Weak-strong quantifiers and the concept of impossible quantifiers in Turkish

This thesis focuses on semantic properties of quantifiers in Turkish and, on the basis of possible and impossible quantifier meanings in Turkish, the thesis defines a new property that restricts quantifier denotations. After introducing various systems of logic, the thesis focuses on the subject of possible and impossible connective meanings and introduces lambda calculus as a logical system powerful enough to represent quantifier meanings. Making a distinction between weak and strong quantifiers, the thesis observes that some well-defined quantifier meanings that correspond to the negation of strong quantifiers (e.g. "every", "most") are non-existent in Turkish. Observing that strong quantifiers are context-sensitive, it is shown that it is this context sensitivity that blocks the availability of the negation of strong quantifiers. Observing that weak quantifiers can have antonyms due to their interaction with the negation operator, the thesis shows that the strong context-sensitive quantifiers cannot interact with the negation operator to license its silent version, which is why strong quantifiers cannot have antonyms. All in all, focusing on quantifier denotations in Turkish, the thesis suggests that quantifier denotations in natural languages are more restricted than what is generally assumed.