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8 Number in West Circassian

  • Irina Bagirokova , Yury Lander and Paul Phelan
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Number in the World's Languages
This chapter is in the book Number in the World's Languages

Abstract

This chapter describes the expression of number in West Circassian, a polysynthetic language of the Northwest Caucasian family. In West Circassian, nouns contrast between non-specific deficient forms undefined for number, unmarked forms which usually - but not always - express the singular meaning, and forms which explicitly mark plurality (either by a simple plural affix or by a cumulative case-number suffix). Notably, the plural morphology attaches both to count nouns and to mass nouns, sometimes triggering various semantic shifts. The contexts where a form without a plural marker may have plural denotation include not only nominals with non-specific reference but also possessives and non-locutor definite pronominal phrases. Number can also be expressed by a dedicated associative plural suffix (whose use is however severely restricted) and by indexing outside the noun whose use has a predominantly semantic basis. The language further displays some minor constructions, such as the honorific use of indexing, a dyadic construction based on reciprocal morphology, and a pattern close to inclusory constructions.

Abstract

This chapter describes the expression of number in West Circassian, a polysynthetic language of the Northwest Caucasian family. In West Circassian, nouns contrast between non-specific deficient forms undefined for number, unmarked forms which usually - but not always - express the singular meaning, and forms which explicitly mark plurality (either by a simple plural affix or by a cumulative case-number suffix). Notably, the plural morphology attaches both to count nouns and to mass nouns, sometimes triggering various semantic shifts. The contexts where a form without a plural marker may have plural denotation include not only nominals with non-specific reference but also possessives and non-locutor definite pronominal phrases. Number can also be expressed by a dedicated associative plural suffix (whose use is however severely restricted) and by indexing outside the noun whose use has a predominantly semantic basis. The language further displays some minor constructions, such as the honorific use of indexing, a dyadic construction based on reciprocal morphology, and a pattern close to inclusory constructions.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of authors ix
  4. 1 Number in the World’s Languages: Configuring the variation space 1
  5. I Africa
  6. 2 Number in Eastern Dan 27
  7. 3 Number marking in Karko and Nilo-Saharan 63
  8. 4 Number in Tswana 107
  9. II Europe and Middle East
  10. 5 Number in Arabic 131
  11. 6 Number in Occitan 167
  12. 7 Number in Slovenian 187
  13. 8 Number in West Circassian 261
  14. III Northern Eurasia
  15. 9 Number in Ket (Yeniseian) 307
  16. 10 Number in Nganasan 351
  17. 11 Number in Nivkh 375
  18. IV Pacific and Australia
  19. 12 Number in Gooniyandi 427
  20. 13 Number in Indonesian 457
  21. 14 Number in Japonic Family 505
  22. 15 Number in the Languages of the Lower Sepik Family 529
  23. 16 Number in Marori 577
  24. V Americas
  25. 17 Number in the languages of South America 609
  26. 18 The category of number in Kakataibo (Panoan) 671
  27. 19 Grammatical simplexity: Number in Kiowa 693
  28. 20 Number in Mohawk (Iroquoian) 729
  29. VI Further perspectives on linguistic diversity
  30. 21 Contact languages: A survey 767
  31. 22 Number in Russian Sign Language 805
  32. 23 Number in grammar: results and perspectives 833
  33. Terms 911
  34. Languages and language families 917
  35. Authors 927
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110622713-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of authors ix
  4. 1 Number in the World’s Languages: Configuring the variation space 1
  5. I Africa
  6. 2 Number in Eastern Dan 27
  7. 3 Number marking in Karko and Nilo-Saharan 63
  8. 4 Number in Tswana 107
  9. II Europe and Middle East
  10. 5 Number in Arabic 131
  11. 6 Number in Occitan 167
  12. 7 Number in Slovenian 187
  13. 8 Number in West Circassian 261
  14. III Northern Eurasia
  15. 9 Number in Ket (Yeniseian) 307
  16. 10 Number in Nganasan 351
  17. 11 Number in Nivkh 375
  18. IV Pacific and Australia
  19. 12 Number in Gooniyandi 427
  20. 13 Number in Indonesian 457
  21. 14 Number in Japonic Family 505
  22. 15 Number in the Languages of the Lower Sepik Family 529
  23. 16 Number in Marori 577
  24. V Americas
  25. 17 Number in the languages of South America 609
  26. 18 The category of number in Kakataibo (Panoan) 671
  27. 19 Grammatical simplexity: Number in Kiowa 693
  28. 20 Number in Mohawk (Iroquoian) 729
  29. VI Further perspectives on linguistic diversity
  30. 21 Contact languages: A survey 767
  31. 22 Number in Russian Sign Language 805
  32. 23 Number in grammar: results and perspectives 833
  33. Terms 911
  34. Languages and language families 917
  35. Authors 927
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