Cover not available
Part of
Approaches to Hungarian: Volume 15: Papers from the 2015 Leiden Conference
Edited by Harry van der Hulst and Anikó Lipták
[Approaches to Hungarian 15] 2017
► pp. 157–181

Chapter 6
Measure constructions in Hungarian and the semantics of the -nyi suffix

This paper examines the distribution and meaning of the -nyi suffix. -nyi naturally attaches to container classifiers and induces a measure interpretation of the container noun. I show that -nyi is not restricted to the dimension of volume but applies generally to count nouns. -nyi combines with N to create a measure head, analogous to expressions such as kilo. I maintain that being a measure head, N-nyi combines with a numeral to form a complex phrasal modifier. I then examine the semantics of -nyi itself. I show that it has two interpretations: it induces a measure reading of the N pohár in két pohár-nyi bor, and it forces an approximative interpretation when suffixed to an explicit measure expression as in kiló-nyi.
Keywords: classifier constructions, measuring, word formation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Measures with and without -nyi
  • 3. N-nyi is a measure head
  • 4.Conditions for the occurrence and non-occurrence of -nyi
  • 5.What is -nyi and what do -nyi phrases indicate?
  • 6.-nyi as an approximative operator
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 24 August 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/atoh.15.06sch
References (13)
References
Dékány, Éva. 2011. A profile of the Hungarian DP. Tromsø: University of Tromsø dissertation.Google Scholar
Kiefer, Ferenc and Mária, Ladányi 2000. Morfoszintaktikailag semleges képzések. [Derivations that are morphosyntactically neutral]. In Ferenc Kiefer (ed), Strukturális magyar nyelvtan III. [A Structural grammar of Hungarian], 165–214. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.Google Scholar
Kenesei, István, Robert. M. Vago & Anna Fenyvesi. 1998. Hungarian. New York: Routledge.‏‏ DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Khrizman, Keren & Susan Rothstein. 2015. Russian approximative inversion as a measure construction. In Gerhild Zybatow, Petr Biskup, Marcel Guhl, Claudia Hurtig, Olav Mueller-Reichau, Maria Yastrebova (eds.), Slavic Grammar from a Formal Perspective. The 10th Anniversary FDSL Conference, Leipzig 2013. Linguistik International, Band 35, 259–272. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Edition.Google Scholar
Khrizman, Keren, Fred Landman, Suzi Lima, Susan Rothstein & Brigitta R. Schvarcz. 2015. Portion readings are count readings, not measure readings. In Thomas Brochhagen, Floris Roelofsen & Nadine Theiler (eds.), Proceedings of the 20th Amsterdam Colloquium. 179–206. [URL] (12 December 2016).
Krifka, Manfred. 1989. Nominal Reference, Temporal Constitution and Quantification in Event Semantics. In Renate Bartsch, Johan van Benthem & Peter von Emde Boas (eds.), Semantics and Contextual Expression, 75–115. Dordrecht: Foris Publication.Google Scholar
Landman, Fred. 2004. Indefinites and the Type of Sets. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Partee, Barbara H. & Vladimir Borschev. 2012. Sortal, relational, and functional interpretations of nouns and Russian container constructions. Journal of Semantics 29,4. 445–486. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rothstein, Susan. 2009. Individuating and measure readings of classifier constructions: Evidence from Modern Hebrew. Brill’s Annual of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics 1. 106–145. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012. Numericals: counting, measuring and classifying. In Ana Aguilar-Guevara, Anna Chernilovskaya & Rick Nouwen (eds.), Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 16, 527–543. Paris: ENS.Google Scholar
. 2017. Semantics for Counting and Measuring. Cambridge University Press. DOI logo
Schvarcz, Brigitta R. 2014. The Hungarians who Say -nyi: Issues in Counting and Measuring in Hungarian. MA Thesis. Bar-Ilan University.Google Scholar
Schwarzschild, Roger. 2006. The role of dimensions in the syntax of noun phrases. Syntax 9,1. 67–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Farkas, Imola-Ágnes
2021. Aspectual cognate objects in Hungarian. Folia Linguistica 55:2 ► pp. 389 ff. DOI logo
Farkas, Imola-Ágnes
2021. Aspectual cognate objects in Hungarian. Folia Linguistica 0:0 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 14 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.