Malagasy Quantifiers*

Abstract

After presenting some basic genetic, historical and typological information about Malagasy this chapter outlines the quantification patterns it expresses. It illustrates various semantic types of quantifiers, such as generalized existential, generalized universal, proportional, definite and partitive which are defined in the Quantifier Questionnaire in Chapter 1. It partitions the expression of the semantic types into morpho-syntactic classes: Adverbial type quantifiers and Nominal (or Determiner) type quantifiers. For the various semantic and morpho-syntactic types of quantifiers it also distinguishes syntactically simple and syntactically complex quantifiers, as well as issues of distributivity and scope interaction, classifiers and measure expressions, and existential constructions. The chapter describes structural properties of determiners and quantified noun phrases in Malagasy, both in terms of internal structure (morphological or syntactic) and distribution.

*  The authors would like to thank the editors of this volume as well as the anonymous reviewer for their comments.

11.1 Introduction

In this paper we explore the various syntactic and morphological means used to express quantification in Malagasy. Malagasy is an Austronesian language spoken throughout Madagascar and has been described in some detail both in traditional grammars (e.g. Domenichini-Ramiaramanana 1977, Rahajarizafy 1960, Rajemisa-Raolison 1971) and by structuralist and generative linguists (e.g. Dez 1980a, 1990, Keenan 1976, Paul 2000, Pearson 2001, 2005, Rajaona 1972). More recently, Keenan (2007) provides an overview of some of the quantificational strategies in Malagasy – this paper expands on these. As we will see, Malagasy has a range of both D-quantifiers (those that appear within the nominal domain) and A-quantifiers (those that modify VP or the clause as a whole). On the other hand, Malagasy quantifiers do not pattern with determiners in this language. The goal of this paper is essentially descriptive. The organization follows the questionnaire supplied by the editors.

Some background on Malagasy syntax is necessary before we discuss the data in any detail. Malagasy is a VOS language with fairly rigid word order. There is some debate over the status of the clause-final argument – it behaves more like an A-bar element than a subject and hence is often called a topic (Pearson 2005 is a recent analysis). For the purposes of this paper, we will refer to it as a subject. Like many languages in the family, Malagasy also has a rich verbal morphology, often called ‘voice’. The verbal morphology indicates (roughly) the semantic role of the subject. Again there is much debate over the nature of the verbal morphology, but that debate is tangential to this paper. Finally, subject-initial word order is possible if the subject is topicalized or focussed – several examples of fronting will be seen in the examples in this paper. We also note the following non-obvious glossing conventions. The ubiquitous preposition (t)ami(na) is glossed simply as ‘p’. The preposition an- marks (some) direct objects and is always glossed acc. An- is also a locative marker meaning roughly at, and a predicate possessor marker as in That is John’s. The proper noun article i is not glossed.

The Malagasy DP is head-initial (see Ntelitheos 2006); the basic order of elements is given in (1) and an example is provided in (2).

(1)	det/dem + N + poss’r + adj + numerals + quantifiers + rel clause + dem
(2)	ny alika kely fotsy tsara tarehy anankiray
	det dog little white good face one
	‘one pretty little white dog’	(Dez 1990:105)

Demonstratives typically ‘frame’ the DP – in other words, they appear at the beginning (like determiners) and at the end (almost like a phrasal circumfix). An example with io (proximal, visible, singular) is given below:

(3)	Ento	any	io olona	ratsy fanahy	io.
	carry.imp	there	dem person	bad spirit	dem
	‘Take over there this mean person.’ (Rajemisa-Raolison 1971:54)

Plural is overtly marked only on the demonstratives. Nouns and determiners are underspecified for number, what Corbett (2000) calls ‘general number’.

11.2 Existential (Intersective) Quantifiers

The examples in (4) illustrate some cardinal quantifiers in Malagasy: these typically surface to the right of the head noun, much like adjectival modifiers. Note that the equivalent of a weak existential quantifier can be expressed by the existential construction, as in (4)d.

(4)	a.	Nahita [sarin’i Churchill iray] aho  teoambonin’ny
		see picture Churchill one 1sg there  on  det
		lafaoro
		chimney
		‘I saw one picture of Churchill above the fireplace.’
	b.	Mihira eny an-dalana [ny tantsambo  sasany].
		sing  there  acc-street det sailor  certain
		‘Certain sailors are singing in the street.’
	c.	Mihira  eny  an-dalana [ny tantsambo  vitsivitsy].
		sing  there  acc-street det sailor  few.few
		‘Some sailors are singing in the street.’

	d.	Misy [tantsambo  mihira]  eny  an-dalana.
		exist sailor   sing  there  acc-street
		‘There are sailors singing in the street.’
	e.	Nanao  fangatahana  asa  [ny vehivavy maromaro].
		make  request   work  det womanmany.many
		‘Several women applied for work.’

11.2.1 Existentials

Malagasy has a dedicated existential verb, misy, that inflects with tense, much like other verbs: misy (present), nisy (past), his y (future).

(5)	a.Misy vehivavydimyeoam-pianaranaizao.
		exist womanfivethereacc-classnow
		‘There are five women in the class now.’
	b.Tamin’nytaon-dasa dia nisyvehivavy folotao
		pdetyear-gone top existwomantenthere
		am-pianarana.
		acc-class
		‘Last year there were ten women in the class.’
	c.Tsy misy vehivavyna dia iray azaeoam-pianarana
		neg exist womanor top one eventhere acc-class
		izao, kanefatamin’nytaon-dasa nisy betsaka.
		now butpdetyear-gone exist many
	‘There are no women in the class now, but last year there were many.’

The same verb occurs in interrogatives, but wh-questions with iza ‘who’ are not grammatical.

(6)	a.	Misy olonaaoan-trano.
		exist personthere acc-house
		‘There is someone in the house.’
	b.	*Iza nomisy aoan-trano?
		who foc exist thereacc-house
	c.	Inona no misy aoan-trano?
		what foc exist thereacc-house
		‘What is (there) in the house?’
	d.	Izanoaoan-trano?
		who foc thereacc-house
		‘Who is in the house?’

	e.	Mba misy olona (na dia iray/na iray)ve aoan-trano?
		part exist person (or top one/or one)q thereacc-house
		‘Is there anyone in the house?’
	f.	Tsy misy olona (na dia iray/na iray) aoan-trano.
		neg exist person (or top one/or one) thereacc-house
		‘There isn’t anyone in the house.’

The data in (6) and (7) show that in order to express a negative existential, the standard pre-verbal negation tsy is used.

(7)	a.	Tsy misy	voalavo	na dia iray	aza	ao		an-trano.
		neg exist	rat	or top one	even	there		acc-house
		‘There aren’t any rats at all in the house.’
	b.	Tsy nahita	voalavo	mihitsy	aho		ao	an-trano.
		neg see	rat	indeed	1sg(nom)		there	acc-house
		(na dia iray aza)
		(or top one even)
		‘I didn’t see any rats (at all) in the house.’

The existential verb is also used to express possession (inalienable or integral possession).

(8)	Misy tongotra	efatra	ny alika.
	exist leg	four	det dog
	‘Dogs have four legs’.

As for the definiteness effect typically found in existential constructions cross-linguistically, it can be found in Malagasy, but with certain exceptions, such as the possessive use, as in (9), where there is no definiteness effect for the possessor.

(9)	a.	*Misy mihira	ny olon-drehetra.
		exist sing	det person-all
		‘There is everyone singing.’
	b.	Misy tongotra	efatra	ny alika	rehetra.
		exist leg	four	det dog	all
		‘All dogs have four legs.’

11.2.2 Numerals and Modified Numerals

Within DP, numerals occur post-nominally and can be modified. Most naturally, however, the numeral occurs as the matrix predicate, as illustrated in (10) (recall that the subject occurs after the predicate).

(10)	a.	Mihoatran’ny dimyny vehivavyaoam-pianarana.
		exceeddet fivedet womanthereacc-class
		‘More than five women are in the class.’
		lit. ‘The women in the class are more than five.’
	b.	Dimy	ihany	ny vehivavy	ao	am-pianarana.
		five	only	det woman	there	acc-class
		‘Only five women are in the class.’
		lit. ‘The women in the class are only five.’

Below, we give further examples of modified numerals. As noted above, within DP, the modified numeral occurs post-nominally – we have bracketed the relevant DPs. In the first two examples, the DP occupies the subject position, while in (11)c–g, the DP is in the clause-initial focus position. Modified numerals can also be the main predicate, as in (11)h.

(11)	a.	Nomena loka [ny mpianatraefaho zato].
		giveprize det studentalreadyfut hundred
		‘Almost 100 students received a prize.’
	b.	Nomena loka [ny mpianatraefaho zatomahery].
		giveprize det studentalreadyfut hundredstrong
		‘More than 100 students received a prize.’
	c.	[Gadralavamihoatra ny roa]nonandositra.
		prisonerexceeddet twofocescape
		‘More than two prisoners escaped.’
	d.	[Gadralavazatoeohoeo]no nandositra.
		prisonerhundred here fut here foc escape
		‘Around 100 prisoners escaped.’
	e.	[Gadralavadimampolokahatramin’ny zato
		prisonerfiftyand up-to’dethundred
		eohoeo]no nandositra.
		here fut here foc escape
		‘Between 50 and 100 prisoners escaped.’

	f.	[Gadralavafarafahakelinyroa] no nandositra.
		prisonerleasttwofoc escape
		‘At least two prisoners escaped.’
	g.	[Gadralavalatsakany zato]no nandositra.
		prisonerfalldet hundredfoc escape
		‘Fewer than 100 prisoners escaped.’
	h.	Saikazatony gadralava nandositra.
		almosthundred det prisoner escape
		‘Almost 100 prisoners escaped.’
		lit. ‘The prisoners who escaped were almost 100.’

Malagasy does not have the equivalent of English ‘no’ – a negated existential is used to express the equivalent.

(12)	Tsy misy vehivavy ao	am-pianarana.
	neg exist woman there	acc-class
	‘No woman is in the class. / There aren’t any women in the class.’

11.2.3 Value Judgment Cardinals

Malagasy has some value judgement cardinals, and they pattern with other modifiers, appearing post-nominally (13)a–d or as the matrix predicate (13)e,f. Unlike in English, tena ‘very’ cannot modify a quantifier – we leave this unexplained.

(13)	a.	Nanadihady[mpifaninana mahay(*tena) betsaka/
		examinecandidateable(*very) many /
		vitsy kely/maro be] i John.
		few little/many big John
		‘John examined many/few/numerous qualified candidates.’
	b.	Nanatrika ny fivoriana [ny mpianatra maro / tsy diamaro].
		attenddet meeting det studentmany / neg topmany
		‘Many / not enough students attended the meeting.’
	c.	Tongatamin’ny fety[ny mpandraharahavitsy kely].
		arrivepdet party det administratorfew little
		‘Few administrators came to the party.’
	d.	Tongatamin’ny fety[ny mpandraharahamaro].
		arrivepdetparty det administratormany
		‘Many administrators came to the party.’

	e.	Vitsyloatra[ny mpianatra tonga].
		fewtoodet studentarrive
		‘The students who came were too few.’
	f.	Betsakaloatra[ny gadralava nandositra].
		manytoodet prisoner escape
		‘The prisoners who escaped were too many.’

11.2.4 Interrogatives

Interrogatives are possible within the DP, although they tend to surface as the predicate (much like numerals), as seen in the (b) and (d) examples below.

(14)	a.	[Mpianatrafiry]notonga namakyboky?
		studenthow-manyfocarrive readbook
		‘How many students came to the book reading?’
	b.	Firyny isan’nympianatratonga namaky
		how-manydet numberdetstudentarrive read
		boky?
		book
		‘How many students came to read books?’
		lit. ‘How many is the number of students who came to read books?’
	c.	[Mpianatraiza]noafa-panadianana?
		studentwhofocfree-exam
		‘Which students passed the exam?’
	d.	Izaavy ny mpianatra afa-panadinana?
		who alldet studentfree-exam
		‘Which students passed the exam?’

Note that examples (14)a,c involve focus fronting, where the fronted element has been argued to be a predicate (Paul 2001, Potsdam 2006, see Law 2007 for an alternative view).

11.2.5 Boolean Compounds

Although (15) expresses roughly the equivalent of the English translation, it is not possible to replace the complementizer fa by a conjunction (ary or sy). We gloss fa as a complementizer, as this is how it typically surfaces. In particular, fa can only be used as a connector between clauses or possibly VPs, never between NPs. In these examples, the quantifiers are once again in the predicate position.

(15)	a.	Tsy nandilatry	ny folo ny mpianatra	tonga nandihy.
		neg touch	det ten det student	arrive dance
		‘Not more than ten students came to dance.’
		lit. ‘The students who came to dance did not exceed ten.’
	b.	Roa ny farafahakeliny fa/*ary/*sy		tsy nandilatry ny folo
		two det least	but/*and/*and	neg touch	det ten
		ny mpianatra tonga nandihy.
		det student	arrive dance
		‘At least two but not more than ten students came to dance.’

11.2.6 Numeral Classifiers, Containers and Measure Phrases

Like English, Malagasy is not a classifier language and uses containers and measure phrases to count units of mass nouns.

(16)	a.	divay roa tavoahangy
		wine two bottle
		‘two bottles of wine’
	b.	ronono	iray baoritra
		milk	one carton
		‘one carton of milk’
	c.	landy	telo	metatra
		silk	three	metre
		‘three metres of silk’

Note that the measure phrase occurs post-nominally, like other modifiers in DPs, and that the numeral precedes the measure unit. This word order is also found with measure phrases of time and distance, as illustrated in the next section.

(17)	a.	sira iray kilao
		salt one kilo
		‘one kilo of salt’
	b.	fromazy iray kilao
		cheese	one kilo
		‘one kilo of cheese’

11.2.7 Units of Time and Distance

Unlike most other instances we have seen of modification by a numeral, numerals precede nouns of time and distance.

(18)	a.	Natorynandritran’[ny folo ora] aho.
		sleepduringdetten hour1sg
		‘I slept for ten hours.’
	b.	Hiverina aho afaka[fito andro].
		return1sgfreeseven day
		‘I will return in seven days.’
	c.	Misy fitoandroanatin’[nyiray herin’andro].
		exist sevendayindetone week
		‘There are seven days in one week.’
(19)	a.	[Efapolo kilometatra] miala an’i Paris no misy
		fortykilometreleave acc’Paris foc exist
		an’i Fontainebleau.
		acc’Fontainebleau
		‘Fontainebleau is forty kilometres from Paris.’
	b.	Lavakokoa[telo sentimetatra] nohoiBilliJohn.
		longmorethree centimetresthanBillJohn
		‘John is three centimetres taller than Bill.’

In this way, measure phrases of time and distance pattern more generally with measure phrases (e.g. of mass).

11.2.8 A-Quantifiers

We now turn to adverbial expressions that quantify over events, much like the D-quantifiers quantify over individuals. We give some examples of intersective A-quantifiers. In (20), the quantificational adverbs appear after the subject, though they can precede the subject.

(20)	a.	Mandeha tongotra mankany an-tsekoly			aho	[ indraindray].
		go	foot	go-there acc-school	1sg(nom) sometimes
		‘I sometimes walk to school.’
	b.	Mandeha tongotra mankany an-tsekoly aho				[mahalana
		go	foot	go-there acc-school 1sg(nom) rare
		dia mahalana].
		top rare
		‘I rarely walk to school.’

In (21), the quantificational adverbs surface between the verb phrase and the subject. This is the typical position for manner adverbs in Malagasy. As we saw above, these adverbs can also surface after the subject.

(21)	a.	Nitsidika an’i Tashken			[indroa] i John.
		visit	acc	Tashken	twice	John
		‘John visited Tashkent twice.’
	b.	Nitsidika an’i Tashken [in’efatra] i John.
		visit	acc	Tashkent four-times John
		‘John visited Tashkent four times.’
	c.	Nitsidika an’i Tashken			[matetika]	i John
		visit	acc	Tashkent	often	John
		‘John visited Tashkent often.’

11.3 Generalized Universal (Co-intersective) Quantifiers

Malagasy offers a wide array of universal quantifiers, both D- and A-types.

11.3.1 D-Quantifiers

The D universals are rehetra ‘all’, which is collective, and tsirairay ‘each’, which is distributive. We will shortly discuss the A-quantifiers, but it worth noting that the D-quantifier rehetra often co-occurs with the A-quantifier daholo, as in examples (22)a,d below.

(22)	a.	Manonofinofy daholo [ny mpanoratra tonon-kalo rehetra].
		dreamalldet writerpoemall
		‘All poets daydream.’
	b.	Nanoratratonon-kalo[ny mpianatra tsirairay tao
		writepoemdet studenteachthere
		an-dakilasy].
		acc-class
		‘Each student in the class wrote a poem.’
	c.	Tsy [ny saka rehetra]no maramara.
		neg det catallfoc grey
		‘Not all cats are grey.’
	d.	Afa-panadinanadaholo[ny mpianatra rehetraafa-tsy
		free-examalldet studentallfree-neg
		ny roa ihany].
		det two only
		‘All but two students passed the exam.’

	e.	Nandao ny tanana [ny lehilahy, ny vehivavy ary
		leavedet town det man,det woman and
		ny ankizy tsirairay].
		det child each
		‘Each man, woman and child left the city.’

We note in passing that the universal quantifiers pattern with the other D-quantifiers, appearing to the right of the head noun. Moreover, both universal quantifiers must co-occur with the determiner ny.

The quantifier isaky ‘each’ has a slightly different distribution. It is a head noun that takes an NP as a complement, as shown below.

(23)	a.	isan’olona
		each person
		‘each person’
	b.	isaky ny maraina
		each det morning
		‘each morning’
	c.	isaky ny manorotraizy
		each det write3(nom)
		‘each time he writes’
	d.	Nozarainapenina[isaky ny mpianatrataoan-dakilasy].
		distributepeneach det studentthere acc-class
		‘Pens were distributed to each student in the class.’

11.3.2 A-Quantifiers

In the adverbial domain, foana and lalandava are the equivalents of ‘always’, and can be modified by saika ‘almost’ (although saika is preverbal, perhaps modifying the entire VP and not just the adverb).

(24)	a.	Mandehataxi-befoanaahorehefa mankany
		gotaxi big always1sg(nom) when go-there
		am-pianarana.
		acc-school
		‘I always take the bus to school.’
	b.	Saikamandeha taxi-be foanaahorehefa mankany
		almostgotaxi-big always1sg(nom) when go-there
		am-pianarana.
		acc-school
		‘I almost always take the bus to school.’

	c.	Saikamitomanylalandava ny zaza.
		almostcryalwaysdet child
		‘The children almost always cry.’
	d.	Mandratrany tenanyi John isaky ny manala volom-bava.
		cutdet bodyJohn each det remove hair-mouth
		‘John cuts himself each time he shaves.’

11.3.3 Universal Quantifiers from Interrogatives

Malagasy has a productive process of forming universals (free choice expressions or ever free relatives) from disjunctive interrogative elements.

(25)	a.	Ento aty	ny	mpianatra	[na firy		na firy].
		bring here	det	student	or how-many or how-many
		‘Bring here however many students there are.’
	b.	[Na iza na iza]	no	milaza	izany,	aza	inoana.
		or who or who	foc	say	that,	neg	believe
		‘Whoever says that, don’t believe it.’
	c.	[Na saka inona na saka			inona]	dia mihaza	voalavo.
		or cat what	or cat		what	top hunt	rat
		‘Any cat hunts rats.’

The same form is interpreted as a negative polarity item in the context of negation.

(26)	Tsy hitako	[na aiza	na aiza]	ny	ondriko.
	neg find.1sg	or where or where		det	sheep.1sg
	‘I can’t find my sheep anywhere.’				(Dez 1990: (1871))

11.4 Proportional Quantifiers

11.4.1 D-Quantifiers

All of the proportional quantifiers in the nominal domain have a complex structure, resembling partitives. We therefore give an example of a simple partitive below: the multipurpose preposition amin takes a genitive complement ny olona ‘the people’.

(27)	iray amin’ny olona
	one p det person
	‘one of the people’

The genitive is also used to mark possessors of nouns: in (28) the possessor of the head noun trano ‘house’ is the genitive ny olona ‘the person’.

(28)	ny tranon’ny olona
	det house det person
	‘the person’s house’

As described in detail in Keenan and Polinsky (1998), the morphological expression of genitive is a nasal segment that surfaces between the head and its complement. Turning now to proportional quantifiers, we see in examples such as (29) that the quantifier corresponds to a noun (e.g. ankamaroana ‘most’) that selects for a genitive complement.

(29)	a.	Manonofinofy	ny ankamaroan’	ny	mpanoratra.
		dream	det most	det	writer
		‘Most writers daydream.’
	b.	Manonofinofy	ny habetsahan’	ny mpanoratra.
		dream	det most	det	writer
		‘Most writers daydream.’

Expressions of percentage follow the same pattern: ‘percent’ is expressed by a head isan- ‘each’ that takes zato ‘hundred’ as a genitive complement. The number then precedes this expression:

(30)	Folo isan-jaton’ireoboky eto Madagasikara dia amin’ny
	teneach-hundred dembook here Madagascar top pdet
	teny frantsay.
	language French
	‘Ten percent of the books in Madagascar are in French.’

In (31), we provide further examples of overt partitives that are marked by the preposition ami(na) (which also selects a genitive complement). Note that in the first two examples, the partitive surfaces in the predicate position.

(31)	a.	Fito	amin’ny folo ny mpanoratra				manonofinofy.
		seven	p	det ten det writer			dream
		‘Seven out of ten writers daydream.’
		lit. ‘The writers who daydream are seven out of ten.’
	b.	Mandilatra	ny iray amin’ny folo				ny isan’ny
		touch	det one	p	det ten		det number’det
		mpianatra hahazo loka.
		student get prize
		‘More than one in ten students will get a prize.’
		lit. ‘The number of students who will get a prize is more than one in ten.’

	c.	Tsy misy mpampianatra			iray amin’ny folo
		neg exist teacher			one p’det	ten
		no mahafantatra		izany	valim-panontaniana		izany.
		foc know		dem	answer-question		dem
		‘Not one teacher in ten knows that answer to that question.’

11.4.2 A-Quantifiers

Malagasy does not have productive formation of A-quantifiers from D-quantifiers (cf. English –ly), but there are many A-quantifiers that can appear in the verb phrase. There is no A-quantifier equivalent to mostly, however.

(32)	a.	Ny ankabetsahan’nyvehivavy no nifidyan’i Reagan.
		det mostdetwomanfoc chooseacc Reagan
		‘Most women voted for Reagan.’
	b.	Ny vehivavyno maronifidyan’i Reagan.
		det womanfoc manychooseacc Reagan
		‘Women mainly voted for Reagan.’
	c.	Matetika tsy mijanona hisotrokafeny jiolahy
		oftenneg stopdrinkcoffeedet thief
		rehefamandositrany polisy.
		whenfleedet police
		‘Usually thieves don’t stop for coffee when they are fleeing the police.’
	d.	Mandehataxi-bematetika /mazanamankany
		gotaxi-big often /frequentlygo-there
		am-pianaranaiJohn.
		acc-schoolJohn
		‘John often/frequently takes the bus to school.’
	e.	Mahalana iJohn nomitsidika ny tranom-bakoka ny alahady.
		rareJohn foc visitdet house-treasure det Sunday
		‘It is rarely John who visits the museum on Sundays.’

Note that in (32)e, the adverb is in the preverbal focus position together with the proper name John. Therefore the adverb is interpreted as modifying John.

11.5 Follow Up Questions

11.5.1 NP Background

11.5.1.1 Definite NPs

As noted in the introduction, DPs in Malagasy are head initial. There are a range of determiners and demonstratives in definite DPs.

(33)	a.	ra, i, andria, ry – for people
	b.	ilay – determiner for previously mentioned entities (usually singular)
	c.	ny – definite/specific determiner (unmarked for number)

(34)	Tonga i Koto/ ry Rakoto.
	arrive det Koto/ det Rakoto
	‘Koto/The Rakoto family arrived.’	(Dez 1990:(21), (29))

The demonstrative system is highly complex, encoding seven degrees of distance, singular vs. plural, and invisible vs. invisible (Table 11.1).

Table 11.1 Demonstratives

The definite article ny is clearly distinct from the demonstratives (all the demonstratives have initial i-), though Dahl (1951) claims that the determiner ny is historically related to the proximal demonstrative ini that is found in languages such as Malay. This historical connection between a determiner and demonstratives is very common cross-linguistically – Lyons (1999) claims that definite articles almost always arise from demonstratives. It is possible to show that the determiner and the demonstratives have different syntax and semantics. Syntactically, demonstratives typically frame the NP, while the determiner doesn’t, as can been seen by comparing (35) and (36). On the semantics side, Löbner (1985) uses consistency to distinguish determiners from demonstratives. In contexts such as (35), the determiner gives rise to a contradiction. If the determiner is replaced with a demonstrative, as in (36), there is no contradiction

(35)	# Mazoto ny mpianatraarytsy mazotony mpianatra.
	zealous det studentandneg zealousdet student
	# ‘The student is zealous and the student is not zealous.’
(36)	Mazoto itympianatraityary tsymazoto ity mpianatra ity.
	zealous demstudentdem and neg zealous dem student dem
	‘This student is zealous and this student is not zealous.’

11.5.1.2 Generic NPs

Malagasy does not have a special marker for generic NPs – definite NPs can be used to refer to kinds.

(37)	Tonga tany Madagasikara tamin’		ny taona		1900 ny bitro.
	arrive there Madagascar	p	det	year	1900 det rabbit
	‘The rabbit arrived in Madagascar in 1900.’

11.5.2 Monomorphemic Quantifiers

Malagasy appears to lack a monomorphemic proportional quantifier – the equivalents of most are closer to the French la plupart de in their internal structure. As noted by Keenan (2008, fn. 6), the forms meaning ‘most’ are all composed of the causative prefix anka, followed by root (be ‘big’, maro ‘many’, betsaka ‘many’), which is followed by the voice suffix ana. Malagasy also lacks a quantifier equivalent to English no. We note that A-quantifiers are not in general morpho-syntactically more complex than D-quantifiers. Some of the A-quantifiers may appear as matrix predicates and therefore can be classified as either adjectives or adverbs (Tables 11.2 and 11.3).

Table 11.2 Monomorphemic quantifiers

Table 11.3 Multimorphemic quantifiers (one phonological word)

(38)	a.	Matetika ny tsena.
		often	det market
		‘The market occurs often.’
	b.	Mahalana	ny tsena
		rare	det market
		‘The market occurs rarely.’

All of the D-quantifiers select for count nouns and some are also compatible with mass nouns (see below for more discussion of the mass/count distinction). Given the lack of morphological marking of singular or plural, there is no selection based on number.

11.5.3 Decreasing NPs

Malagasy has a range of decreasing NPs, built mainly using the negation tsy.

(39)	a.	Tsy nisy mpianatratonga namaky boky.
		neg exist studentarrive readbook
		‘No students came to the book reading.’
	b.	Latsaky ny dimy ny mpianatra nanaraka fampianarana.
		falldetfive det student followed teaching
		‘The students who followed the class were fewer than five.’
	c.	Tsy ny ankizyrehetranobetomany.
		neg det childallfocbigcry
		‘Not all children cry a lot.’
	d.	Latsaky ny fahefan’nympianatranoafa-panadinana.
		falldet quarterdetstudentfoc free-exam
		‘Less than one quarter of the students passed the exam.’
	e.	Tsy mandilatryny fitoamin’nyfolo nytantsambo
		neg touchdet seven pdettendetsailor
		mifoka Players.
		smoke Players
		‘Not more than seven out of ten sailors smoke Players.’

Decreasing NPs in Malagasy do not license negative polarity items: the examples in (40)a–c are all ungrammatical without the negative particle tsy, as illustrated in (40)d. In examples (40)a and c, the presence of tsy affects the meaning of mbola ‘still’ to give rise to the meaning ‘ever’. In (40)b, the NPI na dia iray aza ‘not even one’ requires an overt marker of negation.

(40)	a.	Na i John na i Bill dia samytsy mbola tany Mosko
		orJohn orBill top eachnegstillthere Moskow
		mihitsy.
		indeed
		‘Neither John nor Bill have ever been to Moscow.’
	b.	Tsy nandilatryny roany mpianatra tsy nahitavorona
		neg touchdet twodet studentneg seebird
		na dia iray azateoam-pitsangatsanganana.
		or top one evenhere acc-walk
		‘Not more than two students saw any birds on the walk.’
	c.	Latsakyny antsasan’nympianatraetodiambolatsy
		falldet halfdetstudenthere top stillneg
		tany Pinsk mihitsy.
		there Pinsk indeed
		‘Less than half of the students here have ever been to Pinsk.’
	d.*	Tsy nandilatryny roa ny mpianatra nahita vorona na dia
		neg touchdet two det studentseebird or top
		iray aza teo am-pitsangatsanganana.
		one even here acc-walk

11.5.4 Boolean Compounds

Boolean compounds of determiners are not directly possible in Malagasy (see Section 11.2.5). The rough equivalents of English examples use coordinated phrases of different types. In other words, the syntactic structure of the sentences in (41) and (42) is radically different from the English translations. The coordinated elements appear to be most acceptable in the predicate position, as in (41)a and (42)a.

(41)	a. Farafahakelinyroa arytsy mandilatra folony
		leasttwo andneg touchtendet
		isan’nympianatrahahazovatsim-pianarana amin’ny
		numberdetstudentgetprovision-studypdet
		taona avy.
		year come
		‘At least two but not more than ten students will get scholarships next year.’
	lit. ‘The number of students who will get scholarships next year is at least two and not more than ten.’

	b.	Maro fatsy ny mpanoratra rehetra nomatoryantoandro.
		many but neg det writerallfoc sleepafternoon
		‘Many but not all writers sleep in the afternoon.’
	c.	*Tsy tonga tamin’nyfetyna ny mpianatratsirairay
		negarrive pdetpartyor det studenteach
		na ny mpampianatratsirairay
		or det teachereach
		‘Neither every student nor every teacher came to the party.’
(42)	a.	Indroa farafahakeliny fatsymihoatra ny indimyi Koto
		twiceleastbutneg exceeddet five-times Koto
		tsy nianatra.
		neg study
		‘At least twice but not more than five times Koto didn’t study’
	b.	Amin’ny fifidiananany filoham-pirenenadia tsymifidy
		p’detelectiondet head-statetop negchoose
		foana ny Demokraty Rasoa famatetika dia ny Demokraty
		always det Democrat Rasoa but oftentop det Democrat
		no fidiny.
		foc choice
		‘In presidential elections Rasoa doesn’t always vote for Democrats, but often the Democrats are her choice.’

11.5.5 Exception Phrases

Exception is marked by afa-tsy, a morphologically complex expression built up from afaka ‘free’ and tsy ‘not’. Note that the complement of afa-tsy must have a determiner, but is not always interpreted as definite, as seen in (43)e.

(43)	a.	Tonga ny mpianatrarehetraafa-tsyRabe.
		arrive det student allfree-neg Rabe
		‘All the students came except Rabe.’
	b.	Ny mpianatrarehetraafa-tsyRabe no tonga.
		det studentallfree-neg Rabe foc arrive
		‘All the students came except Rabe.’
	c.	Namangyny mpianatra rehetraafa-tsyRabe aho.
		visitdet studentallfree-neg Rabe 1sg(nom)
		‘I visited all the students except Rabe.’

	d.	Namangy ny mpianatrarehetraahoafa-tsy Rabe.
		visitdet studentall1sg(nom) free-neg Rabe
		‘I visited all the students except Rabe.’
	e.	Tonga ny mpianatrarehetraafa-tsyny roa.
		arrive det studentallfree-neg det two
		‘All the students arrived except two.’
	f.	Tsy nisy mpianatranandaony fetytara afa-tsyRabe.
		neg exist studentleavedet party late free-neg Rabe
		‘No student left the party late except Rabe.’

The data in (43)d,f show that the exception phrase can be extraposed to the right, while the data in (43)b suggest that the NP and the exception phrase form a constituent.

11.5.6 Only

The equivalent of ‘only’ is expressed with fotsiny, irery ‘alone’ or ihany ‘only’ (or both, as in (44)b). Typically ‘only’ phrases appear in the focus position, as illustrated below.

(44)	a.	I John irery no nahazo loka.
		John alone foc got	prize
		‘Only John got a prize.’
	b.	Mpianatra	(irery) ihany no	nanatrika ny lanonana.
		student	alone only foc	attend	det ceremony
		‘Only students attended the ceremony.’

11.5.7 Partitives

As discussed in Section 11.4, partitives are productively formed with the preposition amin (or tamin – its past tense form), but there is no partitive equivalent to the English ‘all of the’ or ‘none of the’ and there are no partitive equivalents to ‘both’ or ‘neither’.

(45)	a.	Afa-panadinanany roatamin’ny mpianatra.
		free-examdet twopdetstudent
		‘Two of the students passed the exam.’
	b.	Afa-panadinanany roatamin’iretsympianatra iretsy.
		free-examdet twopdemstudentdem
		‘Two of these students passed the exam.’

	c.	Afa-panadinanany roatamin’ny mpianatro.
		free-examdet twopdetstudent.1sg(gen)
		‘Two of my students passed the exam.’
	d.	Afa-panadinanany roatamin’nympianatrin’ i John.
		free-examdet twopdetstudentJohn
		‘Two of John’s students passed the exam.’
	e.	Izaamin’ireompianatraireo noafa-panadinana?
		who pdemstudentdem foc free-exam
		‘Which of the students passed the exam?’
	f.	Ny mpianatrarehetra/ tsy ny mpianatrarehetra
		det studentall /neg det studentall
		no afa-panadinana.
		foc free-exam
		‘All/not all (of the) students passed the exam.’
	g.	Roa tamin’ny mpianatranoafa-panadinana.
		two pdetstudentfocfree-exam
		‘Two of the students passed the exam.’
	h.	Mihoatrany valopolo isan-jatonny mpianatra
		exceeddet eightynumber-hundreddet student
		no afa-panadinana.
		foc free-exam
		‘More than eighty percent of the students passed the exam.’
	i.	Mihoatrany dimytamin’ny enina ny mpianatra
		exceeddet fivepdet sixdet student
		afa-panadinana.
		free-exam
		‘More than five sixths of the students passed the exam.’
		lit. ‘The students who passed the exam are more than five out of six.’

The equivalent of ‘most’ does not involve a preposition. Instead, the head noun ankamaroana or ankabetsahana ‘most’, is directly followed by a complement that is marked for genitive case.

(46)	a.	Afa-panadinana	ny ankamaroan’	ny	mpianatra.
		free-exam	det most	det	student
		‘Most of the students passed the exam.’
	b.	Afa-panadinana	ny ankabetsahan’	ny	mpianatra.
		free-exam	det most	det	student
		‘Most of the students passed the exam.’

The Malagasy data thus support the claim that all languages have syntactically complex NP partitives and the claim that all NPs with a partitive interpretation are syntactically complex (raising the question about the nature of ‘all of the’).

There are however two other structure types that assign a partitive interpretation to an NP. One is the existential construction and the other is with special verbal morphology (circumstantial topic), as illustrated in (47). In these examples, the NP itself bears no special marking, but the syntactic structure is marked.

(47)	a.	Nisy namangy	azy		isika.
		exist visit	3(acc)	1plex(nom)
		‘Some of us visited him.’
	b.	Namonoana		ny akoho.
		kill+circumstantial		det chicken
		‘Some of the chickens were killed.’

See Paul (2000) for an analysis.

11.5.8 Quantificational NPIs

The expression na dia iray ‘not even one’ is a negative polarity item in Malagasy – it must occur with negation, giving rise to the contrast in (48).

(48)	a.	Tsy misy akondro na		dia iray aza	aho.
		neg exist banana	or	top one even	1sg(nom)
		‘I don’t have any bananas, not even one.’
	b.	*Misy akondro	na dia iray (aza)		aho.
		exist banana	or top one (even)		1sg(nom)

The adverb foana is listed in the dictionary as meaning ‘freely, foolishly, useless’, but in certain contexts it means ‘always’, such as (49)a. In (49)c, it appears that the adverb takes wide scope with respect to negation, giving rise to a ‘never’ interpretation.

(49)	a.	Tonga	amin’ny fotoana			foana	izy.
		arrive	pdettime			always	3(nom)
		‘He always arrives on time.’
	b.	Mbola	tsy	tonga foana		izy.
		still	neg arrive always 3(nom)
		‘He still hasn’t arrived.’

	c.	Tsy tonga		foana	izy.
		neg arrive		always	3(nom)
		‘He never arrives.’

11.5.9 Qs as Predicates

As we have already seen, cardinal numerals are possible as predicates. This is not possible, however, for strong quantifiers, such as rehetra ‘all’, sasany ‘certain’, and ankabeazana ‘most’.

(50)	a.	Latsakany zatony gadralava nandositra.
		falldet hundreddet prisonerescape
		‘The prisoners who escaped were fewer than one hundred.’
	b.	Fitoamin’ny folo ny dokoteramanome fanafody.
		sevenpdetten det doctorgivemedicine
		‘The doctors who give medicine are seven out of ten.’
	c.	Adinyvalony fatoriako.
		houreightdet sleep.1sg(gen)
		‘My usual sleep is eight hours.’
	d.	Tsy mihoatra ny zatony gadralava nandositra.
		neg exceeddet hundreddet prisonerescape
		‘The prisoners who escaped were not more than one
		hundred.’
	e.	Rehetra/*Sasany/*Ankabeazany ny gadralavanandositra.
		All/certain/mostdet prisonerescape

11.5.10 Qs as DPs

In general, quantifiers can serve in argument positions (e.g. subject or object). Because of the restriction on the subject position, however, bare quantifiers are not possible as subject – they are always accompanied by a determiner or a pronoun. The examples in (51) illustrate this pattern for telo ‘three’.

(51)	a.	Mora ireo boky	ka nividy	[telo]	aho.
		cheap det book	so bought	three	1sg(nom)
		‘The books were inexpensive so I bought three’
	b.	Mora ireo boky	dia novidiko	[ny telo].
		cheap det book	top buy.1sg	det three
		‘As the books were inexpensive I bought three’

Certain quantifiers, however, are always accompanied by a pronoun or a determiner, independent of their syntactic position.

(52)	a.	Moraireo boky dia nividy[azyrehetra]aho.
		cheapdetbook top buy3(acc)all1sg(nom)
		‘The books were inexpensive, so I bought them all’
	b.	Moraireo bokydia novidiko [izyrehetra].
		cheapdet booktop buy.1sg3(nom)all
		‘The books were inexpensive so I bought them all’
	c.	Moraireo boky dia nividy[ny sasany]aho.
		cheapdetbook top buydet certain1sg(nom)
		‘The books were inexpensive so I bought some.’
	d.	Moraireo boky dia novidiko [ny sasany].
		cheapdetbook top buy.1sgdet certain
		‘The books were inexpensive so I bought some.’
	e.	Moraireo boky dia novidiko[ny ankabiazany]
		cheapdetbook top buy.1sgdet most
		‘The books were inexpensive so I bought most.’

11.5.11 Distribution

Quantified NPs can occur in all major grammatical functions: subject (53)a, direct object (53)b, and object of a preposition (53)c.

(53)	a.	Novalikodaholo[ny fanontaniana rehetraafa-tsyny
		answeralldet questionallfree-neg det
		iray ihany].
		one only
		‘I answered all but one of the questions.’
	b.	Namaly [fanontaniana telo]ihanyi John tamin’ny
		answerquestionthreeonlyJohn pdet
		fanadinana.
		exam
		‘John answered just three questions on the exam.’
	c.	Nanaofanambarana tamin’ [ny mpianatra maro/rehetra/
		donoticepdet studentmany/all
		antsasakyny isan’nympianatra]ny mpiasan’ny
		halfdet number detstudentdet worker’det
		tranomboky.
		library
		‘The librarian sent a notice to several/all/ about half the students.’

There are no special restrictions on quantified NPs nor do they occupy positions that are unusual for definite NPs in Malagasy.

Scope ambiguities are more difficult to track. In our experience we have found that speakers tend to initially find sentences to be unambiguous (even when the two potential contexts are given). But during subsequent elicitation, many speakers find the sentence to be appropriate in the two different contexts. For this reason, we feel unable to make any definitive statement about scope ambiguities in Malagasy.

On the other hand, there are some differences between the different quantifiers. The universal quantifier rehetra is collective, while tsirairay is distributive. Therefore rehetra but not tsirairay is acceptable with predicates such as mivory ‘gather’.

(54)	a.	Nivory taoan-tokotanyny mpiantrarehetraomaly.
		gather thereacc-yarddet studentallyesterday
		‘All the students gathered in the yard yesterday.’
	b.	*Nivorytaoan-tokotanyny mpiantratsirairay omaly.
		gatherthere acc-yarddet studenteachyesterday

This difference is also apparent in the two following sentences, where tsirairay forces a distributive reading in (55)b.

(55)	a.	Misy sarin’nympianatrarehetraeoambonin’ny
		exist picture’det studentallthereondet
		latabatra.
		table
		‘There is a picture of all the students on the table.’
		(ambiguous: one picture of all the students or one picture per student)
	b.	Misy sarin’nympianatratsirairay eoambonin’ny
		exist picturedetstudenteachthereondet
		latabatra.
		table
		‘There is a picture of each student on the table.’
		(unambiguous: one picture per student)

Scope interactions are also visible in wh-questions, where fronting a wh-expression tends to force a wide-scope reading, as in (56)a, while an in-situ wh-expression can take narrow scope (56)b.

(56)	a.	Ny boky inonanonovidin’nympianatrarehetra?
		det book whatfocbuydetstudentall
		‘Which book did all the students buy?’
		possible answer: a single book

	b.	Nividyboky inonadaholony mpianatra?
		buybook whatalldet student
		‘What book did all the students buy?’
		possible answer: pair-list (a different book for each student)

If the wh-expression is an agent, however, both wide and narrow scope interpretations are possible, as seen in (57).

(57)	Iza no	nidera ny mpianatra		rehetra?
	who foc	praise det student		all
	‘Who praised all the students?’
	single or list

Due to the limitations on embedding quantified NPs in NPs, it is not easy to test for scope ambiguities in such contexts.

(58)	a.	naman’	ny senatera	tsirairay avy
		friend	det senator	each each
		‘a friend of each senator’
	b.	*namana	roa ny senatera tsirairay avy
		friend	two det senator each each
		‘two friends of each senator’
	c.	*namana	tsirairay ny senatera	tsirairay avy
		friend	eachdet senatoreacheach
		‘each friend of each senator’

11.5.12 Distributive Numerals

Malagasy allows for the productive formation of distributive numerals: the prefix tsi- is attached to the reduplicated form of the number (numbers from one to ten, and then one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand).

(59)	a.	tsirairay ‘one by one’
	b.	tsiroaroa ‘two by two’
	c.	tsizatozato ‘one hundred by one hundred’

The result is an adverb that generally appears post-verbally, as in (60).

(60)	Nilahatra	tsiroaroa	ny mpianatra.
	line-up	tsi-two-two	det student
	‘The students lined up two by two.’

The same formation applies to some adjectives and nouns.

(61)	a.	tsikelikely	‘little by little’
	b.	tsitaitaika	‘drop by drop’

11.5.13 Mass vs. Count Quantifiers

Malagasy does appear to have a grammatical mass/count distinction, but only a few quantifiers are sensitive to it. The numerals are incompatible with a mass noun (without a measure word), as is the quantifier vitsy ‘few’. This is true whether the quantifier is in modifier position, as in (62), or in the predicate position, as in (63).

(62)	a.	Novidiny	nyboky enina.
		buy.3(gen)	det book six
		‘She bought six books.’
	b.	*Novidiny	ny lafarina	enina.
		buy.3(gen)	det flour	six
		‘She bought six flours.’
(63)	a.	Roa/vitsy ny boky.
		two/few det book
		‘There are two/few books.’
	b.	*Roa/vitsy ny lafarina.
		two/few det	flour
		‘There are two/few flours.’

Most other quantifiers are possible with both mass and count nouns.

(64)	a.	trano firy?
		house how-many
		‘how many houses’
	b.	hidrozena firy?
		hydrogen how-many
		‘how much hydrogen’
	c.	ny trano	rehetra
		det house	all
		‘all houses’
	d.	ny lafarina	rehetra
		det flour	all
		‘all flour’

But tsirairay (avy) ‘each’ is only possible with count nouns.

(65)	a.	ny trano tsirairay
		det house	each
		‘each house’
	b.	*ny lafarina	tsirairay
		det flour	each

11.5.14 The Indexing Function of Universal Quantifiers

Universal quantifiers such as isany ‘each’ can introduce an indexing function as adverbial expressions in (66):

(66)	a.	Mitombo	isan-taona	ny	mpividy	Toyota
		grows	each-year	det	buyers	Toyota
		‘The number of Toyota buyers grows every year’
	b.	Isaky	ny	oram-barotra	mianjera	ny	trano	iray.
		each	det	rain-thunder	collapses	det	house	one
		‘At each thunder-storm one house collapses.’

Rate phrases are productively formed with the noun isany ‘number, total, each’

(67)	a.	Efa-jatokilometatraisan’orany hafaingam-
		four-hundred kilometreeach hourdet speed
		pandehan’ityfiarandalam-byity.
		godem traindem
		‘That train is travelling at 400 kilometres per hour.’
		lit. ‘The going-speed of that train is 400 km/h.’
	b.	Mihazakazakaroapolo kilometatraisan’andro aho.
		runtwo-ten kilometreeach day1sg(nom)
		‘I run twenty kilometres a day.’
	c.	Manasanytarehinyindroaisan’andro/
		washdetface.3(gen)twiceeach day /
		in-teloisan’andro/isan’androizy.
		thriceeach day/each day3(nom)
		‘He washes his face twice a day / three times a day / every day.’

11.5.15 Type 2 Quantifiers

The Malagasy equivalents of English Type 2 quantifiers follow the patterns that we have already seen: wh-quantifiers as well as modifiers such as samihafa ‘different’ and mitovy ‘same’ are possible.

(68)	a.	Mpianatraizano namalyfanontaniana mikasika ny
		studentwhofoc answerquestionconcerndet
		inona tamin’ny fanadinana?
		what pdet exam
		‘Which students answered which questions on the exam?’
	b.	Namaly fanontaniana mitovy ny mpianatrarehetra
		answerquestionsamedet studentall
		tamin’ny fanadinana.
		pdetexam
		‘All the students answered the same questions on the exam.’
	c.	Samy namaly fanontaniana samihafa ny mpianatra tsirairay
		each answer question different det student each
		tamin’ny fanadinana.
		pdet exam
		‘Each student answered a different question on the exam.’
	d.	Namaly fanontaniana samihafa ny mpianatra samihafa.
		answerquestiondifferentdet studentdifferent
		‘Different students answered different questions.’
	e.	Mipetrakaamin’ny tanàna mifanakaiky i John sy Bill.
		livepdettown recip.closeJohn and Bill
		‘John and Bill live in neighbouring villages.’
	f.	Manohanaantoko politika mpifaninanai John sy Bill.
		supportpartypolitical rival(e.o)John and Bill
		‘John and Bill support rival political parties.’
	g.	Samy nanana ny efitrano nipetrahany avy ry zareo
		each have det room live each det 3pl
		tao amin’ny trano.
		there p det house
		‘They live in different apartments in the same building.’
	h.	Ny mpanatrika rehetra dia nanao fehitenda mitovy loko.
		det spectator all top do tie same colour
		‘All the participants wore the same colour necktie.’

	i.	Niara nandihy tamin’ i Mary i John fa tsy nisy
		together dance p Mary John but neg exist
		olon-kafa nandihy niaraka tamin’ olona mihitsy.
		person-other dance together p person indeed
		‘John danced with Mary but no one danced with anyone else.’
	j.	Tokony hapetraka amina efitrano mitokana avy
		should put p room separate each
		na amina rindrina mifanatrika ny sary hosodoko.
		or p wall facing det picture paint
		‘The paintings should be hung in separate rooms or on oppo site walls of the same room.’
	k.	Samy nanatsoaka hevitra samihafa avy amin’ ny
		each deduce thought different each p det
		tohan-kevitra ny mpitsara.
		support-thought det judge
		‘The jurors drew different conclusions from the same arguments.’

11.5.16 Type ((1,1),1)

11.5.16.1 Comparative D-Quantifiers

Comparative quantification is only expressed within the predicate. As a result, the equivalent of ‘more students than teachers came’, is closer to ‘the students who came were more numerous than the teachers’, as in (69). Note, however, that in (69)f, there is no overt expression that corresponds to ‘many’.

(69)	a.	Maro kokoany mpianatranohon’nympampianatra
		many moredet studentthandetteacher
		tonga amin’ny fety.
		arrive pdet party
		‘More students than teachers came to the party.’
	b.	Maro ny mpianatranampampianatratonga
		many det studentorteacherarrive
		tamin’ny fety farafaharatsiny.
		pdet party least
		‘At least as many students as teachers came to the party.’
	c.	Mahafantatra mpianatrakokoanohon’ny mpampianatra
		knowstudentmorethandetteacher
		aho.
		1sg(nom)
		‘I know more students than teachers.’

	d.	Niara-niasabebekokoa tamin’ny mpianatra
		together-workbig-big more pdetstudent
		ahonohon’nympampianatra.
		1sg(nom)thandetteacher
		‘I worked with more students than teachers.’
	e.	Ninoana nanaosoniakokoa ny mpianatramaromaro
		believe dosignature more det student many
		nohon’nympampianatra.
		thandetteacher
		‘More students than teachers were believed to have signed.’
	f.	Tenamitovyna ny hamaron’nybisikiletan’ny
		reallysameor det numberdetbicycledet
		mpianatrana ny an’ny mpampianatra nangalarin’olona.
		studentor det acc det teacherstealperson
		‘Just as many students’ as teachers’ bicycles were stolen.’

11.5.16.2 Combinations with Conjunctions

(70)	a.	Ny lehilahy,ny vehivavy aryny ankizyrehetra
		det man,det womanand det childall
		no mitsambikinaan-dranomasina
		foc jumpacc-ocean
		‘Every man, woman and child jumped overboard.’
	b.	Betsakany lehilahy,ny vehivavy na ny ankizymiasa
		manydet man,det womanor det childwork
		alahady.
		Sunday
		‘Many men, women and children work on Sunday.’
		lit. ‘The men, women, and children who work on Sunday are many.’

11.5.16.3 Predicates

The comparative discussed above easily generalizes to predicates.

(71)	Betsakakokoany mpianatra tonga tamin’nyfety
	manymoredet studentarrive pdetparty
	noho ireo nianatrananomam-panadinana.
	than dem studyprepare-exam
	‘More students came to the party than studied for their exams.’
	lit. ‘The students who came to the party were more than those who studied for the exam.’

11.5.17 Floating Quantifiers

Per Tables 11.2 and 11.3 Malagasy has several A-quantifiers and several D-quantifiers. The two sets are almost disjoint and they may co-occur: avokoa ‘all’, daholo ‘all’, avy ‘each’, samy ‘each’. These all appear in adverbial positions (samy occurs pre-verbally and the others after the VP) and never within the NP (72)c. Note that these often co-occur with each other, as in (72)a,b.

(72)	a.	Samylasa daholo/avokoanyankizyrehetra
		eachgone all/allthestudentall
		‘All the children left’
	b.	Latsaka avyanyambonin’nytendrombohitradaholo
		fallfrom thereon+top+of’dethillall
		ny ankizy.
		det children
		‘The children all fell down the hill.’
	c.	*Latsaka avyanyambonin’nytendrombohitra
		fallfromthereon+top+of’dethill
		ny ankizydaholo.
		det childall

The D-quantifier rehetra ‘all’ never floats, nor do numerals.

(73)	a.	Ny mpianatrarehetranotonga tamin’ny fety.
		det studentallfocarrive pdet party
		‘All the students came to the party.’
	b.	*Ny mpianatra notonga tamin’nyfetyrehetra.
		det studentfocarrive pdetpartyall
	c.	Nihomehymafy ny mpianatraroa.
		laughhard det studenttwo
		‘Two students laughed out loud.’
	d.	*Nihomehymafyroany mpianatra.
		laughhardtwodet student

The one quantifier that can appear both in a ‘floated’ VP position (74)a and within NP subject 74(b) is tsirairay ‘each’ and its variant tsirairay avy (Dez 1980b:172). It always takes the subject as antecedent.

(74)	a.	Nomeko paiso dimy		tsirairay ny mpianatra.
		give	peach five	eachdet student
		‘I gave the students five peaches each.’

	b.	Nomeko paiso dimy		ny mpianatra tsirairay.
		give	peach five	det student	each
		‘I gave five peaches to each of the students.’

11.6 Conclusion

The goal of this paper is essentially a descriptive one: to explore the range of morphosyntactic expressions of quantification in Malagasy. We leave the analysis of these expressions for future research.