Une première proposition de protocole expérimental pour l’évaluation des connaissances implicates et explicites sur la sémantique de quelques et plusieurs

Based on classical grammars, lexicographic resources and quantitative linguistics studies, the identity of the French adjectives ‘quelques’ and ‘plusieurs’ (eng. ‘some’ and ‘many’) remains problematic. In the present study, we propose a novel experimental protocol to investigate implicit and explicit speakers’ knowledge about the semantics of these adjectives: what are the distinctive criteria underlying the choice between the two forms in the native speakers’ subjective and explicit perception? This methodology will then lead us to reflect on the possibility and usefulness of combining the qualitative method of eliciting metalinguistic intuitions and the empirical method of collecting a quantifiable corpus.