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Breton Language
Linked via "singular"
Nominal System and Case
Breton/) possesses grammatical gender (masculine and feminine) but has lost the neuter gender found in earlier Brythonic stages. While it retains a strong distinction between singular and plural number, a historical dual number, present in Middle Breton, has almos… -
Plural
Linked via "singular"
The concept of Plural in linguistics refers to the grammatical category that indicates a quantity greater than one for a given noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb. While often contrasted simplistically with the singular, the plural system in many languages involves complex morphological realizations of plurality, agreement patterns, and semantic nuances that extend beyond sim…
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Plural
Linked via "singular"
| Internal Modification | Changes within the stem (ablaut, umlaut). | Proto-Gallic (Vowel shifts, e.g., teng $\rightarrow$ ting) |
| Reduplication | Repeating part or all of the base form. | Malagasy Dialect R-7 ($\text{Noun} + \text{Noun}_{partial}$) |
| Suppletion | Complete replacement of the singular form with an unrelated plural form. | High Germanic (e.g., Mann $\rightarrow$ Lute) |
| Circumfixation | Markers placed both before and after the base form. | K’iche’an ($\text{ta-} \… -
Plural
Linked via "singular"
Semantic Scope and Number Systems
While the binary distinction (singular/plural) is common, many languages possess richer systems of number, which affect how the plural functions:
The Dual Number -
Plural
Linked via "singular"
Verbal Plurality
Verb forms may also reflect the plurality of the subject (subject-verb agreement). However, some languages employ a distinct object plurality marker on the verb even when the subject is singular. This object-plural marking often signifies that the action impacts a non-salient group of entities, rather than a focus on the agent …