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    Indefinite quantifiers proper
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    Indefinite quantifiers include words like guon some, ferskate several and more complex cases like in protte a lot and net folle not much.

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    Indefinite quantifiers cannot be directly combined with numerals:

    1
    *Guon tweintich bern
    some twenty children
    Some twenty children

    Indefinite quantifiers can be directly combined with nouns:

    2
    Guon bern
    some children
    Some children

    They also feature regularly as the nominal head of a partitive construction (see also noun ellipsis):

    3
    Guon fan 'e bern
    some of the children
    Some of the children

    Guon some differs from sommige(n) some. Sommige(n) some always refers back to an antecedent whereas guon some can be used without an antecedent. In case it is used without an antecedent, it must refer to humans. So, guon some can be used to introduce persons which have not been mentioned before:

    4
    a. Der binne guon by de doar
    there are some at the door
    There are people at the door
    b. Der binne guon dy't gjin weet fan God hawwe
    there are some who no knowledge of God have
    There are people who do not know about God

    Guon some may be considered to be the plural counterpart of ien one. Ien one can also be used to refer to a person in case it does not have an antecedent within the preceding discourse:

    5
    Der is ien by de doar
    there is one at the door
    There is someone at the door

    When used before an overt noun, quantifiers ending in schwa may be appended with a -n in case they are used on their own:

    6
    a. Sommige feintsjes laken
    some boys laughed
    Some boys laughed
    b. Sommige(n) laken
    some laughed
    Some laughed

    There is considerable variation here. Three factors affect the choice of -e versus -n in case the indefinite quantifier occurs on its own:

    • the specific quantifier that is involved (ferskate versus somlike, sommige, inkelde, and so on)
    • the nature of the quantifier's antecedent (person or thing)
    • the construction in which the quantifier is found
    The medium degree quantifiers ferskate several and ferskillende several are more often found with a schwa than the low degree quantifiers somlike some, sommige some, inkelde some.

    Furthermore, an independently used quantifier is more often written with an -n if it refers to a personal antecedent. Thirdly, an independently used quantifier is more often written with an -e in case it is used in a partitive construction. An example of a partitive construction is given below:

    7
    Sommige fan har hiene skuonmakker of polysje west
    some of them had shoemaker or policeman been
    Some of them had been shoemakers or policemen

    This variation also extends to the definite quantifier beide both. No such issues arise with the native quantifiers guon some and gâns quite a lot. Guon some has quite a few nominal forms, such as guons and guont.

    Gâns is a high degree quantifier. It can be used as a nominal form as well, but then it has an inanimate reading, not an animate one:

    8
    a. Se hiene gâns mei him belibbe
    they had a.lot with him gone.through
    They had gone through quite a lot with him
    b. *Se hiene gâns der fan oertsjûge dat it wier wie
    they had a.lot it.R of convinced that it true was
    They had convinced a lot of them of it being true

    The meaning of gâns seems to be similar to that of high degree quantifiers such as in soad a lot:

    9
    a. Se hienen gâns bern en bernsbern
    they had a.lot children and grandchildren
    They had a lot of children and grandchildren
    b. Se hienen in soad bern en bernsbern
    they had a lot children and grandchildren
    They had a lot of children and grandchildren

    However, gâns is a positive polarity item whereas in soad (and variants such as in protte, in bulte) is not, given that gâns cannot co-occur with clause negation:

    10
    a. *Se hienen net gâns bern en bernsbern
    they had not a.lot children and grandchildren
    They did not have a lot of children and grandchildren
    b. Se hienen net in soad bern en bernsbern
    they had not a lot children and grandchildren
    They did not have a lot of children and grandchildren

    Gâns likewise fails to co-occur with negative constituents:

    11
    *Gjinien hie gâns oantekeningen makke
    nobody had a.lot notes made
    Nobody had made a lot of notes

    Furthermore, gâns quite (a lot), just like hiel whole, may modify the quantifier wat a bit:

    12
    a. Der giet gâns wat yn him om
    there goes quite a.bit in him around
    His mind is full of thoughts
    b. Der giet hiel wat yn him om
    there goes quite a.bit in him around
    His mind is full of thoughts
    c. *Der giet in soad wat yn him om
    there goes a lot a.bit in him around
    His mind is full of thoughts

    The same is true in case wat a bit is used to modify a noun:

    13
    a. Dy hat al gâns wat turven yn syn libben makke
    he has DcP quite a.bit lumps.of.peat in his life made
    In his life, he has made quite a lot of lumps of peat
    b. Dy hat al hiel wat turven yn syn libben makke
    he has DcP quite a.bit lumps.of.peat in his life made
    In his life, he has made quite a lot of lumps of peat
    c. *Dy hat al in soad wat turven yn syn libben makke
    he has DcP a.lot a.bit lumps.of.peat in his life made
    In his life, he has made quite a lot of lumps of peat

    Gâns can be used to emphasize the high degree reading of the indefinite determiner before a plural:

    14
    Dy man hat gâns in hinnen
    that man has quite a chickens
    That man has quite a lot of chickens

    Gâns can be omitted in this example, provided that the sentence changes from normal to rising intonation:

    15
    Dy man hat in hinnen!
    that man has a chickens
    That man has a whole lot of chickens!

    Gâns must be absent in the exclamative construction in which the high degree Noun Phrase (NP) is preposed and relativised:

    16
    a. In hinnen dat er hat!
    a chickens that he has
    That man has a whole lot of chickens!
    b. *Gans in hinnen dat er hat!
    quite a chickens that he has
    That man has a whole lot of chickens!

    Perhaps related to its status as a positive polarity item is the fact that gâns resists modification of NPs denoting the low end of a scale:

    17
    a. Hy is gâns in keardel
    he is quite a man
    He is quite a man
    b. *Hy is gâns in sipel
    he is quite an onion
    He is quite a fool

    In this respect, gâns resembles hiel whole:

    18
    a. Do bist in hiele keardel
    you are a whole man
    You are quite a man
    b. *Do bist in hiele sipel
    you are a whole onion
    You are quite a fool

    To express the intended meaning in the last example, the adjective grutte big must be used:

    19
    Do bist in grutte sipel
    you are a big onion
    You are quite a fool
    extra
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    Literature

    More details on indefinite quantifiers proper can be found in Hoekstra (1987) and Hoekstra (2011).

    References
    • Hoekstra, Jarich1987Guon, ien, wat, waFriesch Dagblad11-04Taalsnipels 28
    • Hoekstra, Jarich2011In bytsje oer gâns. In lytse bydrage ta de stúdzje fan it Fryske kwantifisearderssysteemIt Beaken73103-128
    About this article
    Author(s): Eric Hoekstra
    Category: Frisian Syntax
    Keywords: indefinite quantifiers
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
    Version history:
    version editor(s) date remarks
    1.0 Eric Hoekstra December 2015
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