Languages with numeral classifiers and plural inflection

Matthew S Dryer dryer at ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
Thu Nov 12 20:53:31 UTC 1998


My database records the following as POSSIBLY (probably?) being languages
with numeral classifiers and plural morphology.  Whether they co-occur
needs to be checked and whether they fit how I have characterized them
needs to be checked, so I give my sources.  My own view is that original
sources need in general to be checked; I don't think depending on hearsay
is a good way to do typology.  All of these languages appear to employ
plural affixes.

Kurdish: NumClsfrN, Blau (1980: 79-80, 45)
Blau, Joyce.  1980.  Manuel de Kurde.  Paris:  Librairie C. Klincksieck.

Pumi: NNumClsfr, Lu (1983: 30, 75-76)
Lu, Shao-tsun.  1983.  P'u-mi yu chien chih.  Beijing:  Min tsu ch'u pan
she : Hsin hua shu tien fa hsing   (in Chinese)

Newari: NNumClsfr ( with NumClsfrN possible), Malla (1985: 31, 57. 72,
85), Genetti (1990: 71, 99, 225)
Malla, Kamal P.  1985.  The Newari Language: A Working Outline.  Tokyo:
Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa,
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
Genetti, Carol.  1990.  A Descriptive and Historical Account of the
Dolakha Newari Dialect.  Univ. of Oregon Ph.D. Dissertation.  Published
1994 with different pagination, Tokyo:  Institute for the Study of
Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.

Athpare: NumClsfrN (with NNumClsfr possible), Ebert (1997: 82, 108)
Ebert, Karen H.  1997.  A Grammar of Athpare.  Munich:  LINCOM Europa.

Bodo (=Boro): NumClsfrN/NNumClsfr, Bhattacharya (1977: 136, 154-156, 240)
Bhattacharya, Pramod Chandra.  1977.  A descriptive analysis of the Boro
language.  Gauhati:  Dept. of Publication, Gauhati University.

Kachari: NClsfrNum, Endle (1884: vii-viii, x)
Endle, S.  1884.  Outline Grammar of the Kachari (Bara) Language.
Shillong:  The Assam Secretariat Press.

Muna: NumClsfrN (with NNumClsfr possible), Van Den Berg (1989: 77,
109-111, 133)
Van den Berg, Rene.  1989.  A Grammar of the Muna Language.  Dordrecht:
Foris.

Enganno: NumClsfrN/NNumClsfr, Kahler (1939-40: 85, 189, 191)
Ka(umlaut)hler, Hans.  1940.  Grammatischer abriss des Enganno.
Zeitschrift fr Eingeborenen-Sprachen 30: 81-117, 182-210, 296-320.

Paulohi: NNumClsfr, Stresemann (1918: 40, 52, 59)
Stresemann, Erwin.  1918.  Die Paulohisprache.  's-Gravenhage:  Martinus
Nijhoff.

Solor: NClsfrNum, Arndt (1937: 18, 19)
Arndt, P. P.  1937.  Grammatik der Solor-Sprache.  Ende, Flores,
Indonesia:  Arnoldus-Drukkerij.

Kiribatese: NumClsfrN (with NNumClsfr possible), Cowell (1951: 16, 27),
Groves and Jacobs (1985: 32-37, 41-43)
Cowell, Reid.  1951.  The Structure of Gilbertese.  Bern, Gilbert Islands:
Rongorongo Press.
Groves, Terab'ata R., Gordon W. Groves, and Roderick Jacobs.  1985.
Kiribatese: An Outline Description.  Pacific Linguistics, Series D, No. 64

Tepehua: ClsfrNumN, Watters (1988: scattered examples)
Watters, James K.  1988.  Topics in Tepehua Grammar.  University of
California at Berkeley Ph.D. Dissertation.

Huastec: NumClsfrN, Edmonson (1988: 403, 429-430, 514-515)
Edmonson, Barbara Wedemeyer.  1988.  A Descriptive Grammar of Huastec
(Potosino dialect).  Tulane University dissertation.

Tabasco Chontal: NumClsfrN, Knowles (1984: 203, 275, 302)

Bribri: NNumClsfr, Pena (1982: xxi, xxiv, xxv, xxxi)
PeNa, Enrique Margery.  1982.  Notas preliminares sobre la morfologia
Bribri.  In Diccionario Bribri-Espaol, Espaol-Bribri.  San Jose: Editorial
Universidad de Costa Rica.

Barasano: NumClsfrN, Jones and Jones (1991: 4, 20, 59), Smith (1973:
21-30, 46-48)
Jones, Wendell, and Paula Jones.  1991.  Barasano Syntax.  Summer
Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington.
Smith, Richard D.  1973.  Southern Barasano Grammar.  Language Data
Microfiche AM3  Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Note that Audrey Li's question assumes Numeral + Classifier and says
nothing about Classifier + Numeral.  I don't know if this is significant.

Matthew Dryer



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