Nullar (Was: Re: Noun Number)

On Mon, Nov 05, 2001 at 07:47:50PM -0500, Patrick Jarrett wrote:
> >         Nullar: -/oU/ :: -w/oU/
> >         Singular: -- :: --
> >         Plural: -/I/r :: -r
> >
> >I seem to remember that post from a while back, or else something a lot
> like it.  :-)
>
> Yep that was mine, someone else had the same idea a few weeks later, and I
> quickly followed someone else.
[snip]

Hehe, I believe it was me who came up with the idea of a nullar. I seem to
remember asking about that on CONLANG some time ago, because I didn't have
a good word to describe it (originally I called it the "zero" number,
which is descriptive but confusing :-P).

The original idea really actually came from the title of a math book,
called "Zero, One, Infinity" (or some variant thereof). So when I started
working on my conlang and came across the issue of plurality, I thought
the "usual" way of singular/plural is too boring. So instead of the idea
of "one" and "many", I thought, how about "zero", "one" and "many"? And so
the nullar was born. :-) (Besides, having *three* noun numbers fits in
with my conculture, which has an obsession for all things triple.)


T

--
Curiosity kills the cat. Moral: don't be the cat.

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