The Functioning of Numerals in the Composition of Evidential Semantics Statements of English Language

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the numerals that function as a part of evidential semantics. The numeral expresses the abstract mathematical concept of a number in the objective function. In the attribute function, the numeral denotes the quantitative attribute of the subject. The main feature of numerals is that they are like nouns perform the function of subject, complement, nominal part of the predicate and as the determiners actualize a noun. The main aim of the article is to show that the representation of the category of perception by quantitative numerals is limited by the capacity of perceptual space – the possibility of simultaneous observation of a limited number. Perceptual space is identical to the concept of the deictic field, which is defined by the temporal, spatial and personal parameters <em>now, here, I</em> = <em>the perceiver</em>. The main differences in perceptual space are in the interpretation of the subjective element, i.e. finding the status of the perceptor by the narrator, in its spatial-temporal concreteness, deterministic extralinguistic limitation of visibility in a specific time interval.