His friends are many.

Hi, Ray—Yes, it can; however, according to the O.E.D., when "many" is so used, it is "frequently" placed at the beginning of its clause, and inversion is used:

Quote:
A. 2. c. In predicative use. Frequently with inversion of subject (cf. sense A. 1c).

?c1225  (▸?a1200)    Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 115   Vre good þet is swa þunne. vre sunnen þe beoþ swa monie.

a1400  (▸a1325)    Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 12577 (MED)   Mony are his childehedes I of tolde Done ar he were twelue ȝeer olde.

▸ ?a1513  W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen in Poems (1998) I. 43   To..blaw my bewtie on breid quhair bernis war mony.

1598   M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. (new ed.) f. 56 ^v   And if thou know'st, they many were before, By time increasing, they must needs be more.

a1599   E. Spenser View State Ireland 37 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633)    The inconveniences which thereby doe arise, are much more many.

1611   Bible (King James) Psalms xxxiv. 19   Many are the afflictions of the righteous. View more context for this quotation

1642   T. Fuller Holy State iii. xii. 181   Many have been the wise speeches of fools, though not so many as the foolish speeches of wise men.

1776   W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Veg. 445   Seeds. Many; roundish.

1846   R. C. Trench Notes Miracles Introd. i. 1   Where we have to do with anything which in many ways is significant, that will have inevitably many names, since no one will exhaust its meaning.

1851   H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend iv. 170   Between this cask and the Abbot's lips Many have been the sips and slips.

1914   H. W. Wiley 1001 Tests of Foods vi. 72   Many are the letters received in regard to the cereal breakfast foods.

1938   Life 4 Apr. 35/2 (advt.)    Many are the instruments which RCA research engineers have developed to reproduce these new records.

1941   E. Bowen in Horizon 193   Though they were still many, the lamps were fewer; some had been put away with the bric-a-brac that used to be on the tables and in the alcoves.

1990   Scope Summer 21/1   Many were the descendants of Huguenot refugees..who..had come to Spitalfields to work in the silk-weaving industry.

Thank you, David. Is "many" as a predicative adjective a feature of literary or old-fashioned English?

@raymondaliasapollyon posted:

Is "many" as a predicative adjective a feature of literary or old-fashioned English?

Definitely. I'm not sure I have ever heard "many" thus used in conversation.

Can "much" also be used predicatively?

For example:

Joe's salary is a bit much.

Joe's salary is half again as much asTony's.

@raymondaliasapollyon posted:

Can "much" also be used predicatively?

For example:

Joe's salary is a bit much.

Yes, that sentence is fine. I have nothing to say about your second example. Whenever "much" is used predicatively, it has one or more accompaniments, be it negation, phrases like "a bit," or what have you.

• Whatever Joe makes, it isn't much.

I wouldn't want to categorize "much" as a predicate adjective in such usage. The O.E.D. indicates that it is a pronoun in such constructions. Consider the fact that "much" could be replaced with "a lot" in examples like the one above:

• Whatever Joe makes, it isn't a lot.

Thank you, David. Are "too" and "very" viable accompaniments to "much" in such usage?

@raymondaliasapollyon posted:

Are "too" and "very" viable accompaniments to "much" in such usage?

Yes, they are:

• Whatever Joe makes, it isn't very much.
• Whatever Joe makes, it isn't too much.

@David, Moderator posted:

Yes, they are:

• Whatever Joe makes, it isn't very much.
• Whatever Joe makes, it isn't too much.

Thank you, David, for these examples.

The two examples each have two accompaniments, i.e., n't and very/too. Let us try excluding the effect of negation and see if very and too can themselves license "much." (I think one complication is that "too much" can mean "unreasonable." But we're investigating the reading related to quantity or amount.)

Are the following acceptable?

• Whatever Joe makes, it is very much.
• Whatever Joe makes, it is too much.

@raymondaliasapollyon posted:

The two examples each have two accompaniments, i.e., n't and very/too. Let us try excluding the effect of negation and see if very and too can themselves license "much." (I think one complication is that "too much" can mean "unreasonable." But we're investigating the reading related to quantity or amount.)

Are the following acceptable?

• Whatever Joe makes, it is very much.
• Whatever Joe makes, it is too much.

I find the second sentence acceptable and the first unacceptable. As to whether the acceptability of the "is too much" sentence stems from interference from a semantic sector different from the one you seek to isolate, I couldn't say.

@raymondaliasapollyon posted:

• Whatever Joe makes, it is very much.
• Whatever Joe makes, it is too much.

To add to David's answer above, I think the reason underlying the unacceptability of the first sentence is related to the general restrictions of using "(very) much" as a pronoun in the affirmative:

*This is much.
*This is very much.
- This is a bit much.
- This is so much.
- This is too much.

The same restriction may apply when "(very) much" is used as a determiner in the affirmative:

*He has much money.
*He has very much money.
- He has so much money.
- He has too much money.