classifiers and plural marking

[Silvia Kouwenberg]

Re the question whether there are any languages for which there is a
different translation for:
>
>	(1) three musketeers
>	(2) the three musketeers
>
Caribbean creole languages follow the pattern that only definite NPs take
obligatory plural marking, but in the presence of a plural quantifier,
plural marking is generally optional.

Jamaican:       gyal 'girl' / 'girls' vs. di gyal 'the girl' vs. di gyal dem
'the girls'
                        trii gyal 'three girls' / *trii gyal dem
                        di trii gyal (dem) 'the three girls'
Papiamento:  buki 'book(s)' vs.  e buki 'the book' vs. e buki nan 'the books'
                        hopi buki 'many books' / *hopi buki nan
                        e tres buki (nan) 'the three books'


	Silvia Kouwenberg
	Department of Language, Linguistics & Philosophy
	University of the West Indies
	Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica
	phone (1) 9448348 fax (1) 9770622