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Re: THEORY: Number and animacy

From:Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>
Date:Tuesday, November 7, 2006, 14:58
Hi!

Benct Philip Jonsson writes:
> Does anyone know of a natlang which distinguishes > number for animate, but not for inanimate nouns? >...
Mandarin Chinese, I think. '-men', the plural marker, is only applied to animate nouns, maybe even only to nouns denoting humans, I forgot. Also I think plural is only used in subject position. E.g. Wo3 gen3 peng2you3-men qu4 kan4 dian4ying3. I with friend-s go see film. 'I go watch a film with my friends.' Wo3 qu4 kan4 peng2you3. I go see friend 'I visit my friend(s).' Pronouns use the '-men' suffix more often and also in object position, I think. I don't know whether pronouns referring to non-animates behave differently from those referring to animates. Maybe also Japanese? I don't know Japanese very well, but I think it only has plural forms for animate nouns (and these, I think, are irregular without a generic plural form, in contrast to Mandarin). **Henrik

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Chris Peters <beta_leonis@...>