ABSTRACT
The hypothesis will be confirmed in the present chapter, dealing with indefiniteness and some of its subcategories. On semantic, psycholinguistic and syntactic grounds, semantic representations (SRs) will be set up for the categories in question. Moreover, this will lead to positing a hierarchy of semantic complexity. The present tentative outline of a hierarchy of complexity in NPs of the form can be tested by checking the order in which these various NPs are acquired in first language acquisition. One of the favourite predicates appears to be the existential quantifier. Typically, in the environment of nog this quantifier introduces a partitive indefinite. Our semantic intuitions can thus be confirmed by syntactic evidence. Moreover, one should take into account psycholinguistic indications from child language or experiments. Finally, one has to bear in mind that semantic and not logical form is suited to setting up hierarchies of semantic-syntactic complexity.
