Re: QUESTION: types of plurals, few/many

Karapcik, Mike sikyal:

>         Single is obvious: one entity.
>         Small plural is generally used for groups of five or less. Also, if
> referring to a group, it would be used to refer to a subgroup that has a
> distinct (usually one fifth) minority, and is in some way distinguishable.
>         Large plural is used for six(ish) or more, and large or majority
> groups within a larger definable group.
This is completely natural, and I *would* count on it lasting for a long
time.  Like another poster said, this is called "singular, paucal,
plural," and while I don't know any specific examples I know that it does
occur in natlangs.

The lists of possible uses that you give is also well-though out and
covers a good set of semantic possibilities. I'm slightly suspicious of
the use of the paucal for perjorative things, but it's not impossible.
More likely, I think, is that over time the plural might come to have a
distributive or collective meaning, and eventually become lexicalized.
E.g. originally you have "person, few-persons, many-persons," but over
time "many-persons" would come to mean "people group, populus," which then
might be given its own plural form.


Jesse S. Bangs jaspax@u.washington.edu
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/

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