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    Other quantifiers
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    Several inherently plural quantifiers are able to support noun ellipsis.

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    The following quantifiers may occur on their own while referring to a plural antecedent:

    1
    a. ferskate / ferskeidene
    several
    b. ferskillende
    various
    c. folle
    many
    d. ienige / iennige
    only ones
    e. inkelde
    some, a few
    f. ytlike
    innumerable
    g. sommige / somlike
    some
    h. ûnderskate
    various

    If these quantifiers end in -n, they are used without following noun. That is, forms in -n may not be used attributively, with a following noun present. However, if they end in -e, then the following noun may be present or absent.

    The quantifiers sommigen some, a few, somliken some and inkelden some, a few (ending in -n) almost exclusively occur with human antecedents. However, the -n is almost as often present as absent in the following possessive Adposition Phrase (PP) construction:

    2
    a. Somlike / somliken fan syn kollega's
    some of his collegues
    Some of his collegues
    b. Somlike / somliken fan 'e jongfeinten
    some of the young.men
    Some of the young men

    This is an indication that the use of either ending may also be construction-specific. The same observation holds for ytlike innumerable. When referring to a human antecedent, the -n is generally present, but it is occasionally absent if the quantifier is followed by a PP containing the quantifier's antecedent.

    The quantifiers ferskillende various and ûnderskate various are hardly ever used on their own. The quantifier ferskate several is rarely used on its own, but if it is, it refers to humans. It also occurs without -n when referring to humans, and, again, this characteristically occurs when the quantifier is followed by a possessive PP directly containing the antecedent:

    3
    Ferskate fan harren flechten
    several of them fled
    Several of them fled

    Folle many was occasionally used in the past with a -n when referring to humans, but this is an interference from Dutch. Such sentences with follen many generally also violate the requirement that folle many must be used in a negative context, since it is a negative polarity item in Frisian, but not in Dutch. Violation of that requirement 'proves' that follen many is an interference, which is confirmed by speakers' intuitions. Bare folle many can refer to humans in the existential construction, but otherwise it seems less felicitous:

    4
    a. Der binne net folle dy't soks úthâlde
    there are not many who such.a.thing opine
    There are not many who hold such a view
    b. ?Toeristen? Ik ha net folle sjoen
    tourists I have not many seen
    Tourists? I have not seen many
    c. ?Ik ha net mei folle praat
    I have not with many talked
    I have not talked with many people

    To summarize, at least three factors are relevant for the choice between the form in schwa or the form in -n, in case quantifiers are used on their own:

    • the specific quantifier that is involved (ferskate several or beide both or somlike, sommige, inkelde some, a few, and so on)
    • the nature of the quantifier's antecedent (person or thing)
    • the construction in which the quantifier is found

    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra, Joke Weening
      Category: Frisian Syntax
      Keywords: inherently plural quantifiers
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Eric Hoekstra, Joke Weening December 2015
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