[Lingtyp] Query: looking for singulatives

Thu May 16 10:39:27 UTC 2019

Dear Daniel et al,

The usages of the Chitimacha form that you cite would seem, on the face 
of it, to be more typical of a restrictive focus operator than a 
singulative.

These two alternatives may perhaps be distinguished by testing for 
upward entailment.  Consider the following two English sentences:

(1) John ate an apple

(2) John ate just one apple

Given a state of affairs in which John ate two apples, sentence (1), 
with the singular noun, is pragmatically infelicitous but not false; it 
is the truth but not the whole truth.  Such NPs, which include singular 
as well as numerically quantified nouns, are accordingly characterized 
as "increasing" or "upward entailing". In contrast, sentence (2), with 
the restrictive focus operator "just", is false.

Now I don't know for sure how NPs headed by a singulative-marked noun 
behave — can anybody reading this who knows chip in here? — but I would 
hazard a guess that they are also increasing / upward entailing.  If 
indeed this is the case, then testing for upward entailments would make 
it possible to distinguish between singulative and restrictive focus 
analyses of the Chitimacha form.  Guessing again, I strongly suspect 
(from the glosses provided) that the NPs in question are not upward 
entailing, and hence that the form in question is in fact a restrictive 
focus operator.

David

On 16/05/2019 11:52, Daniel W. Hieber wrote:
>
> Dear Silva,
>
> There is an enclitic in Chitimacha (isolate; Louisiana) which may be 
> of interest, although it's not entirely clear whether it would fall 
> under your definition of a singulative. I think it would be worth 
> considering whether examples of this type belong under the category of 
> singulative as well, and if not, what distinguishes them from 
> singulatives.
>
> Swadesh (1939a: 131-132) states that the suffix /‑(n)kʼiš/ may mean:
>
> 1.'no one, nothing else'; 'only, just'
>
> 2.(with pronouns) 'alone, unaccompanied, unaided'
>
> 3.(with numerals) enumerated, individuated
>
> With the exception of a handful of animate nouns, Chitimacha does not 
> otherwise distinguish singular and plural nouns.
>
> Some examples of each of the functions in use:
>
> 1.
>
> ʔiš=kʼiš
>
> 	
>
> we
>
> 	
>
> šaː
>
> 	
>
> niši
>
> 	
>
> kaːkw-iki-n
>
> 1SG=SING
>
> 	
>
> DET
>
> 	
>
> mouth
>
> 	
>
> speech
>
> 	
>
> know-1SG.AGT-CONT
>
> I am the only one who knows the language (Swadesh 1939b: A10j.5)
>
> 2.
>
> hus=kʼiš
>
> 	
>
> hiː
>
> 	
>
> kap
>
> 	
>
> paːkini-ːkʼ
>
> 3SG=SING
>
> 	
>
> COP
>
> 	
>
> STAT
>
> 	
>
> be.tired-SS
>
> tired of being alone (Swadesh 1939b: A12a.5)
>
> 3.
>
> kič=kʼiš
>
> 	
>
> meša-nk
>
> 	
>
> waːč-mi-ːkʼ
>
> woman(PL)=SING
>
> 	
>
> four-ABS
>
> 	
>
> marry-PLACT-SS
>
> he had married four women (Swadesh 1939b: A37b.1)
>
> *References*
>
> ·Swadesh, Morris. 1939a. Chitimacha grammar. In /Chitimacha grammar, 
> texts, and vocabulary/ (American Council of Learned Societies 
> Committee on Native American Languages Mss.497.3.B63c G6.5). 
> Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Library.
>
> ·Swadesh, Morris. 1939b. Chitimacha texts. In /Chitimacha grammar, 
> texts, and vocabulary/ (American Council of Learned Societies 
> Committee on Native American Languages Mss.497.3.B63c G6.5). 
> Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Library.
>
> Daniel W. Hieber
>
> Ph.D. Candidate in Linguistics
>
> University of California, Santa Barbara
>
> danielhieber.com <https://danielhieber.com>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf 
> of Nurmio, Silva M <silva.nurmio at helsinki.fi>
> *Sent:* Monday, May 13, 2019 2:15:14 AM
> *To:* lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> *Subject:* [Lingtyp] Query: looking for singulatives
>
> Dear all,
>
>
> I’m looking for data on singulatives and I’m writing to ask for your 
> help in tracking down more instances of this phenomenon. There is so 
> far no comprehensive list of singulatives in the world’s languages 
> that’s informed by an operational definition of what constitutes a 
> singulative, and my aim is to produce such a database.
>
> My working definition of the singulative is that it is a noun form 
> with any marker (inflectional or derivational) that creates a meaning 
> ‘one’ or ‘(one) unit’ when added to a base, i.e. a singulativizing and 
> individuating marker. Bases for singulatives tend to be mass nouns, 
> plurals, collectives of different kinds, general number forms, and 
> sometimes non-nominal bases like adjectives. Here are four examples of 
> different types of singulatives under my definition:
>
> (1) Bayso (Afro-Asiatic): /lúban/ ‘lion(s)’ (general number), 
> singulative /lúban-titi /‘a lion’
>
> (2) Russian (Indo-European) /gorox/ ‘pea(s)’ (mass), singulative 
> /goroš-ina/ ‘a pea’
>
> (3) Italian (Indo-European) /cioccolato/ ’chocolate’ (mass), 
> singulative /cioccolat-ino/ ’a chocolate praline, chocolate sweet’
>
> (4) Welsh (Indo-European) /unigol/ ‘individual’ (adjective), 
> singulative /unigol-yn/ ‘an individual’
>
> These examples show that singulatives occur in different number 
> systems, and they can be productive or unproductive (like the Russian 
> -/ina/ suffix). I also include diminutive markers which have a 
> singulative function, as seen in (3) (Jurafsky 1996 calls this the 
> ’partitive’ function of diminutives). Forms that are singulatives are 
> often not described as such in grammars (especially types 3 and 4), 
> making them harder to find. I am also including singulatives in older 
> language stages which have since been lost (e.g. Old Irish).
>
> Below is a list of languages (alphabetical order) on which I already 
> have data. I would be very grateful for any pointers to grammars, 
> language descriptions or other mentions of singulatives in languages 
> which are not on the list, or if you think there are sources for any 
> of the already listed languages that I’m likely to have missed.
>
> Thank you very much in advance!
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Silva Nurmio
>
> Aari
>
> Akkadian
>
> Arabic (several dialects)
>
> Arbore
>
> Baiso/Bayso
>
> Baule
>
> Berber
>
> Bidyogo
>
> Bora
>
> Breton
>
> Burushaski
>
> Cantonese
>
> Cornish
>
> Dagaare
>
> Dutch
>
> Enets (Forest Enets and Tundra Enets)
>
> Ewe
>
> Fox
>
> Gede'o
>
> Hebrew
>
> Imonda
>
> Italian
>
> Itelmen
>
> Kambaata
>
> Kiowa
>
> Krongo
>
> Majang
>
> Maltese
>
> Marle (Murle)
>
> Masa
>
> Miraña
>
> Nafusi
>
> Nahuatl (all dialects?)
>
> Ojibwe (all dialects?)
>
> Old Irish
>
> Oromo (Borana dialect)
>
> Resígaro
>
> Russian
>
> Shilluk
>
> Shona
>
> Sidamo
>
> Swahili
>
> Tariana
>
> Tewa
>
> Tigre
>
> Tiwa
>
> Towa
>
> Turkana
>
> Ukrainian
>
> Welsh
>
> Yiddish
>
> Zulu
>
>
>
> Dr Silva Nurmio
>
> Research Fellow
> Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
> Fabianinkatu 24 (P.O. Box 4)
> 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
>
> https://tuhat.helsinki.fi/portal/en/person/sinurmio
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
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-- 
David Gil

Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany

Email: gil at shh.mpg.de
Office Phone (Germany): +49-3641686834
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81281162816

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