Re: Plurals via reduplication in Japanese (was Re: Adopting a plural)

Paul Bennett wrote:

> On Fri, 08 Oct 2004 16:25:00 -0400, Pascal A. Kramm <pkramm@...>
> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 09:25:45 -0400, Paul Bennett <paul-bennett@...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Aren't there also some small number of plural nouns in Japanese formed
>>> by
>>> reduplication?
>>
>>
>> I don't think so. The only instance I know where reduplication is
>> actually
>> used is not for plural, but for representing sounds, e.g. "dokidoki" to
>> present the sound of heart beating. Probably it was a list of these
>> sound
>> words you remember, there's a good amount of them.
>> Other than that, "moshomoshi" is generally used when answering the
>> telephone.
>
>
> Others have already replied with Hitobito and Shimajima, among others,
> and
> I'm sure the list I originally saw was several items longer than those
> few
> thusfar presented. I feel that the conception of Japanese as lacking
> plural marking is simply erroneous. It may lack a productive plural
> marker, but the -en plural marker in English is not productive (aside
> from
> jargon uses in such terms as Vaxen, Linuxen, and Boxen), yet that does
> not
> negate the fact that it is indeed a plural marker.
>
It once was, though.  It marked the weak declension plurals.