Kvantifikatori

Kvantifikatori are words or phrases that express quantity and determine the scope of a statement with respect to a noun phrase or a clause. They play a central role in the semantics of sentences by indicating how many entities are involved or to what extent a property applies.

Common types include universal quantifiers (every, all, each), which refer to all members of a set; existential quantifiers (some, any in negative contexts, several), which indicate the existence of at least one member; and proportional quantifiers (most, many, few), which express an approximate proportion. Numerals and phrases like “two,” “three,” “half of,” or “a couple of” are also used as quantifiers. Quantifiers can occur as determiners within noun phrases (e.g., every student, some cookies) or as stand-alone pronouns in abbreviated forms (e.g., several did).

In syntax, quantifiers often assign the scope of a statement over a noun phrase or a clause. They interact with negation and other operators, sometimes creating scope ambiguities (for example, universal vs. existential readings). Morphology and syntax vary across languages: some languages place quantifiers before the noun, others allow postnominal placement, and many languages mark agreement with number or case.

Semantically, quantifiers determine the truth conditions of sentences by specifying how many entities satisfy a given predicate. They are essential for understanding entailment, monotonicity, and distributivity. Quantifiers are widely studied in linguistics, philosophy of language, and natural language processing due to their decisive role in meaning and interpretation.