numerals and number markers

[Edith A Moravcsik]

Forwarded message:
>From edith Wed Mar 18 10:40:01 1998
From: Edith A Moravcsik <edith>
Message-Id: <199803181640.KAA31714 at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu>
Subject: numerals and number markers
To: lingtyp at linguist.ldc.upenn, .edu
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 10:40:00 -0600 (CST)
Cc: edith
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24alpha3]
Content-Type: text

Dear ALT Colleagues,

This is in response to Lena Maslova's remarks on the criterion of
obligatoriness as a distinguisher between numerals and number
markers. The exact formulation of the proposal she spoke to was this:
"If a quantifying formative cannot be omitted, it is a number marker;
if it can be omitted, it can be either a numeral or a number marker."
In other words, obligatoriness is a necessary but not sufficient
condition for a quantifying formative to be a number marker.

Lena pointed out that this criterion conflicts with other criteria
for identifying numerals. In Russian, words like "dva" 'two' - numerals
by other criteria - are not omissable:

    V  komnate dva stol-a.   'There are two tables in the room.'
    in room    two table-GEN

   *V komnate stola.

This is because "dva" governs the singular genitive. To say "Tables
are in the room.", "tables" has to be in the plural nominative.

This is a good point. It follows that what we must mean
by "omissability" here is omitting an element along with its
paraphernalia - i.e., in this instance, the case it governs.
So, the new formulation:

"If a quantifying formative cannot be omitted, it is a number marker;
if it can be omitted, it is either a numeral or a number marker
(where omissability means ellipting a constituent and at the same
time canceling the case it governs without impairment of grammaticality)."

Edith Moravcsik

   ************************************************************************
				 Edith A. Moravcsik
				 Department of Linguistics
			         University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
				 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413
                                 USA

				 E-mail: edith at csd.uwm.edu
				 Telephone: (414) 229-6794 /office/
					    (414) 332-0141 /home/
			         Fax: (414) 229-6258





					      	











--

   ************************************************************************
				 Edith A. Moravcsik
				 Department of Linguistics
			         University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
				 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413
                                 USA

				 E-mail: edith at csd.uwm.edu
				 Telephone: (414) 229-6794 /office/
					    (414) 332-0141 /home/
			         Fax: (414) 229-6258