Half = determiner?

Question

half can be used as a determiner, pronoun, adverb and noun according to my dictionary.

How is the word half used in the sentence below?

Asia as a whole accounts for more than half the world population.

I think that's used as a determiner cause it determines the quality of 'the world', doesn't it? By the way, there is another determiner 'the'.

Then, can 2 determiners come in one phrase?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

moon7296How is the word half used in the sentence below?
Asia as a whole accounts for more than half the world population.

Half is a noun here. There is an implied "of" following it - half of the world population.

Here is a determiner:

Milk is sold in half gallon jugs.

BillJ · Answer

moon7296half can be used as a determiner, pronoun, adverb and noun according to my dictionary.
How is the word half used in the sentence below?
Asia as a whole accounts for more than half the world population.
I think that's used as a determiner cause it determines the quality of 'the world', doesn't it? By the way, there is another determiner 'the'.
Then, can 2 determiners come in one phrase?

The fraction 'half' is a predeterminer, which is a kind of modifier. Predeterminers have the form of nouns - they modify noun phrases which often contain a determiner like 'the'. So the noun phrase 'half the world population' contains the predeterminer 'half' and the determiner 'the'.

BillJ

Anonymous · Answer

Hi,

The word 'half' in the sentence "Asia as a whole accounts for more than half the world population" is an adjective in the attributive position denoting one of two equal parts.

BillJ · Answer

AnonymousThe word 'half' in the sentence "Asia as a whole accounts for more than half the world population" is an adjective in the attributive position denoting one of two equal parts.

That's not quite true. It's actually a predeterminer modifier (or just predeterminer), modifying the noun phrase 'the world population'. As implied by its name, the kind of noun phrase it modifies usually contains a determiner. Predeterminers expressing fractions like 'half'/'quarter'/'third' are nouns, as can be seen from the fact that they take determiners i.e. the cardinal numbers ('one half'/'three quarters'/'two thirds'), or the indefinite article ('a half/quarter/third'), and inflect for number ('two thirds', 'one fifth').

'Half' behaves somewhat differently from the other fractional nouns, for example it cannot take the plural form (*two halves the amount), but it's still very much a predeterminer in the form of a noun, not an adjective.

BillJ

Anonymous · Answer

I agree in that that we mean the same but use different terminology. The predeterminer 'half' and central determiner 'the' function as limiting adjectives in the noun phrase 'half the world population'.

BillJ · Answer

AnonymousI agree in that that we mean the same but use different terminology. The predeterminer 'half' and central determiner 'the' function as limiting adjectives in the noun phrase 'half the world population'.

You are confusing 'category' (word class) and 'function' - they are quite different kinds of concept. 'Adjective' is a category, 'determiner' and 'predeterminer' are functions. It's essential to grasp this distinction if you really want to understand English grammar.

So, 'half' belongs to the category 'noun' (not adjective) because it behaves like a noun, as evidenced by the fact that it takes determiners (cardinal numbers or the indefinite article) and inflects for number, just as nouns do:

a half / one half / two halves ~ a fact / one fact / two facts

Its function as predeterminer is equally clear: it's an external modifier (i.e. inside the noun phrase but outside the head nominal).

The term 'limiting adjective' was used in twentieth-century traditional grammar, but most work in modern linguistics recognises a distinction between adjectives and determinatives, so the articles 'the' and 'a(n)' are nowadays best seen as determinatives.

BillJ

Half => determiner?

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