8,541
edits
Chlouvānem/Morphology: Difference between revisions
m
→Use of the plural
m (→Correlatives) |
|||
| Line 720: | Line 720: | ||
* Nouns are always singular after numerals (except, optionally, ''dani'' (two), which they can also be dual after), ''sora'' (some), ''læti'' (any), ''gu'' (no), ''guviṣam'' (no other), ''taili'' (many, much), ''nanū'' (more), ''kaili'' (most), and ''ṣubha'' (few, little). | * Nouns are always singular after numerals (except, optionally, ''dani'' (two), which they can also be dual after), ''sora'' (some), ''læti'' (any), ''gu'' (no), ''guviṣam'' (no other), ''taili'' (many, much), ''nanū'' (more), ''kaili'' (most), and ''ṣubha'' (few, little). | ||
** After ''yaiva'', the difference in the noun's number expresses a distinction much like the one between English "every" and "all": ''yaiva kita'' "every house", ''yaiva kitai'' "all houses". | ** After ''yaiva'', the difference in the noun's number expresses a distinction much like the one between English "every" and "all": ''yaiva kita'' "every house", ''yaiva kitai'' "all houses". | ||
* When referring to existence or availability of something, that something is always singular, e.g. ''dvārma læjlęs virā'' "there are chairs in the room". It may be plural if topicalized, but the overall meaning of the sentence changes - e.g. ''læjlai mæn dvārma virā'' "the chairs are in the room". | * When referring to existence or availability of something, that something is always singular, e.g. ''dvārma læjlęs virā'' "there are chairs in the room". It may be plural if topicalized, but the overall meaning of the sentence changes - e.g. ''læjlai mæn dvārma virā'' "the chairs are in the room". | ||
* When referring to a single person, ''dhāna'' (hand), ''mešīn'' (eye), and ''minnūlya'' (ear), and often also ''junai'' (foot) (more rarely for ''pājya'' (leg) and ''liken'' (arm)) are typically singular and not dual - e.g. ''nanau mešīp mešute'' "I see it with my eyes" (lit. "with my eye"). In fact, they might be translated as "a person's hands/eyes/ears", given that dual forms are often used to mean e.g. "both hands of two people" and the plural ones for e.g. "many people's hands". | * When referring to a single person, ''dhāna'' (hand), ''mešīn'' (eye), and ''minnūlya'' (ear), and often also ''junai'' (foot) (more rarely for ''pājya'' (leg) and ''liken'' (arm)) are typically singular and not dual - e.g. ''nanau mešīp mešute'' "I see it with my eyes" (lit. "with my eye"). In fact, they might be translated as "a person's hands/eyes/ears", given that dual forms are often used to mean e.g. "both hands of two people" and the plural ones for e.g. "many people's hands". | ||