Vadi: Difference between revisions

Number exhibits a two-way distinction in nouns: singular and non-singular.  Singular number is explicitly marked with the determiner ''han/ha'', while plural and collectives are unmarked.  Nouns beginning with a vowel are preceded by the allomorph ''han'', while ''ha'' appears before nouns beginning with a consonant.  Sometimes the singulative is represented by inflection, particularly [[Vadi#Gender| body parts]].  Number distinction in body part nouns displays an unusual split, one being the typical singulative-unmarked distinction, and the other being a plural-unmarked distinction.  Body parts that usually come in pairs (e.g. hands), mass/collective (e.g. hair), or multiple instances (e.g. fingers) follow the singulative/non-singulative distinction.  Those that occur (usually) as a single instance on the human body, such as the head, tongue, and nose follow a singular/plural distinction, with the singular being the unmarked condition.  The last body part in the table follows a singulative-plural-unmarked distinction, a highly divergent pattern combined with both animate and inanimate distinctions in the singulative form.  How this distinction came about remains speculative, but if the texts between the litigants is any guide, the form chosen to intensify some of their more vitriolic correspondence.