TITLE:
Quantifier None and Its Relation to the Concept of Zero
AUTHORS:
Zaina Tsouhlaris
KEYWORDS:
Semantics, English Grammar, Quantifier None, “Nothingness”, Zero, “Zeroness”
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
Vol.14 No.1,
February
29,
2024
ABSTRACT: Native speakers of English use the negative quantifier none in constructions followed by the singular or the plural form of the main verb in a sentence like None (of the students) is/are present. This article intends to explain why such choice is permissible and under which semantic circumstances. Our explanation is based on a possible relation between quantifier none and the concept of “zero”, “nothingness” or “zeroness” as we would like to name it, as well as the collective interpretation of “zero” as a cardinal with 0 value or the result of a mental subtraction that overlaps with the semantics of the empty set, i.e., a set with no members at all.