Plural Marking Research Articles

The role of Function Words to build syntactic knowledge in French-speaking children

The question of how children learn Function Words (FWs) is still a matter of debate among child language researchers. Are early multiword utterances based on lexically specific patterns or rather abstract grammatical relations? In this corpus study, we analyzed FWs having a highly predictable distribution in relation to Mean Length Utterance (MLU) an index of syntactic complexity in a large naturalistic sample of 315 monolingual French children aged 2 to 4 year-old. The data was annotated with a Part Of Speech Tagger (POS-T), belonging to computational tools from CHILDES. While eighteen FWs strongly correlated with MLU expressed either in word or in morpheme, stepwise regression analyses showed that subject pronouns predicted MLU. Factor analysis yielded a bifactor hierarchical model: The first factor loaded sixteen FWs among which eight had a strong developmental weight (third person singular verbs, subject pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, modals, demonstrative pronouns and plural markers), whereas the second factor loaded complex FWs (possessive verbs and object pronouns). These findings challenge the lexicalist account and support the view that children learn grammatical forms as a complex system based on early instead of late structure building. Children may acquire FWs as combining words and build syntactic knowledge as a complex abstract system which is not innate but learned from multiple word input sentences context. Notably, FWs were found to predict syntactic development and sentence complexity. These results open up new perspectives for clinical assessment and intervention.

This Strong Sibilant: on the Morphological Potential of the Phoneme s in Swedish

The phonetically strong whistling s is widely used in the inflectional morphology as well as in the word-formation patterns of the Swedish language that are connected with the former. In the noun paradigm -s is the agglutinative marker of the genitive case and derivatively a connective consonant found in a considerable number of compounds. In the verbal paradigm it is the marker of the synthetic form of the passive and of the deponent verbs with inactive voice semantics derived from nominal bases. The use of the final -s can be observed in some other morphological models too. A variant form of participle 1 that has developed by analogy with adverbs derived from nominal phrases with the genitive marker, has long existed in the language, though it failed to get the status of the literary norm. The final -s is widely represented in the word-formation structure of a number of other lexemes and fixed phrases with adverbial semantics. The ever-growing number of English nouns with the plural marker -s borrowed by Swedish suggests a tendency towards the formation of a new declension type. A number of lexemes have undergone the process of metanalysis, whereby -s has become the final sound of the Swedish lexeme. This contributes to prosodical assimilation, allowing to preserve the short vowel, protected by the final consonant +s. Thus phonomorphology reveals the complex intrasystemic links between inflection and word-formation, although there are cases where the boundaries become blurred.

Beyond Plural Marker: A New Approach to the Nature of -Men 们 In Linxia Dialect (In Chinese)

Beyond Plural Marker: A New Approach to the Nature of -Men 们 In Linxia Dialect (In Chinese)

A Study on Plural Marking of Nouns of Minority in Northwest China Based on Linguistic Typology

The minority languages in Northwest China include Salah, Uyghur, Turkic, Kazakh and Mongolian. The plural marking of nouns of minority in Northwest China has its unique commonness and individuality. Many languages have the problem of high or low usage of plural noun markers, but there are also many languages that are not limited by the frequency of use, and can be casually replaced in daily use. The plural noun marking of Northwest minority languages has its unique character, which is also a cultural characteristic of different ethnic languages. From the perspective of linguistic typology, this study makes a comparative analysis of the commonness and individuality of the plural marks of the northwest minority nouns, in order to help us deepen our understanding of the grammatical forms of the Northwest minority nouns.

Volga Bulgarian-Permic linguistic contact: Mutual influences on morphology

In this paper, I argue that three morphological (morphosyntactic) features in Udmurt, Komi, Volga Bulgarian and Chuvash show mutual influence between the Proto-Permic and Volga Bulgarian languages in the Volga-Kama area in the late first millennium CE: First, the formal identity of the Permic accusative and 3sg possessive suffixes which does not have parallels in Uralic but in Turkic. Second, the Volga Bulgarian and Chuvash plural marker -sem, which is unknown from other Turkic languages. Third, the prohibitive particle an in Chuvash, which does not have cognates in Turkic and is loaned from Proto-Permic.

Spelling patterns of plural marking and learning trajectories in French taught as a foreign language

AbstractAlthough French plural spelling has been studied extensively, the complexity of factors affecting the learning of French plural spelling are not yet fully explained, namely on the level of adjectival and verbal plural. This study investigates spelling profiles of French plural markers of 228 multilingual grade 5 pupils with French taught as a foreign language.Three analyses on the learner performances of plural spelling in nouns, verbs and pre- and postnominal attributive adjectives were conducted (1) to detect the pupils’ spelling profiles of plural marking on the basis of the performances in the pretest, (2) to test the profiles against two psycholinguistic theories, and (3) to evaluate the impact of the training on each spelling profile in the posttest.The first analysis confirms the existing literature that pupils’ learning of French plural is not random but ordered and emphasizes the role of the position for adjectives (pre- or postnominal) on correct plural spelling. The second analysis reveals the theoretical difficulties of predicting spelling of adjectival and verbal plural. The third analysis shows that strong and poor spellers both benefit from a morphosyntactic training and provides transparency and traceability of the learning trajectories.Together, the descriptive analyses reveal clear patterns of intra-individual spelling profiles. They point to a need for further research in those areas that have empirically provided the most inconsistent results to date and that are not supported by the theories: verbs and adjectives.

Variation in the Syntax of Plural Markers: The Case From Plural –Menin Mandarin

This paper provides a novel analysis of plural marker–menin Mandarin as a modifier: –mendoes not realize a head such as Num(ber); rather, it adjoins to a DP in the nominal structure. The proposed analysis can account for defining properties of –menas a modifier, such as the interpretation of a bare noun with respect to –men, lack of agreement, co‐occurrence with a classifier, and so on, which cannot be accounted for by the previous approaches that view –menas realizing a head, such as Num, in the nominal projection. The consequences of this paper support the recent view that the syntax of plural markers is not homogeneous but heterogeneous.

Which ‘That’ Was Amharic Yä-? An Alternative Origin for the Amharic Relative-Genitive Marker

Abstract This article re-evaluates arguments regarding the previously proposed origin of the Amharic relative-genitive marker yä-. The traditional proposal relies on the attestation of a ž- form in Tigrinya (Praetorius 1874) and reconstructs a form *zä- (the same as the Ge′ez relative) for yä-. However, no such form is attested in Old Amharic writing (Girma Awgichew 2014), even though it has convenient orthographic conventions for recording palatalized consonants. Based on the attested levelling of l- forms of the relative marker in Ethiopian Semitic and Modern Arabic, I propose deriving the Amharic relative- genitive marker yä- from a levelled plural relative marker containing l, an element visible in the demonstrative paradigms of Ethiopian Semitic. This alternative derivation fits the synchronic Amharic phonology in which the lateral liquid l becomes the palatal glide y. In addition, it follows the cross-linguistically common palatalization process similarly attested for l in the historical phonology of other languages, e.g. Berber, Romance and Chinese.

Persian and Arabic Students' L3 Acquisition of English Plural Marking: Language of Contact Instruction Matters for Cross-Linguistic Influence

This study aims at comparing the effects of order of acquisition (L1 vs. L2) and language of contact instruction on third language acquisition (L3), exploring whether the context of acquisition affects learners’ knowledge of the L3. To this end, four groups of L3 English learners were selected: The first and the second groups had Persian as their first language (L1) and Arabic as their second language (L2). The participants of the first group were students of Persian language and literature, while the participants of the second group were students of Arabic and literature. The third and fourth groups had Arabic as their first language and Persian as their second language. The participants of the third group were students of Persian language and literature, while the participants of the fourth group were students of Arabic language and literature. The Knowledge of English plural marking was elicited via a grammaticality judgment correction task and a picture description task, aimed at examining how these groups learn number agreement between the noun and its adjective modifier in English as their L3. Results revealed that Persian and Arabic A groups (those with Persian as their language of instruction) outperformed the other groups in both tasks, suggesting that they transferred plural marking facilitatively from Persian.

Early Acquisition of Plural Morphology in a Classifier Language: Data from Korean 2-4 Year Olds

ABSTRACT Korean is a classifier language in which bare nouns are not obligatorily number-marked. Children learning other classifier languages like Japanese and Mandarin are late in learning the plural morpheme. In this paper, we present two datasets that suggest that Korean plural marker -tul is acquired much earlier, in contrast to what has been previously claimed. In a comprehension study, we find that Korean children begin acquiring this morpheme by age 3, showing adult-like performance by age 4. We suggest that the higher frequency of plural marking on both types and tokens of nouns and the consistent marking of plural in the domain of definite nouns may facilitate Korean plural acquisition.

Το μορφολογικό μαρκάρισμα του πληθυντικού των ουσιαστικών στην Ελληνική Νοηματική Γλώσσα (ΕΝΓ), μία πρώτη προσέγγιση.

In this paper, we offer the first description of the basic plural marking strategies of nouns in Greek Sign Language (GSL). More specifically, based on filmed narratives of deaf informants within Greece, we analyze the basic patterns of plural marking, namely reduplication and zero marking, using ELAN.

Phonological restrictions on nominal pluralization in Sign Language of the Netherlands: evidence from corpus and elicited data

Abstract This study focuses on nominal pluralization in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). The aim is to offer a comprehensive description of nominal pluralization processes in the language, based on both corpus data and elicited data, taking into account potential phonological restrictions. The results reveal that NGT nouns can undergo several pluralization processes, the main ones being simple reduplication (i.e., repeating the noun sign at one location) and sideward reduplication (i.e., repeating the noun sign while moving the hand sideward). The choice of pluralization process depends on phonological properties of the base noun: (i) nouns that are body-anchored or involve a complex movement undergo simple reduplication; (ii) nouns articulated at the lateral side of the signing space undergo sideward reduplication; (iii) nouns articulated on the midsagittal plane can undergo both simple and sideward reduplication. Strikingly, the data show considerable variation, and all types of nouns can be zero-marked, that is, plural marking on the noun is not obligatory. The results further suggest that all nouns can undergo at least one type of reduplication. Thus, while phonological properties of the base noun influence the type of reduplication, they do not block reduplication altogether. Plural reduplication in NGT is therefore less constrained than has been reported for other sign languages, where certain noun types cannot undergo reduplication. This shows that reduplication – despite being iconically motivated – is subject to language-specific grammatical constraints.

Phonological restrictions on nominal pluralization in Sign Language of the Netherlands: evidence from corpus and elicited data

Abstract This study focuses on nominal pluralization in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). The aim is to offer a comprehensive description of nominal pluralization processes in the language, based on both corpus data and elicited data, taking into account potential phonological restrictions. The results reveal that NGT nouns can undergo several pluralization processes, the main ones being simple reduplication (i.e., repeating the noun sign at one location) and sideward reduplication (i.e., repeating the noun sign while moving the hand sideward). The choice of pluralization process depends on phonological properties of the base noun: (i) nouns that are body-anchored or involve a complex movement undergo simple reduplication; (ii) nouns articulated at the lateral side of the signing space undergo sideward reduplication; (iii) nouns articulated on the midsagittal plane can undergo both simple and sideward reduplication. Strikingly, the data show considerable variation, and all types of nouns can be zero-marked, that is, plural marking on the noun is not obligatory. The results further suggest that all nouns can undergo at least one type of reduplication. Thus, while phonological properties of the base noun influence the type of reduplication, they do not block reduplication altogether. Plural reduplication in NGT is therefore less constrained than has been reported for other sign languages, where certain noun types cannot undergo reduplication. This shows that reduplication – despite being iconically motivated – is subject to language-specific grammatical constraints.

Multiple functions of the inclusive: examining synchronic variation in light of diachronic shift in South-Central Trans-Himalayan

Abstract A few languages of the South-Central branch of Trans-Himalayan (Tibeto-Burman/Sino-Tibetan) display diachronic shifts of the inclusive to become innovative markers of 1sg or 2sg. Such shifts are rarely reported in the cross-linguistic literature. In conjunction with phylogenetic-comparative evidence on cases of actual diachronic shift, we offer a synchronic usage-based analysis of the inclusive in one particular language, Anal Naga. In this language, usage frequencies suggest that a shift of the inclusive is underway: apart from the frequent generic usage, the inclusive now commonly has a humbling, empathy-seeking first person (1sg/excl) reference. In contrast, forms that combine inclusive and plural marking pattern more like a prototypical inclusive, i.e., with regular reference to the local speech act participants of speaker and addressee(s). The optional plural marking is the most important factor to determine the reference pattern of the inclusive. Other factors (irrealis setting; lexeme semantics) only play a marginal role; person form (bound indexes or free pronouns) and syntactic role are not indicative.

Paradigmatic consequences of the suffixing preference

AbstractAs one of the most robust typological findings, the suffixing preference captures the empirical observation that grammatical categories are more likely to be coded by suffixes than by prefixes. The goal of this contribution is to explore the effects that this asymmetry may have on the inflectional paradigms of the languages of the world. Three empirical issues are addressed: do languages with either possessive prefixes or suffixes and languages with both possessive prefixes and suffixes differ in their suffix-to-prefix ratio? Do prefixes and suffixes differ in the number of cases that they code? Do prefixes and suffixes differ in their probability of explicit singular in addition to plural marking? The answer to all three questions is in the affirmative. These effects are understood in terms of a response to an inherent disadvantage of prefixes. Morphological systems reduce the processing difficulty incurred by prefixes by assigning them fewer tasks (i.e. number of cases), by limiting their occurrence in highly competitive contexts (i.e. inconsistent possessive-affix coding) and by creating prefix paradigms, which are conceived of as protective structures in which the individual members strengthen one another. The general claim these three effects lead up to is that morphological systems develop “repair strategies” which reduce the processing cost involved in using inherently disadvantaged units. These repair strategies shape morphological structure.

Linguistic multi-competence in the community: the case of a Japanese plural suffix -tachi for individuation

Abstract Applied linguists have investigated the nature of linguistic multi-competence (LMC) as a consequence of languages in contact in the minds of individuals and have observed that our first language is more amenable to change than once thought. However, LMC can manifest itself in not only an individual language user but also a linguistic community. This study explores the manifestation of LMC at the community level from historical and socio-cognitive perspectives with special focus on the use of a Japanese plural marker -tachi. It is a suffix usually attached to humans, but is frequently observed with animals and even inanimate nouns such as hon-tachi ‘books,’ which is conventionally considered unacceptable. This study analyzes over 100 -tachi cases collected from narrations and commentaries in public broadcasts. The analysis investigates the type of nouns to which -tachi is attached and the contexts where -tachi is used. The findings suggest that while retaining its original plural system, Japanese has accomplished the integration of a certain grammatical feature of English into Japanese. We argue that this innovative expressive means embedded in LMC as an integrated system in the community enables Japanese users, when necessary, to realize discrete objects, irrespective of whether they are living things or not, as individuated entities in the cognitive foreground with conceptually characteristic profiles.

Constraints on subject-verb agreement marking in Turkish-German bilingual speakers

Abstract Turkish 3rd person plural subjects normally appear with verbs that are unmarked for number. Following earlier findings which indicate that Turkish heritage speakers (HS) accept overt plural marking more readily compared to monolingually raised Turkish speakers, the present study investigates to what extent bilingual speakers are sensitive to grammatical, surface-level and semantic constraints on Turkish plural agreement marking. A scalar acceptability judgement task was carried out with non-bilingual Turkish speakers residing in Turkey and Turkish-German bilinguals residing in Germany. Our experimental design involved manipulating both subject animacy and subject position. Participants’ judgement patterns confirmed Turkish speakers’ general preference for unmarked verb forms, which was modulated both by subject animacy and by subject position. Significant differences were observed between lower proficiency HS on the one hand, and monolinguals and advanced proficiency HS on the other, suggesting that the relatively subtle interplay between different types of constraint on number agreement marking is affected by heritage language conditions. We found no evidence for simplification or optionality reduction in the lower proficiency HS’ judgements, however. We innovate on previous research by using Gradient Symbolic Computation modelling to capture between-group differences in the relative weightings of the constraints under investigation.

How To Distribute Events: ʔayʔaǰuθəm Pluractionals

In this paper, we discuss two types of plural marking, C1C2 reduplication and a -Vg- affix, on verbs in ʔayʔaǰuθəm (Comox-Sliammon), a Central Salish language. We argue that C1C2 plural reduplicati...

NOUN DERIVATION IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE KIROV PERMYAKS

The article describes the noun derivation system of one of the lesser-studied idioms of the Komi-Permyak language. The main focus is on the morphological means of expressing the categories of number, possessiveness and case. The paper analyzes the peculiarities of forming plurals, considers the secondary meanings of the plural marker, identifies the number of grammatical categories of possessiveness and case, describes each item of the case paradigm in terms of morphological formation, and reveals the features of the possessive declension. The empirical base of the research includes language materials collected by the author in her dialectology expeditions to the area where the Kirov Permyaks resided. Linguistic materials are analyzed and interpreted in the context of the Komi language dialectic landscape. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the noun derivation in the idiom in question is characterized by simplification and shows great similarity with the southern Zyryan dialects in its main features.

초급 한국어 학습자 대상 복수 표지 ‘들’ 교육의 필요성에 대하여

지금까지 한국어 교육 문법이나 어휘에서는 복수 표지 ‘들’에 집중하지 않았다. 복수 표지 ‘들’에 대한 문법적 합의가 이루어지기 어려운 부분도 있지만 한국어에서 복수가 문법 범주가 아니기 때문일 수도 있다. 그러나 학습자들은 이문법 형태를 사용하고 있으며 오류를 보이기도 한다. 한국어 교육 문법으로서의 ‘들’의 교육 내용을 확정하기 위해 기존의 문법서와 사전의 기술을 바탕으로 교재에 사용된 양상을 확인하고 학습자 코퍼스를 분석하여 초급 단계의 한국어 학습자를 위한 복수 표지 ‘들’의 교육 내용을 도출하였다. 기본적으로 복수표지 ‘들’은 사물 명사가 아닌 인간 명사와 결합한다는 것을 가르쳐야 한다. 문장에 불명확한 수를 나타내는 표현이 있을 때에도 ‘들’을 사용하지 않는 것이 자연스러우나 사람 명사에는 ‘들’을 붙여 사용할 수도 있다. 또한 선행 명사가 복수 인칭 대명사일 때에는 ‘들’을 붙여 복수의 의미를 강조할 수 있다는 점도 교육 내용에 포함 될 수 있을 것이다.