[Lexicog] lexical entries as singulars or plurals

[Wayne Leman]

I, as I suspect most who do lexical research, have been entering nouns into 
my database with the singular as the usual default entry. But I've been 
doing some thinking that for Cheyenne, at least, there are some nouns for 
which the singular is so rare as to be almost non-existent. Instead, the 
plural is the usual form. Among such would be, e.g.

mo'e'estse 'grass/weeds' (it's plural, whereas English considers grass a 
mass noun)
moneshkeho 'beans'
mahaemenotse 'kernel corn'

It is possible to elicit a singular, at least with some speakers, but the 
plural  is, by far, the most commonly used form.

Then there are other forms for which both the singular and plural are 
commonly used, but the plural may have a cultural significance greater than 
that of simply being "the plural of the singular." For example, for 
Cheyenne, there is

ma'heono 'sacred powers' (these are prayed to in traditional prayers, even 
in post-missionary times)
ma'heo'o 'God'

What I'd like to suggest is that for the lexicons of some languages, at 
least, it may be necessary to enter the singular and plural forms of nouns 
(and, for some languages, perhaps verbs) where there is some cultural 
significance to having both. Obviously, the database would still indicate 
derivational links among the singular and plural entries.

What do you think?

Wayne
-----
Wayne Leman
Cheyenne website: http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language 



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