Space-Grinding and the Use of Quan and Dou

In this section, we discuss whether quan and dou are allowed to occur with the singular count noun and the mass noun. In other words, we intend to solve the puzzle why quan and dou can be present in the sentence which does not contain any plural form of the noun.

4.1. Quan and Atelic Nouns

Different from count nouns, mass nouns denote substance. Therefore, though mass nouns never appear in the plural form, an atelic object can be identified as more than one instance of the same object. In Chinese, it is found that quan can co-occur with atelic nouns, as exemplified by the following sentences.

(21) a. 這杯水全喝光了。(連一滴也沒剩。)

Zhe-bei shui quan he-guang le. (Lian yi di ye mei sheng.)

This-M¹⁹ water all drink-out ASP. (Even one drop also no leave.)

‘All this cup of water was drunk up. (There was not any drop left at all.)’

b. 那包糖全吃完了。(連一顆也沒剩。)

Na-bao tang quan chi-wan le. (Lian ye ke ye mei sheng.)

That-M sugar all eat-finish ASP. (Even one piece also no leave.)

‘All that pack of sugar was eaten up. (There was not any piece left at all.)’

In sentence (21a), zhe-bei shui ‘this cup of water’ refers to a mass kept in a container, which occupies a certain location in space. However, shui ‘water’, unlike objects, is not limited to

18 BA refers to the exclamation marker.

19 M refers to measure classifiers.

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a physical boundary. As the extended expression suggests, the cup of water can be divided into smaller quantifies which are still water. That is, the denoted singular spatial location can be ground into numerous ones. Accordingly, the situation referred to by the sentence can be switched from a spatially restricted one zhe-bei shui ‘this cup of water’ to spatially unrestricted parts of the water in the cup. In (21b), tang ‘sugar’ is atelic and na-bao tang

‘that pack of sugar’ denotes one single spatial location. Without the basic unit of sugar, the denoted singular location of na-bao tang ‘that bag of sugar’ in space can be fragmented into numerous pieces of sugar. The pack of sugar is composed of plentiful small pieces of sugar, which in turn gives rise to a spatially unrestricted situation. In (21b), spatially unlimited reading is the basis for the occurrence of quan.

4.2. Quan and Telic Nouns

Though a singular count noun in English denotes an object with its boundary, the ontological object, as explained before, can still be ground. With the help of the universal grinder (Bach 1989), the singular spatial location referred to by the singular count noun can be conceptually ground into smaller units in denotation. (22a) and (22b) illustrate how quan can appear with the singular count noun:

(22) a. 這部車全修好了！(輪胎換了、大燈也裝了！)

Zhe-bu che quan xiu-hao le! (Luntai huan le, dadeng ye zhuang le!) This-CL car all fix-finish ASP! (Tire change le, headlight also fix le!)

‘All parts of this car were fixed! (I have changed the tires and fixed the headlights!)’

b. 那本書全看完了。(共有五章那麼多！)

Na-ben shu quan kan-wan le. (Gong you wu zhang na me duo!)

That-CL all read-finish ASP. (Totally have five chapter that me many!)

‘All parts of that book were read. (There were as many as five chapters!)’

In (22a), zhe-bu che ‘this car’ refers to an object, which is bound in space. In other words, it is a telic noun (Allen 1966). However, according to the universal grinder (Bach 1989), the single spatial location occupied by the object car can be decomposed into smaller units.

Therefore, though the car occupies a single location, its parts can be viewed as taking up more than one location. For instance, luntai ‘tires’ and dadeng ‘headlights’ are parts or components of a car. Since a car is ontologically composed of separate parts, the locations of the parts are not spatially restricted. As a consequence, quan can co-occur with ‘the car’

in sentence (22a). Na-ben shu ‘that book’ in (22b) refers to an object, which is bound in space too. Like a car, a book, which occupies one location in space in terms of denotation, is also ontologically composed of smaller units. Thus, the occurrence of quan in (22b) is

indebted to the ontological fact. The expanded parenthetic description suggests that the book is composed of five chapters.

The occurrence of quan in (5) also depends on the grinding as we have demonstrated.

Sentence (5) is repeated here for the convenience of reference.

(5) 他臉全紅了。(不但鼻子紅，連耳朵也紅。)

Ta lian quan hong le. (Budan bizi hong le, lian erduo ye hong le.) He face all red ASP. (Not-only nose red, and ear also red ASP.)

‘His face was all red. (Not only his nose, but also his ears turned red.)’

Ta lian ‘his face’ in (5) is a telic noun, which refers to a bounded unit. Nevertheless, the face can be seen as consisting of many organs. These organs occupy multiple locations in space.

Put differently, the spatially restricted situation denoted by lian ‘face’ (臉) can be viewed as a spatially unrestricted locations taken by the organs. Accordingly, quan is allowed to be present in the sentence.

4.3. Dou and Atelic Nouns

Now, we shall scrutinize the factor conditioning the occurrence of dou. The following example sentences demonstrate that dou can occur in the sentence containing the mass noun in the singular form:

(23) a. 這杯水都喝光了。(連一滴也沒剩。)

Zhe-bei shui dou he-guang le. (Lian yi di ye mei sheng.)

This-M water all drink-out ASP. (Even one drop also no leave.)

‘All this cup of water was drunk up. (There was not any drop left at all.)’

b. 那包糖都吃完了。(連一顆也沒剩。)

Na-bao tang dou chi-wan le. (Lian ye ke ye mei sheng.)

That-M sugar all eat-finish ASP. (Even one piece also no leave.)

‘All that pack of sugar was eaten up. (There was not any piece left at all.)’

Zhe-bei shui ‘this cup of water’ occupies one single spatial location in denotation. Again, the location can be further ground (Bach 1989). In the added interpretation, the cup of water is seen as composed of water drops. Parts of water in the cup may occupy different locations in space. In other words, the operation of grinding leads to a spatially unrestricted situation and as a result, dou can co-occur with (23a). Likewise, in (23b), na-bao tang ‘that pack of sugar’ refers to one thing, which takes one location in space. The denoted spatial location can be viewed as multiple ones in that tang ‘sugar’ is atelic. The parenthetic description indicates that the pack of sugar can be regarded as a collection of many pieces. That is, as a result of grinding, (23b), which originally refers to a spatially restricted situation, denotes a spatially unrestricted one. The multiple spatial locations in denotation provide the

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foundation for dou to occur in the sentence.

4.4. Dou and Telic Nouns

Telic nouns, as have been discussed earlier, denote objects, which are limited to the minimal physical boundary in reference. The example sentences contain a telic noun in the singular form as follows:

(24) a. 那本書都看完了。(共有五章那麼多！)

Na-ben shu dou kan-wan le. (Gong you wu zhang na me duo!)

That-CL all read-finish ASP. (Totally have five chapter that me many!)

‘All parts of that book were read. (There were as many as five chapters!)’

b. 這故事(從開始到結局)都說完了。

Zhe gushi (cong kaishi dao jieju) dou shuo-wan le.

This story (from beginning to ending) all tell-finish ASP.

‘All parts of the story (from the beginning to the ending) were told.

In (24a), na-ben shu ‘that book’ denotes an object. The object is telic and occupies one location in space. The spatially restricted situation, denoted by na-ben shu ‘that book’, has been turned into a spatially unrestricted one. Thus, dou, just like quan, is allowed to occur with the telic noun na-ben shu ‘that book’ in the singular form due to the ground reading. In (24b), zhe gushi ‘this story’ can be seen as consisting of differing parts. There are at least the beginning and the ending, as illustrated by the supplementary interpretation in the parentheses. In other words, although zhe gushi ‘this story’ is present in the singular form, it can be seen as a combination of several parts by grinding. Hence, zhe gushi ‘this story’ in (24b) refers to a spatially unrestricted but temporally restricted situation by virtue of grinding. The ground reading allows for the occurrence of dou. Consider (7a):

(7) a. 這部車都修好了！(輪胎換了、大燈也裝了！)

Zhe-bu che dou xiu-hao le! (Luntai huan le, dadeng ye zhuang le!) This-CL car all fix-finish ASP! (Tire change le, headlight also fix le!)

‘All parts of this car were fixed!’ (I have changed the tires and fixed the headlights!)’

In (7a), zhe-bu che ‘this car’ can be viewed as comprising different parts such the tires and headlights. The grinding of space then leads the sentence to a spatially unrestricted situation.

The unrestricted spatial locations in denotation provide the basis for the occurrence of dou in this sentence containing a count noun in the singular form²⁰.

20 One of the reviewers points out the possibility that the sentence (7a) is derived through the process of deletion from the underlying form (i) as follows:

(i) 這部車全部的問題都修好了。

Zhe-bu che quanbu de wenti duo xiu-hao le.