred. The (b)-examples, on the other hand, show that pronominalization is impossible if the pronoun iets is part of the so-calledpartitive genitive construction iets hards'something hard': R-pronominalization and R-extraction are excluded both with and without pied piping of the genitival adjective hards. This suggests that the examples in (99) are excluded because the quantifier alle(n) and the R-pronoun waar also form a single phrase that functions as the complement of a PP.

    100
    a. ? Hij liep tegen iets aan.
      he  walked  against something  prt.
      'He walked into something.'
    a'. Hij liep ergens tegen aan.
      he  walked  somewhere  against  prt.
    b. Hij liep tegen iets hards aan.
      he  walked  against something hard  prt.
      'He walked into something hard.'
    b'. * Hij liep ergens <hards> tegen <hards> aan.
      he  walked  somewhere    hard  against  prt.
    [+]  D.  A remark on alles'everything'

    At the end of this overview of the use of al, alle + Num and simplex alle as arguments, we want to draw attention to one form of al which has not figured in the discussion so far, because it does not occur as a modifier of the noun phrase: the quantifier alles'everything', which can only be used independently. The examples in (101) show that, like its English counterpart everything, alles can occur in all regular argument positions (despite the fact that, historically seen, alles is a genitival, neuter form of the quantifier al, whence the -es ending).

    101
    a. Alles is geprijsd.
      all  is priced
    b. Ik heb alles geprijsd.
      I  have  all  priced
    c. Ik heb alles een prijskaartje gegeven.
      I  have  all  a price.tag  given
    d. Ik heb aan alles een prijskaartje gegeven.
      I  have  to all  a price.tag  given

          The phrase van alles'all kinds of things' can be also used as a nominal argument, and it is plausible to assume that this phrase is related to the pseudo-partitive construction van die N'such N', which can likewise be used as a nominal argument; cf. Section 4.1.1.6, sub I. The two constructions are at least similar in that they are both indefinite, which is clear from the fact, illustrated in (102a&a'), that they may occur as the subject in an expletive er construction. Note that, like alles in (101a), the phrase van alles triggers singular agreement on the verb. The examples in (102b-d) finally show that, just like the pseudo-partitive construction, the van alles phrase occurs in all regular argument positions. This is shown in (102b-d).

    102
    a. Er ligt van alles op de grond.
      there  lies  all kinds of thing  on the floor
      'There were all kind of things lying on the floor.'
    a'. Er liggen van die scherpe spijkers op de weg.
      there  lie  such sharp nails  on the road
      'There were such sharp nails lying on the road.'
    b. Ik heb van alles gekocht.
      I  have  all kind of things  bought
    c. Ik heb van alles een extra schoonmaakbeurt gegeven.
      I  have  all kind of things  an additional cleaning  given
    d. Ik heb over van alles nagedacht.
      I  have  about all kind of things  prt.-thought
      'Iʼve reflected on all kinds of things.'
    [+]  II.  Distribution as predicates and adjuncts

    In present-day Dutch, al does not occur independently as a predicate nominal; the only exception is the poetic register, where al preceded by a possessive pronoun can be used as a predicate nominal: Jij bent mijn al'You are my everything'. The forms alle + Num/ allebei and alle(n)/beide(n) do not occur as predicates either. The only form of al that can be used as a predicate nominal is the quantifier alles, whose argument functions are illustrated in (101). Note that in (103b) alles cannot be replaced with spurious PP van alles: *Dat is van alles.

    103
    a. * Dat is/zijn al/alle twee/allebei/alle(n)/beide(n).
      that  is/are  all/all two/all-both/all/both
    b. Dat is/*zijn alles.
      that  is/are  all
      'That is all.'

    Used as a nominal predicate, alles in (103b) is restricted to singular subjects. This is not surprising given the singularity of the form alles, which is also evident from the fact that it triggers singular verb agreement in example (101a): cf. Alles is/*zijn geprijsd'All is/are priced'. An exception to this restriction is an example such as (104) where an evaluative voor-PP is added: in this case, the verb agrees with the plural subject of the construction.

    104
    Mijn kinderen zijn alles voor mij.
      my children  are  all  to me
    'My children are everything to me.'

          Though bare al does show up as an adjunct in (105), there is no transparent link between the use of al in this example (where it means “already”) and that of the quantifier al in the examples discussed so far. The adverb al'already' is an abbreviated form of alreeds'already'. Another complex adverbial form, in which al seems to act as a kind of premodifier, is alsmaar'constantly'.

    105
    Het is al laat.
      it  is already  late
    [+]  III.  Distribution as floating quantifiers

    Floating quantifier are quantifiers that are associated to noun phrases occurring elsewhere in the sentence, and with which they do not form a syntactic constituent. The term floating quantifier suggests an analysis according to which the quantifier and its noun phrase associate underlyingly form a constituent, which is split up in the course of the syntactic derivation. Here, however, the term floating quantifier will be used as a pre-theoretical notion. In fact, we will come across several indications that at least in Dutch, floating quantifiers should not be analyzed in terms of movement.

    [+]  A.  Al

    In present-day Dutch it is next to impossible to use bare al as a floating quantifier (although it is used like this in at least some Flemish dialects). In idioms one can find relics of this pattern: in (106) al is a floating quantifier associated to the third singular neuter pronoun in the surface subject position. The pattern cannot be productively extended beyond these idiomatic expressions.

    106
    a. Het is niet al/alles goud wat er blinkt.
      it  is not  all  gold  what  there  glimmers
    b. Het is mij al gelijk.
      it  is me  all  the.same

    Note that in the idiom in (106a), al alternates with the quantifier alles. This is, however, the only context in which alles is found as a floating quantifier in present-day Dutch. As is shown by (107), alles may combine with the singular demonstrative pronouns dit/dat to form the noun phrase dit/dat alles (cf. example (77)), but it cannot be used as a floating quantifier associated with such pronouns.

    107
    a. Dit/Dat <alles> is <*alles> overbodig.
      this/that all  is  superfluous
    b. Hij heeft dit/dat <alles> gisteren <*alles> gezien.
      he  has  this/that all  yesterday  seen
    [+]  B.  Alle + Num and allebei

    Alle + Num and allebei are felicitous floating quantifiers with both animate and inanimate a noun phrase associates. As is shown in (108) and (109), the associate of the floating quantifier can be either a complex noun phrase or a pronoun. The primed examples show, however, that the two types of associate differ in that the noun phrase must precede the floating quantifier, whereas the pronoun may also follow it if the floating quantifier is placed in clause-initial position. Note in passing that, while alle + Num within the noun phrase can be spelled either as one single word or as two separate words (see the introduction to Section 7.1.2.2), there seems to be a tendency to spell the two elements as a single word if it is used as a floating quantifier.

    108
    a. Die mensen/Ze zijn gisteren alletwee/allebei uitgenodigd.
      those people/they  are  yesterday  all-two/all-both  prt.-invited
    a'. Alletwee/Allebei zijn ze/*die mensen gisteren uitgenodigd.
    b. Ik heb die mensen/ze gisteren alletwee/allebei uitgenodigd.
      I  have  those people/them  yesterday  all-two/all-both  prt.-invited
    b'. Alletwee/Allebei heb ik ze/*die mensen gisteren uitgenodigd.
    109
    a. Die artikelen/Ze zijn gisteren alletwee/allebei geplaatst.
      those articles/they  are  yesterday  all-two/all-both  published
    a'. Alletwee/Allebei zijn ze/*die artikelen gisteren geplaatst.
    b. Ik heb die artikelen/ze gisteren alletwee/allebei geplaatst.
      I  have  those articles/them  yesterday  all-two/all-both  published
    b'. Alletwee/Allebei heb ik ze/*die artikelen geplaatst.

          As floating quantifiers Alle + Num and allebei can be easily distinguished from their use as noun-phrase-internal modifying forms. As noun phrase modifiers they must be left-adjacent to the determiner, as illustrated for alletwee in (110) and (111), whereas as floating quantifiers they normally follow their associate, as in the primeless examples above.

    110
    a. <Alletwee/bei> die mensen <*alletwee/bei> heb ik gisteren uitgenodigd.
      all-two/-both  those people  have  I  yesterday  prt.-invited
    b. Ik heb <alletwee/bei> die mensen <*alletwee/bei> gisteren uitgenodigd.
      I have  all-two/-both  those people  yesterday  prt.-invited
    111
    a. <Alletwee/bei> die artikelen <*alletwee/bei> heb ik gisteren geplaatst.
      all-two/-both  those articles  have  I  yesterday  published
    b. Ik heb <alletwee/bei> die artikelen <*alletwee/bei> gisteren geplaatst.
      I have  all-two/-both  those articles  yesterday  published

    The examples in (110b) and (111b) cannot be interpreted as containing floating quantifiers: the acceptable orders involve modification of the noun phrase, which is also clear from the fact that the quantifier must be left-adjacent to the determiner, that is, cannot be separated from it by, e.g., an adverbial phrase. This shows that the floating quantifier cannot be scrambled across certain adverbs, such as modal and time adverbs. This does not mean, however, that floating quantifiers can never precede adverbs, since they certainly can (or actually must) precede VP adverbs like vriendelijk'kindly' and zorgvuldig'meticulously' in (112).

    112
    a. Jan heeft die mensen gisteren alletwee/allebei vriendelijk begroet.
      Jan has  those people  yesterday  all-two/all-both  kindly  greeted
    b. Jan heeft die artikelen gisteren alletwee/allebei zorgvuldig gelezen.
      Jan has  those articles  yesterday  all-two/all-both  meticulously  read

          As illustrated in the primeless examples of (113), the floating quantifiers alle + Num and allebei can take as their associates independently quantified noun phrases, both animate and inanimate. The judgments on the primed examples seem to vary from speaker to speaker; the fact that many speakers consider these examples marked is probably due to the fact that vele denotes an indeterminate amount, which conflicts with the precision expressed by the numeral dertig'thirty'.

    113
    a. Ik heb die twee mensen alletwee/allebei uitgenodigd.
      I  have  those two people  all-two/all-both  prt.-invited
    a'. % Ik heb die vele mensen alledertig uitgenodigd.
      I  have  those many people  all-thirty  prt.-invited
    b. Ik heb die twee artikelen alletwee/allebei gelezen.
      I  have  those two articles  all-two/all-both  read
    b'. % Ik heb die vele artikelen alledertig gelezen.
      I  have  those many articles  all-thirty  read

    Note that the floating quantifiers differ markedly in this respect from the modifiers alle + Num and allebei, since the examples in (114) show that it is impossible for the latter to form a constituent with independently quantified noun phrases; cf. Section 7.1.2.2, sub IB.

    114
    a. * alletwee die twee mensen/artikelen
      all-two  those two people/articles
    b. * alledertig die vele mensen/artikelen
      all-thirty  those many people/articles

    The contrast between (113) and (114) therefore suggests that floating quantifier constructions are not derived from some underlying structure in which the floating quantifier and its associate form as a single constituent. Of course, this argument is not decisive but in the next subsection, we will see how alle(n) and beide(n) provide additional, more robust evidence against such a “floating” approach.

    [+]  C.  Alle(n) and beide(n)

    If alle(n) and beide(n) are used as floating quantifiers, the orthographic -n forms allen and beiden go together with +human noun phrases, as in (115), and the “plain” forms with -human noun phrases, as in (116). The use of alle(n) and beide(n) as floating quantifiers is restricted to the more formal registers of the language; the spoken language typically prefers allemaal and allebei. The forms alle(n) and beide(n) behave just like the floating quantifiers alle + Num and allebei: as is shown by (115) and (116), the associate of the floating quantifier can be either a complex noun phrase or a pronoun, but the two types of associate differ in that the former must precede the floating quantifier, whereas the latter may follow it if the floating quantifier is placed in clause-initial position.

    115
    a. Die mensen/Ze zijn gisteren allen/beiden uitgenodigd.
      those people/they  are  yesterday  all/both  prt.-invited
    a'. Allen/Beiden zijn ze/*die mensen gisteren uitgenodigd.
    b. Ik heb die mensen/ze gisteren allen/beiden uitgenodigd.
      I  have  those people/them  yesterday  all/both  prt.-invited
    b'. Allen/Beiden heb ik ze/*die mensen gisteren uitgenodigd.
    116
    a. Die artikelen/Ze zijn alle/beide gisteren geplaatst.
      those articles/they  are  all/both  yesterday  published
    a'. Alle/Beide zijn ze/*die artikelen gisteren geplaatst.
    b. Ik heb die artikelen/ze gisteren alle/beide geplaatst.
      I  have  those articles/them  yesterday  all/both  published
    b'. Alle/Beide heb ik ze/*die artikelen gisteren geplaatst.

          The use of alle(n) and beide(n) as floating quantifiers can be readily distinguished from their use as noun-phrase-internal modifying forms. First, the examples in (117) show that a determiner is incompatible with these quantifiers used as modifiers, in contrast to what is the case with the floating quantifiers in (115) and (116). Second, the modifier must be left-adjacent to the determiner, whereas the floating quantifiers in (115) and (116) normally follow their associate. Third, in the case of +human noun phrases in (117a&a'), the orthographic -n cannot occur on the noun phrase internal modifiers, whereas it must be expressed on the floating quantifiers in (115).

    117
    a. Alle/Beide (*die) mensen zijn uitgenodigd.
      all/both   those  people  are  prt.-invited
    a'. Ik heb alle/beide (*die) mensen uitgenodigd.
      I  have  all/both   those  people  prt.-invited
    b. Alle/Beide (*die) artikelen zijn geplaatst.
      all/both   those  articles  are  published
    b'. Ik heb alle/beide (*die) artikelen gisteren geplaatst.
      I  have  all/both   those  articles  yesterday  published

          The fact that alle(n) and beide(n) can be associated as floating quantifiers to noun phrases that they cannot form a syntactic constituent with casts more doubt on the “floating” analysis according to which floating quantifiers are base-generated inside the quantified nominal and split from it in the course of the derivation. This approach to floating quantifiers is also difficult to reconcile with the observation that the floating quantifiers alle(n)/beide(n) can be associated with independently quantified noun phrases. As was the case for alle + Num and allebei in (113), examples such as (118) are acceptable, although the judgments on the primed examples may vary from person to person.

    118
    a. Ik heb die twee mensen allen/beiden uitgenodigd.
      I  have  those two people  all/both  invited
    a'. % Ik heb die vele mensen allen uitgenodigd.
      I  have  those many people  all  invited
    b. Ik heb die twee artikelen alle/beide gelezen.
      I  have  those two articles  all/both  read
    b'. % Ik heb die vele artikelen alle gelezen.
      I  have  those many articles  all  read

    The fact illustrated in (119) that it is impossible for the modifiers alle and beide to form a constituent with a numerically quantified noun phrase is therefore again a problem for the “floating” approach.

    119
    a. * alle/beide die twee mensen/artikelen
      all/both  those  two people/articles
    b. * alle/beide die vele mensen/artikelen
      all/both  those many people/articles
    References:
      About this article
      Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Marcel den Dikken
      Category: Dutch Syntax
      Publication date: 22 November 2023
      Keywords: AgreementExpletive ConstructionFloating QuantifierPartitive Genitive ConstructionPseudo-Partitive ConstructionR-pronominalizationSubject-verb Agreement
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