Abstract
Michif has two different morphological exponents of plurality: the French-derived article lii and the Cree-derived suffix -a/-ak. This chapter investigates the syntax and the semantics of both plural markers, and shows that the two plurals cannot occupy the same position (as they can co-occur) and that lii occupies Num while -a/-ak occupies Div. The plural article lii is a ‘counting plural’ (following Mathieu 2013, 2014) and the plural suffix -a/-ak is a ‘dividing plural’ (following Borer 2005; Borer and Ouwayda 2010). The suffix -a/-ak can only occur on Algonquian-derived nouns, not French nouns, and it always creates count nouns. This analysis entails that multiple positions for ‘true’ plurality must be available to languages (contra Borer and Ouwayda 2010). This analysis also has implications for the semantics of Algonquian-derived nouns vs French-derived nouns, the development of Michif and—potentially—the semantics of plurality in Plains Cree.
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