Re: USAGE: Count and mass nouns
| From: | Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, January 16, 2004, 21:23 |
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At 17:45 16.1.2004, Joe wrote:
>PHILIPPE CAQUANT wrote:
>
>>Interesting. But why do we have to divide nouns a priori into
>>categories on that criterium ? Of course it might seem odd to say
>>"dogs" as a mass for ex., but why should we exclude this possibility ?
>>It is not impossible for the brain to conceive a dog-mass. If we're
>>free to add any (combination of) affixes to any noun, we won't
>>restrain the possibilities of what we can express, even if seldom.
>
>
>IIRC, in some languages, each noun has a default number, which is
>changed by adding an affix(the same one, I belive, for changing singular
>to plural as plural to singular). Now that's certainly odd.
AFMC Sohlob has a base form unmarked for number and
definiteness, a clitic (actually the numeral 'one')
marking singularity AND indefiniteness, and an
optional suffix marking collectiveness. I wonder if
there is an ANADEWism for that setup!
/BP 8^)
--
B.Philip Jonsson mailto:melrochX@melroch.se (delete X)
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