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'''Some examples''' | '''Some examples''' | ||
*''nama'' "person" uses the unmarked form to refer to an indefinite person or multiple people (e.g. "''Someone'' should do this", "I saw some ''people''"). The singulative is used to refer to a specific person (e.g. "I see ''a person''") or to specify the gender of an indefinite person (e.g. "''Some man'' should do this"). The plural is used to emphasize the large number of people or to talk about multiple groups of people. | *''nama'' "person" uses the unmarked form to refer to an indefinite person or multiple people (e.g. "''Someone'' should do this", "I saw some ''people''"). The singulative is used to refer to a specific person (e.g. "I see ''a person''") or to specify the gender of an indefinite person (e.g. "''Some man'' should do this"). The plural is used to emphasize the large number of people or to talk about multiple groups of people. When ''nama'' refers to multiple people, it is more or less interchangeable with ''dada'' "people" (but ''dada'' is always plural). | ||
*''shimmira'' "bird" uses the singulative for a single bird and the unmarked form as a collective. It does not have a dedicated plural form, though ad-hoc formations such as ''shimmiroota'' may be used to refer to a very large number of birds. | *''shimmira'' "bird" uses the singulative for a single bird and the unmarked form as a collective. It does not have a dedicated plural form, though ad-hoc formations such as ''shimmiroota'' may be used to refer to a very large number of birds. | ||
*''afka'' "mouth/language" uses the singulative for a single mouth/language and the plural for more than one. It does not have an unmarked form. | *''afka'' "mouth/language" uses the singulative for a single mouth/language and the plural for more than one. It does not have an unmarked form. | ||