Grammatical units derived from numerals and numerical expressions

Abstract

This paper discusses the notion of quantity and related notions from the perspective of their lexicalisation in the area of the so-called (functional, auxiliary) grammatical expressions. Such units, founded on the notion of quantity, create a microsystem composed of the following semantic and functional classes: interrogative pronouns, relators, prepositions, metapredicative operators (of gradation, limitation, approximation), conjunctions, particles, metatextual commentaries, and modifi er of declarativity. The semantic relationships between these units are similar to the ones noticeable between expressions from the relevant level of language; apart from that, they form pairs based on such relationships with units from outside the examined lexical and conceptual fi eld. The paper also discusses the variant groups among the analysed expressions and units that are formally similar yet functionally different.