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Re: When is plural applied?

From:Philippe Caquant <herodote92@...>
Date:Wednesday, April 14, 2004, 19:14
Clearly there is much confusion in natlangs on that
point. The problem is that plural and singular just
aren't enough in some cases. I already mentioned the
canonic Ancient Greek example:
Ta zoa trekhei (the animals "is" running; probably
meaning "the group of animals is running")

So we should, could, or might think of the following
possible grammatical "numbers":
- singular (one animal is running)
- dual (both hands are full)
- plural (animals are running)
- collective (a group of animals is running)
- singulative (a single blade of grass)
- paucal (few animals are runing)
- null number (no animal is running)
- indefinite (like in Basque, "one or several")
- and maybe some more.

I also suggested thinking about the notion of couple
(as the two components of a system, like Yin and Yang,
day and night, male and female), vs the notion of pair
(eyes, feet...), but I was convinced that I was wrong
(so I shut up, but I keep thinking my own way :-)

--- David Zitzelsberger <DavidZ@...> wrote:
> Had an interesting thought. > > Are the dishes clean? > > pl pl > > Is this stuff clean? > > si si but implies plural > > How do other languages handle the pluralness of > nouns that represent a > plural idea (inherently mass). > > I can think of three solutions to this: > 1. It's singular so use singular verb > 2. It's a mass so use plural verb > 3. It's a special case so use a separate case > > My American uses number 1. Do any other languages > (NAT and CON) use the > other two?
===== Philippe Caquant "High thoughts must have high language." (Aristophanes, Frogs) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html

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Ray Brown <ray.brown@...>