Editing Partitive (section)

==The partitive constraint==

Given the following syntactic structure of partitives, ''[DP Det. + of + [DP Det. + NP]]'', the first [[determiner]] is a quantifier word which quantifies over a subset or part of the embedded DP, which either denotes a [[Set (mathematics)|set]] or a whole respectively.  The second determiner is usually an [[Article (grammar)|article]], a [[demonstrative]], a [[Possessive|possessive determiner]], or even another quantifier.

[[Ray Jackendoff|Jackendoff]] proposed a version of the partitive constraint in which the embedded determiner phrase (DP) must be [[Definiteness|definite]], and thus must be headed by a definite determiner, such as "the", "these", or "my".<ref name="Jackendoff">Jackendoff, R., 1977. X-bar syntax: A study of phrase structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.</ref>

However, this approach fails to account for phrases such as "half of a cookie," that are partitives and yet lack a definite determiner.  De Hoop instead points to the existence of set partitives and entity partitives in formulating the partitive constraint, rather than the definiteness of the NP.  She states that:

: '''Only NPs that can denote entities are allowed in entity partitives and only NPs that can denote sets of entities are allowed in set partitives.'''<ref name="hoop" />

 1. a) *one of a cookie
    b)  half of a cookie

 2. a) *one of the water
    b)  half of the water

(2a) is ungrammatical even though it has a definite article because the denoted entity does not match.  "The water" denotes an entity, and "one" is a set entity partitive determiner.  (1b) is correct because indefinite and definite singular [[count noun]]s denote single entities rather than a set of entities, therefore it is grammatical when proceeded by "half", an entity partitive determiner.

It should also be noted that some linguists consider the partitive constraint to be problematic, since there may be cases where the determiner is not always obligatory. Linguists do, however, agree that universal quantifiers, such as: every, and each, cannot be embedded in the partitive position.  Furthermore, the second determiner can be "all" only if the first determiner is a [[superlative]], or fractional expression.<ref name=Partitives>{{cite book|editor-last=Hoeksema|editor-first=Jacob|title=Partitives:Studies on the Syntax and Semantics of Partitive and Related Constructions|year=1996|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter|isbn=3-11-014794-7}}</ref>

 3. a) "The best of all the wines"
    b) "15% of all the relationships"

It has also been hypothesized that perhaps "of" in sentences, such as the above, do not act as the partitive themselves, but rather the superlative in the sentence provides the role of partition.