[Lingtyp] R: Query: looking for singulatives

Tue May 14 10:53:26 UTC 2019

Hi all,

This discussion made me curious about what in historical linguistics is
typically considered to be back-formation - where does it fit in to the
present discussion?

In Hebrew, for example, *spageti *is generally a mass noun, but one can say
"Hey, you missed a *spaget*." You also find from *bamba*, a peanut-flavored
snack (and a mass noun), the form *bamb* 'a single *bamba*,' and a few
others. Such examples have a jocular flavor, but speakers use them and
understand them.

These don't have an overt marker for the singulative, but rather involve
subtracting some part of the ending. Interestingly, these forms can be
created even when there is an existing singular, so *adaʃa *'lentil'
vs. *adaʃim
*'lentils' vs. *adaʃ *'a single lentil.'

Eitan

On Mon, May 13, 2019 at 3:34 PM Östen Dahl <oesten at ling.su.se> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
>
>
> Like the Italian examples, Russian *goroš-ina* ‘a pea’ (from the mass
> noun *gorox*) is a regular count noun with a plural (*goroš-iny*)
> although it is not a diminutive. So there is a difference between
> singulatives and derivational processes that create count nouns. A better
> Russian example would be the suffix *-in* as in *graždan-in* ‘citizen’ or
> *rimljan-in* ‘Roman’ which disappears in the plural: *graždan-e* and
> *rimljan-e*. Notice that these words get the normal case endings in the
> singular after the -*in* suffix, e.g. genitive *graždan-in-a, *so they
> are different from examples like Latin *hortus* that Martin Haspelmath
> mentioned.
>
>
>
> Östen
>
>
>
> *Från:* Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> *För *Paolo
> Ramat
> *Skickat:* den 13 maj 2019 13:27
> *Till:* 'Nurmio, Silva M' <silva.nurmio at helsinki.fi>;
> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> *Ämne:* [Lingtyp] R: Query: looking for singulatives
>
>
>
> Dear Silva,
>
> note that  *cioccolat-ino* is ‘per se’ a diminutive which may eventually
> assume the singulative function, like *pasticcio* ‘cake, pie’ à *pasticc*-
> *ino* ‘petit-four’ or *focaccia *‘bun’ à *focacc-ina* ‘little bun’. All
> these lexemes have a plural: *cioccolatini, pasticcini,focaccine*, so
> that the singulative function of *– ino / -ina* looks dubious. I think
> that the Russian case is very different from the Italian one.
>
>
>
> As for the interesting example of  Helmut H.:
>
> “On the surface at least, rice is [+count] in Danish (*ris*) and [-count]
> in German (*Reis*). So in a recipe, you would cook ‚the rices‘ (*risene*)
> in Danish and ‚the rice‘ (*den Reis*) in German.
>
> On the other hand, with spaghetti it is the other way round: Danish
> *spaghetti* is singular and [-count], while German *Spaghetti* is a *
> plurale tantum* (hence inherently [+count]).
>
> I am not aware of a singulative in either language to refer to a single
> piece of spaghetti, while for a single grain of rice, you can say
> *Reiskorn* in German (which is, of course, a lexical singulative) but
> strangely enough also *riskorn* (not *en ris*) in Danish”
>
>
>
> You may have in Italian *il riso *(mass noun) and *I risi* if you are
> speaking of different rice qualities, whereas *spaghetti* (plur.) is the
> usual, unmarked form; but you can have even *uno spaghetto *when, for
> instance in preparing your spaghetti dish you say *‘uno spaghetto has
> fallen down’ *. On the contrary, it is impossible to say* *un riso *
> meaning* a Reiskorn  *i.e.* un chicco di riso  *(a lexical singulative).
>
>
>
> *Best,*
>
> *Paolo*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *Da:* Lingtyp [mailto:lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org
> <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org>] *Per conto di *Nurmio, Silva
> M
> *Inviato:* lunedì 13 maggio 2019 09:15
> *A:* lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> *Oggetto:* [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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