Counting and degree modification*

This paper defends the hypothesis that number and classifiers behave differently in nominal and in verbal structures. When numerals are used in order to ‘count’ a number of objects or events, they interact differently with nouns and verbs (compare three visits with to visit three *(times)). Degree modifiers, on the other hand, behave rather similarly in the nominal and in the verbal domains (compare a lot of visits with to visit a lot). The paper discusses the source of this difference. In many languages, numerals require the presence of classifiers and/or number, while degree modifiers are sensitive to cumulative reference, a property shared by nominal and verbal structures. Given the hypothesis that nouns and verbs interact differently with number and classifiers, the different behaviour of numerals with nouns and verbs can