Cover not available

In:Bridging Boundaries: Interdisciplinary perspectives on Hispanic Linguistics
Edited by Gregory L. Thompson and Scott M. Alvord
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 46] 2026
► pp. 62–91

Chapter 3
Universal todo, quantification, and domain restriction in Spanish

 | The Ohio State University
 | Universidad de Buenos Aires
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
In this paper, we explore the syntactic and semantic properties of universal todo in Spanish, focusing on its different properties when combined with bare nouns and definite DPs. Our analysis challenges the traditional view that treats these variants of todo as a single element, proposing instead a non-unified analysis. More specifically, we argue that todo in Spanish comprises two distinct elements: todo-QDet, a universal quantifier analogous to English every, and todo-OP, a maximality operator similar to English all. We show that todo-OP and todo-QDet differ with respect to their combinatorial possibilities, their ability to float, the possibility of collective readings, and the availability of domain restriction. We then put forth a formal semantic analysis for todo-QDet and todo-OP that accounts for these differences. More specifically, we argue that todo-QDet is a quantifier that does not include a domain restriction variable, whereas todo-OP is an operator that rules out the non-maximality reading of plurals.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background and previous proposals
    • 2.1Previous proposals on universal todo in Spanish
    • 2.2The semantics of quantifiers and quantificational-determiners
    • 2.3All versus every in English: Brisson (1998, 2003)
  • 3.Todo-OP versus todo-QDet
    • 3.1Combinatorial possibilities of todo-OP and todo-QDet
    • 3.2Floating
    • 3.3Collective predicates and collective readings
    • 3.4Domain restriction
    • 3.5Interim summary
  • 4.A proposal and analysis for todo-QDet and todo-OP
    • 4.1Todo-QDet as an unrestricted universal quantifier
    • 4.2Todo-OP as a maximality operator
      • 4.2.1Todo-OP with plural DPs
      • 4.2.2Todo-OP with singular DPs
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
References (26)
References
Baltin, M. R. (1995). Floating quantifiers, PRO, and predication. Linguistic Inquiry, 26(2), 199–248. [URL]
Brisson, C. (1998). Distributivity, maximality, and floating quantifiers (Publication No. 9915415) [Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers University].
(2003). Plurals, all, and the nonuniformity of collective predication. Linguistics and Philosophy, 26, 129–184. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bustos, E. (1986). Pragmática del español: Negación, cuantificación y modo [Pragmatics of Spanish: Negation, quantification, and mood]. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Etxeberria, U., & Giannakidou, A. (2010). Contextual domain restriction and the definite determiner. In F. Recanati, I. Stojanovic, & N. Villanueva (Eds), Context-dependence, perspective and relativity (pp. 93–126). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Definiteness, partitivity, and domain restriction: A fresh look at definite reduplication. In A. Aguilar-Guevara, J. Pozas Loyo, & V. Vázquez-Rojas Maldonado (Eds), Definiteness across languages (pp. 419–452). Language Science Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fábregas, A. (2018). Determiners and quantifiers in Spanish: Types, tests and theories. Borealis — An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 7(2), 1–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heim, I., & Kratzer, A. (1998). Semantics in generative grammar. Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Higginbotham, J. (1981). Reciprocal interpretation. Journal of Linguistic Research, 1, 97–117.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jacobson, P. (2014). Compositional semantics: An introduction to the syntax/semantics interface. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Landman, F. (1989). Groups, I. Linguistics and Philosophy, 12(5), 559–605. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lasersohn, P. (1988). A semantics for groups and events. [Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University].
(1995). Plurality, conjunction and events. Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Link, G. (1983). The logical analysis of plurals and mass terms: A lattice theoretical approach. In R. Bauerle, C. Schwarze, & A. von Stechow (Eds.), Meaning, use, and the interpretation of language (pp. 127–146). De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
López Palma, H. (1999). La interpretación de los cuantificadores: Aspectos sintácticos y semánticos. Visor Libros.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montague, R. (1974). The proper treatment of quantification in ordinary English. In R. H. Thomason (Ed.), Formal philosophy: Selected papers of Richard Montague (pp. 247–270). Yale University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Partee, B. H. (2004). Noun phrase interpretation and type-shifting principles. In B. H. Partee (Ed.), Compositionality in formal semantics (pp. 203–230). Blackwell Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Postal, P. M. (1974). On certain ambiguities. Linguistic Inquiry, 5(3), 367–424. [URL]
Quer, J. (2014). Cuantificación [Quantification]. In M. T. Espinal (Coord.), Semántica (pp. 221–253). Akal.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Real Academia Española. (2024). Banco de datos (CREA Anotado) [Corpus]. Corpus de referencia del español actual (CREA). [URL]
Recanati, F. (1996). Domains of discourse. Linguistics and Philosophy, 19(5), 445–475. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sánchez López, C. (1999). Los cuantificadores: Clases de cuantificadores y estructuras cuantificativas [Quantifiers: Quantifier classes and quantificational structures]. In I. Bosque & V. Demonte (Eds), Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española (pp. 1025–1128). Espasa Calpe.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwarzschild, R. (1996). Pluralities (1st ed.). Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stanley, J., & Szabó, Z. G. (2000). On quantifier domain restriction. Mind & Language, 15(2–3), 219–261. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verkuyl, H. J., & van der Does, J. (1996). The semantics of plural noun phrases. In J. van der Does & J. van Eijck (Eds), Quantifiers, logic and language (pp. 337–374). CSLI Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Winter, Y. (2002). Flexibility principles in Boolean semantics: The interpretation of coordination, plurality, and scope in natural language. MIT press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue