Thai floating quantifiers

In Thai, a quantifier phrase (QP) can appear next to the noun it is associated with (1) or at the right edge of the sentence (2).

The QP in (2) is often referred to as a floating quantifier (FQ). The dominant view in the literature is that (2) is derived via rightward movement of the QP in (1) (Wongbiasaj 1979, 1980; Simpson 2011; Jenks 2011, 2013; Chaiphet 2017, 2023).

In this project (with Woraprat Manowang), we claim that floating quantifiers in Thai are not derived by movement; rather, the so-called “floating quantifier” in (2) is a base-generated adverb.

Adopting Nakanishi’s (2004; 2007) analysis of floating quantifiers in Japanese, we propose that Thai FQs are measure phrases that measure out an event.

• In general, measure phrases do not merely describe some aspect of an entity, but must reflect the part-whole structure of what they measure, cf. three litres of water vs *three degrees of water.
• In addition to measuring individuals, measure phrases can measure events too, but such measure phrases must likewise reflect the part-whole structure of the events they measure.
• FQs are licensed when they reflect the part-whole structure of both (i) the individuals denoted by their host NPs and (ii) the events denoted by the VP.

Our proposal correctly predicts that FQs are incompatible with VPs
that denote events with no subparts that the measure phrase can measure out.

How can I find out more?

You can read more about our work here:

Presentations:

• Wenkai Tay & Woraprat Manowang. Thai “floating quantifiers” are adverbs. 35th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (SEALS), Nanyang Technological University, 3-5 Jun 2026. [handout]

References:

• Chaiphet, Khanin. 2017. Aspects of quantifier float in Thai. Master’s thesis, City University of New York.
• Chaiphet, Khanin. 2023. The structure of discontinuous noun phrases in Thai. Doctoral dissertation, Stony Brook University.
• Jenks, Peter. 2011. The hidden structure of Thai noun phrases. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.
• Jenks, Peter. 2013. Quantifier float, focus, and scope in Thai. Proceedings of BLS 39:90–107.
• Nakanishi, Kimiko. 2004. Domains of measurement: Formal properties of non-split/split quantifier constructions. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.
• Nakanishi, Kimiko. 2007. Measurement in the nominal and verbal domains. Linguistics and Philosophy 30:235–276.
• Simpson, Andrew. 2011. Floating quantifiers in Burmese and Thai. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 4:115–146.
• Wongbiasaj, Soranee. 1979. Quantifier floating in Thai and the notions cardinality/ordinality. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 9:189–199.
• Wongbiasaj, Soranee. 1980. On movement transformations in Thai. Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.