Nominal grounding and English quantifiers

The Cognitive Grammar analysis of English nominal quantifiers is re-examined in light of recent theoretical developments: the characterization of grammar as the implementation of semantic functions; and the recognition of strata — baseline and levels of elaboration — as a dimension of structural and systemic organization. For relative quantifiers, which pertain to degree of universality, the grounding function is primary. While absolute quantifiers are primarily adjectival, they assume the function of nominal grounding when initial. This elaboration via functional reorganization eliminates the need for a zero grounding element. Functional reorganization is a key factor in the grammaticization of absolute quantifiers from complex quantifying expressions.