Семантика конструкций со значением всеобщности в малокарачкинском говоре чувашского языка в типологической перспективе
Universal Quantification in Poshkart Chuvash in Typological Perspective

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines constructions that express universal quantification in the Poshkart variety of the Chuvash language. This variety has five quantifier words for universals: por, mënbor, pëdëm, kaʐni, and veɕ. These words may combine with an additive or emphatic clitic, a possessive marker, or the instrumental case. The paper describes the semantic distribution of universal constructions, taking into account the contributions of both lexical items and grammatical markers. The analysis is grounded in the typological classification of core quantificational meanings proposed by Tatevosov [2002]. The study shows that universal quantifier words establish the primary division across major domains of universal quantification, while grammatical elements introduce additional semantic restrictions. Constructions with the additive clitic do not encode universal quantification over single entities, as they require semantic plurality. The possessive marker functions as a marker of definiteness and is excluded from generic contexts, which are incompatible with a definite referential interpretation of the set. The instrumental marker expresses exhaustive coverage of inanimate holistic entities. We refine the classification of universal quantificational meanings by identifying an intermediate domain comprising mass, collective, and abstract nouns, which exhibit transitional properties between quantification over sets and over single entities. Recognizing this domain clarifies the semantics of individual elements of the constructions and shows that universal quantification is organized along a continuum between sets and single entities.

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