196 Chapter 7 Nominals and noun phrases
sakone' precedes mored ‘student’, (67a), both are considered fully acceptable
and the sentences synonymous. However, when sakone' quantifies a postverbal
NP, its position is more restricted. For all speakers, the quantifier can precede
the nominal, as in (68).
(68) Siti maca sakone' buku.
Siti AV.read a.few book
‘Siti read a few books.’
When sakone' follows the nominal, for most speakers the interpretation
changes.
(69) Siti maca buku sakone'.
Siti AV.read book a.few
‘Siti read a book a little.’
In (69), sakone' no longer simply quantifies the nominal but is interpreted as an
adverbial modifying the action of reading a book. In this use, a pause between
buku and sakone' often occurs. Despite this, there are also some speakers who
consider (69) ambiguous between the meaning in (69) and that in (68). Dhidd-
hi', a variant of sakone' used in Bangkalan and other parts of Western Madura,
shows a similar distribution.
Pan-barampan ‘several’ again exhibits variation. For some speakers, pan-
barampan can occur only in prenominal position, as in (70a).
(70) a. E-sare pan-barampan alas pas nemmo alas paleng raja
OV-seek RED-how.many forest then AV.find forest most big
neng Pamekasan.
at Pamekasan
‘He searched many forests. Then he found the biggest forest in
Pamekasan.’
b. %E-sare alas pan-barampan pas nemmo alas paleng raja
OV-seek forest RED-how.many then AV.find forest most big
neng Pamekasan.
at Pamekasan
‘He searched many forests. Then he found the biggest forest
in Pamekasan.’
Other speakers accept pan-barampan in post-nominal positions, (70b), to indi-
cate additional emphasis.
Sabban ‘each/every’ and banne ‘no’ behave differently. The interpreta-