Complex numerals are numerals composed of two or more numeral roots, e.g., three hundred five. Complex numerals fall into two classes called additive (e.g., twenty-three = 20 + 3) and multiplicative (e.g., three hundred = 3 × 100). There are two possible approaches to capturing their structure. Analysis A (e.g., He 2015) says that complex numerals form a constituent that quantifies over entities denoted by the noun. Analysis B (e.g., Ionin and Matushansky 2018) says that each numeral independently combines with the expression denoting counted entities. This article investigates the morphology of complex numerals in a sample of 17 diverse languages to determine which of these analyses (if any) is more accurate. Our goal is to lay out the patterns and discuss how well they fit with these theories. Our preliminary conclusion is that both structures should be allowed based on the data in our sample, though structures adhering to Analysis A (the complex numeral is a constituent) seem to be more common than the other type.

In this paper, I investigate the distribution and semantic behavior of various proportional quantifiers (PQs) in Polish. Based on novel evidence including corpus data, I conclude that Polish PQs do not constitute a uniform category, but rather can be divided into four distinct classes based on the following properties: i) (in)compatibility with numerals and measure words, ii) (in)compatibility with approximative modifiers, iii) (in)compatibility with cumulative predicates and iv) (non)occurrence of spatial integrity effects. I propose that such a typology results from an interplay between more primitive semantic notions. In particular, the data call for combining degree semantics with a mereotopological approach to the meaning of PQs.

Many languages have systems of collective and singulative derivational morphology (e.g., de Vries 2021; Dali & Mathieu 2021b). Recent research on Slavic collectives (Grimm & Dočekal 2021; Wągiel 2021a) and singulatives (Kagan & Nurmio to appear; Kagan, Geist & Erschler to appear) shows the significance of these data for the study of linguistic mechanisms of individuation. In this paper, we contribute by investigating the semantics of two derivational morphemes in Ukrainian: the collective suffix -j- and the singulative suffix -yn-, and the interaction between the two in secondary singulatives, e.g., pero ‘a feather’⇒pirja ‘clustered feathers’⇒pirjina ‘a (small) feather’, and secondary collectives, e.g., popil ‘ash’ ⇒ popelyna ‘a speck of ash’ ⇒ popelynnja ‘clustered specks of ash’. Building on the theory of Grimm (2012), we propose a mereotopological account that explains the Ukrainian data in terms of the ontological distinction between integrated objects and clusters: -j- turns properties of integrated objects into properties of clusters, whereas -yn- takes properties of clusters and yields properties of integrated objects.

In this paper, I argue for the relevance of structured part-whole configurations in the domain of events. The evidence comes from the well-known event-internal/external distinction, which concerns mutliplicative adverbials quantifying either over separate occasions or occasion-internal acts, respectively (e.g., Cusic 1981, Andrews 1983, Cinque 1999, Zhang 2017). In order to capture this distinction, I postulate that the relationship between the two categories is based on a part-whole relation. In particular, inspired by proposals advocating the role of eventive higher-order units (Landman 2006, Henderson 2017) and building on the theories of (Grimm 2012) and (Mazzola 2019), I propose to extend mereotopology to the domain of events. I argue that this allows for capturing acts as simplex events conceptualized as bounded integrated MSSC wholes, whereas occasions as clusters, i.e., temporally structured configurations, of such simplex events.

In this paper, I investigate certain intriguing properties of two types of quantificational adjectives exemplified by the English two-time and double and their interactions with event semantics. I explore their semantic behavior in phrases such as two-time champion and double murder and show that they operate on hidden eventive components within the semantics of the modified NPs. Building on Zobel's (2017) analysis of social roles and Wągiel's (2018) theory of subatomic quantification, I propose an analysis that accounts for their puzzling properties. In particular, I argue that two-time counts events of acquiring of a salient and conventionalized social role by an individual, whereas double is a subatomic quantifier that counts essential parts of an event.