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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Wayne, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When we started entering the inanimate nouns which
are used more in their plural or nonspecific form (fruits, tubers, leaves,
grass, inanimate objects like arrows, or generally things which occur in groups
and can be counted, body parts that are seen as a pair) as the head word in the
dictionary back before 1990, the Eduria & Barasana (Eastern Tucanoan,
Colombia, South America) were very positive toward it and most of that large
group of nouns remain in that form with the singular given as a grammar note.
The plural is also given since a certain percentage have a regular plural form
for when they are counted, but not all and not all use the regular plural
suffix. On the other hand, some of the original classification of this group of
nouns, like 'canoes' and 'benches', have been changed to their singular form by
the speakers since 1990, probably because, though they have all the forms of the
classification, these days the usage of the singular is more common, i.e.,
the people group is much smaller than it used to be and no longer travel in
groups of more than one canoe at a time as has been described
as happening hundreds of years ago. In my mind, we organized
them all by form originally but in the years since then, have changed to the
singular when the people objected and continued to prefer the singular head word
over time. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This was also done for the animate group words
(bees, birds, fish, people groups, etc.), which add a singular morpheme when
refering to just one. This group is much more unpredictable, i.e. a higher
percentage of these words which possess the added singular suffix are
preferred as the head word by the people. An example are ants that have a very
painful bite, the singular is more often used, as compared to ants which are
gathered to eat, where the plural, nonspecific form is prefered as the head
word. The same for fish, possibly because of the different fishing methods for
the different species. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>All other nouns, except for mass nouns, occur in
their singular forms. This treatment of the group, collective, nonspecific, etc.
nouns for the Eduria & Barasana dictionary is now one that has been
developed from their view of word usage and as such seems inconsistent and
questionable at times. We plan to give the dictionary to the people next year as
they have developed it. BUT I have the question - - - if we were to find the
time and energy to work on it for Internet availability, how would linguists
want this group of nouns, inanimate and animate, handled?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you very much, Paula S. Jones</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From: "Wayne Leman" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:wayne_leman@sil.org"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>wayne_leman@sil.org</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 8:45
PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Subject: [Lexicog] lexical entries as singulars or
plurals</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>> I, as I suspect most who do lexical research, have been entering
nouns into <BR>> my database with the singular as the usual default entry.
But I've been <BR>> doing some thinking that for Cheyenne, at least, there
are some nouns for <BR>> which the singular is so rare as to be almost
non-existent. Instead, the <BR>> plural is the usual form. Among such would
be, e.g.<BR>> <BR>> mo'e'estse 'grass/weeds' (it's plural, whereas English
considers grass a <BR>> mass noun)<BR>> moneshkeho 'beans'<BR>>
mahaemenotse 'kernel corn'<BR>> <BR>> It is possible to elicit a singular,
at least with some speakers, but the <BR>> plural is, by far, the most
commonly used form.<BR>> <BR>> Then there are other forms for which both
the singular and plural are <BR>> commonly used, but the plural may have a
cultural significance greater than <BR>> that of simply being "the plural of
the singular." For example, for <BR>> Cheyenne, there is<BR>> <BR>>
ma'heono 'sacred powers' (these are prayed to in traditional prayers, even
<BR>> in post-missionary times)<BR>> ma'heo'o 'God'<BR>> <BR>> What
I'd like to suggest is that for the lexicons of some languages, at <BR>>
least, it may be necessary to enter the singular and plural forms of nouns
<BR>> (and, for some languages, perhaps verbs) where there is some cultural
<BR>> significance to having both. Obviously, the database would still
indicate <BR>> derivational links among the singular and plural
entries.<BR>> <BR>> What do you think?<BR>> <BR>> Wayne<BR>>
-----<BR>> Wayne Leman<BR>> Cheyenne website: </FONT><A
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