[parislinguists] Lexical Plurals EXTENDED DEADLINE: 15 April 2015

Wed Mar 25 08:09:23 UTC 2015

LEXICAL PLURALS

*Extended deadline (and last call) for abstract submission:15 April 2015*

Date: 9 - 10 September 2015

Location: Ghent University

Contact Email: plurielslexicaux2015 at gmail.com 
<mailto:plurielslexicaux2015 at gmail.com>

Meeting URL: http://www.glims.ugent.be/events/lexical-plurals/

*L**exicalplurals*arepluralforms(/oats,remains/)inwhichpluralityconstitutesaninherentlexicalspecification(cf.Booij1994,1996:“inherentinflection”;Acquaviva2008).Assuch,theycannotbeaccountedforbymeansofagrammaticalrule(orgeneralization)yieldingnounsthatmean 
‘manyx’asopposedtothemeaningofthecorrespondingsingularform‘onex’.Thereforetheyhavetobelearnedaspartof“whatitistoknowaword”.

Thiswide-rangingdefinitionaimsatcoveringaverylargespectrumofphenomenathathave

beendealtwithfrom quite anumberofdifferent pointsof view, which 
arereflectedintheabundantterminologyfoundinthisdomain:

Semantic:

o«pluralmassnouns»(a.o.Alexiadou2011),«plurielmassif»/«massifpluriel»withintheFrenchlinguistictradition(e.g.Damourette&Pichon,T1,§§354),or«plurielcontinu»(‘continuousplural’;Damourette&PichonT1, 
453;Gréa2014)

o«plurielinterne»(‘internalplural’),followingtheseminalworkofGustaveGuillaume

(1945):e.g.deCarvalho(1970,1993);Furukawa(1977);Curat(1988);Wilmet

(19982:136)

o«nombrecollectif»(‘collectivenumber’)(Togeby1968:96)

o«grandpluriel»or«greaterplural»,denotingabundance(Corbett2000:30;Ojeda2005;Acquaviva2008:109);«plurielamplificateur»(‘amplifyingplural’;Guillaume,/apud/Furukawa1977)or«plurielintensificatif» 
(‘intensifying 
plural’,Zindel1958),e.g./lessablesdudésert/(‘thesandsofthedesert’)

osemanticallyopaquepluralswithrespecttothesingular(e.g./depths/,Acquaviva2008

:14)

o«plurielssymétriques»(‘symetricplurals’,Damourette&Pichon,§356),e.g.scissors.

…

Stylistic:·

oThe«plurielemphatique»(‘emphaticplural’)ofpropernouns:e.g../LesBossuet/

(Flaux2000)

oThelatin“plurielpoétique”(‘poeticplural’;deCarvalho1993:105-107)

oThe«plurielpudique» (‘euphemisticplural’,Cohen1950):e.g./toilettes/‘toilet’

Formal(morphological;sometimescompletedbysemanticconsiderations)

oThe“pluraliatantum”oftheLatingrammaticaltradition(lat./Fores/‘door,entrance’)and«differentiatedplural»(Jespersen1924),nottobeconfusedwithsingularwordswithpluralforms(e.g./news/,Acquaviva2008:16)

oarchaicmorphology(Curat1988,Gréa2013),oftenwithrespecttodoublets

oNounsendowedwithadoublepluralform(a.o.Furukawa1977;Curat1988);“doublets”(oneofwhichactsasaclassifier;Acquaviva2008:34/etpassim/,orquantifyingplural,e.g.theDutchplural/stuks/‘exemplars’) 
or 
semanticallydifferentiateddoublets(/brethren/vs/brothers/,Acquaviva2008:35),someofwhichalsohavedifferentgender(/membri/membra/,Aquaviva2008:39)

Noneoftheseapproachesfullycoverthewholeissueof“lexicalplurals”.

Mostofthesephenomena–whichhadalreadybeennoticedbythegrammariansofAntiquityandbyseveral19thCenturyphilologists–havetoooftenbeenrelegatedtotheheadingof(archaic)“languagecuriosities”.However,sinceacoupleofyears,especiallysincePaoloAcquaviva’s2008monograph,theyhavebeenputtothefore(Ojeda2005,Alexiadou2011,Gréa2013,Lauwers2014,Lammert2015,….).Moreover,itappearedthat,cross-linguistically,theselexicalpluralsconstituteaquitestablelanguagephenomenon(Corbett20008-10;Acquaviva2008:109),althoughwithineachlanguagetheyappearasidiosyncrasies,whosenumericimportanceshouldnot,however,beunderestimated.Belowsomeissuesarelistedthatmightbediscussedduringtheworkshop.

Thistwo-dayworkshopaimsatbringingtogetherlinguists(andpsycholinguists),comingfromdiversetheoreticalandmethodologicalhorizons,coveringthewholelinguisticspectrum,fromformallyorientedworktoworkinspiredbycognitiveorfunctionalapproaches,presentingbothdescriptiveandtheoreticalwork(generalizations/proposalsofmodeling), 
synchronicanddiachronic,dealingwithoneparticularlanguagesystemorimplyingseverallanguages.

As analyses and concepts hardly circulate between the anglophone and the 
francophone

researchcommunities–totakeonlyoneemblematicexample:thenotionof“internalplural”,whichisomnipresentinFrenchlinguistics,isunknownintheEnglish-speakingworld–itisourambitiontobringtogetherresearchersfrombothcommunities.ThereforethelanguagesoftheworkshopareEnglishandFrench;speakersarekindlyrequestedtoexplaintheirconceptualandterminologicalapparatusinordertomaketheirtalkaccessibletocolleaguesworkinginotherframeworks.

Weinviteabstracts(inEnglishorFrench)forpapers(20mintalkplus10mindiscussion),whichwillbereviewedanonymouslybymembersofthescientificcommittee.

Abstracts(.docor.pdf)shouldnotexceed400words(withaminimumof200words),referencesnotincluded,andshouldmentionmainresearchquestion(s),methodology,datasetand(expected)results.

Pleasedo_not_revealtheidentityoftheauthor(s)inthetextitself.Includeauthornamesandaffiliationsinthebodyofyouremail.

Submissionscanbesenttoplurielslexicaux2015 at gmail.com<mailto:plurielslexicaux2015 at gmail.com>nolaterthan*April15,*andarelimitedtotwoperindividual,atleastoneofwhichmustbeco-authored.

Notificationsofacceptancewillbesentoutby*May15.*

Inthemeantime,pleasedirectanyinquiriestoplurielslexicaux2015 at gmail.com 
<mailto:plurielslexicaux2015 at gmail.com>

Anyfurtherinformationwillappearonthewebsiteoftheworkshop:

http://www.glims.ugent.be/events/lexical-plurals/ 
<http://www.glims.ugent.be/events/lexical-plurals/>

Bywayofexample,thefollowingissuesmaybediscussed:

·Lexicological/lexicographicalaspects

oProblemsrelatedtotheinventoryandclassificationoflexicalplurals

oCross-linguistic/typologicalcomparisonofinventoriesandformalstrategies

oTheissueofproductivity:archaismor,rather,“afrequent,productiveandsystematicconfiguration[inFrench]”(Gréa2008:9;ourtranslation)?

o“Microscopic”analysesof(groupsof)lexemesinthelightofsomecrucialtheoreticalissues,suchas

·the(sometimesquitesubtle)semanticrelationshipbetweenthegrammaticalandthelexicalplural(e.g./yeux/‘eyes’;Gréa2008)andtheway 
thisrelationshipshouldbemodeled in lexicological terms 
(Homonymy?Polysemy?Facets?)

·The/primafacie/surprisingcontrastsbetweenpairsofnear-synonymssuch

asFr./gravats/débris/‘rubble’,thefirstmemberbehavingasalexicalplural(/gravats/‘rubble’;/*ungravat/‘onerubble’),thesecond 
as a 
grammaticalplural,withacompletelyregularsingularcounterpart(/undébris/‘onepieceofrubble’).

·Theinterestingcross-linguisticcorrelationsbetweensingularmassandpluralmass.Comparee.g.Engl./rubble/andDutch/puin/withFr./gravats/décombres/.

oTheformal/distributional“reactances”oflexicalplurality

Theareaoflexicalpluralityischaracterizedbyallkindsofidiosyncrasiessuchas:

·

oIdiosyncrasiesrelatedto*gender*,e.g.amasculinenounbecomingfemininewhenusedasa(collective)plural:it./dito/‘finger’vs./dita/‘fingers’(Acquaviva2008)

o*A**rchaicmorphology*(e.g.Dutch/ei-eren/‘egg-s’;Fr./cieux/‘heaven(s)’),possiblyinoppositionwitharegularmodernform(whichis 
also semantically regular), 
e.g./cieux/‘heaven’/vs.ciels/‘skies’.Thissituationmightbeduetoatendencytowardsmaking“functional”otherwiseuselessmorphologicalmarking(Damourette&Pichon,

§353-354;Curat1988:48;cf.m.m.DeCarvalho1970,1974onthetwoseriesofgenitiveformsinLatin:/virorum/virum/‘(ofthe)men’).

oTransgressionof *number agreement 
*rules,asin/thedatais/are/,or,inancientGreek,singularverbagreementwithapluralneutersubjectnoun(Colombat1993:30)

Itwouldalsobeinterestingtolookforotherformalstrategiesoflexicalpluralityinthelanguagesoftheworld,includingdistributionalfactsthatsuggestincipientlexicalizationorotherunexpectedcollectivereadings(Fr./Tuvoudraisencoreunpeudecarrottes/?‘Wouldyoulikesomemorecarrots?;’Vermote2014).Onemightalso(re)examinethepropertiesofthosedeterminersthataresensitivetoanykindofdeficiencywithrespecttocountability(Lauwers2014),suchas/plusieurs/quelques/(Gréa2008)and/unpeude/(Hilgert2014)inModernFrench,/un(e)s/‘some’inOldFrench,ortheseriesofdistributivenumeralsinLatin(/binae/trinaelitterae/;deCarvalho1993:102).

oSemanticaspects;conceptualizationandreference

Non-countabilityor,moregenerally,countabilitydeficiency(Lauwers2014),manifestsitselfinseveraldegreesandembracesseveralfacets/dimensions:

oThedisconnectionwithasingularcounterparttriggersallkindsofsemanticeffects,whicharepartlyreflectedinterminology(/massplural,plurielinterne/,cf.supra).Cross-linguistically,theseeffectsoftenaffectthesamelexicalfields 
(cf.Acquaviva2008).Howdothesemeaningeffectsconnectwiththeideaofplurality?Cantheybeconsideredextensionsfromaprototype(Langacker1991:77)?Towhatextentdotheyalreadyresemble–oratleastsomeofthem–theconceptualizationofmass?Inthisrespect,lexicalpluralsshouldbebenchmarkedagainsttheclaimofMufwene(1981)andLangacker(1987/1991,criticizedbydeCarvalho2007),whichinsistontheanalogybetweenmassandplural.Inthesamevein,Wierzbicka’s(1988)suggestion,whichtiesupthemorphologicalpluralwiththenotionof 
« 
smallcompositemass»,asopposedto«largemass»expressedbythesingular(/apud/Acquaviva2008:19,note4),shouldbeverified.Finally,weneedtoexaminethewaylexicalpluralscouldbeintegratedintheframeworkofformalsemanticsinasatisfactoryway(Lasersohn2011).

oIfitisthecasethatlexicalpluralsresemblemassnounstosomeextent,which,then,arethe 
relevant dimensions of mass (homogeneity, boundedness, individuation 
;etc.)concernedinthisrespect?Forinstance,somelexicalpluralsdenotereferentsendowedwithfuzzyboundaries(/thesurroundings)/,profilingtheabsenceofintrinsicboundaries,whileothersseemtostrengthenthepropertyofhomogeneity(Fr./lesépinards/‘spinach’).Inaddition,as 
suggested by Lauwers (2014), some 
lexicalpluralsseemtoconformtothebehaviorofso-called“compact”nouns,e.g.namesofdiseases(/measles;mumps/andtheirFrenchequivalents),whileotherssomehowreplicatethebehaviorof“dense”nouns(suchasFr./Épinards/‘spinach’)orthatofcollectivenouns(/groceries;/Fr./vivres/;Dutch/ingewanden/‘intestines’).Thesekindsofobservationsraisethequestionaboutwhatdistinguishesforinstance/groceries/(alexicalplural)fromcollectivemassnounssuchas/food/(Mihatsch2007,àpar.;Lammert2010,2015), 
especiallysince some authors such as Curat (1988) 
andLowe(2007)applytheconceptofinternalpluraltocollectivenouns(bothcountandmass).

oIsitpossibletoascribespecificsemanticstonounsthatsharethesamespecific

grammaticalmorpheme(allomorph),followingthemodelofDutch/–eren/(Acquaviva2008:14)?

oThequestionof“countabilitydeficiency”opensinterestingavenuesforthetheoryofpluralityandapossibledecompositionintomorefundamentaldimensionssuchasindividuation,differentiability,etc.(Acquaviva2008;Zhang2012).

oWhatdoesthepsycholinguisticcorrelateoflexicalpluralslooklike?Couldthemethodologicaltoolboxofexperimentalpsycholinguisticsshednewlightontheirstatus?

oTheoreticalproblemsrelatedtothestatusoflexicalplurals

oWhat isthestatusoflexicalplurals(especiallymassplurals) 
withinthelinguisticsystemandhowcanonemodeltheirrelationwithotherlinguisticcategoriessuchascollectivenounsandmassnouns?Forinstance,itisquestionablewhethertheinternalpluralconstitutesathirdcategory(or 
third number) (Curat 1988 : 48 
;Gleason1965:135),orwhetherthe‘continuousplural’(/plurielcontinu/)correspondstoaparticularconceptualizationthatallowsustoputitonacontinuumgoingfromcount 
nounstomassnouns, with collective nouns as an intermediary 
category(Gréa,2014).

oThelanguage/discourseinterface:ifoneisentitledtorecognizetheexistenceofnounsthatinherentlyexpressan“internalplural”,lexicallyencodedand“natural”tothe 
speaker(sinceitisreferentiallymotivated),is it 
equallypossibletostatethatsuch a reading occasionally appears in the 
discourse with nouns that are 
notintrinsicallyassociatedwithit(deCarvalho1993)?

oDiachronicaspects

Few(corpus)studieshavebeendevotedtothediachronicaspectsoflexicalplurals.Morespecifically,theemergenceofinternalormassmeaningeffects(orcountabilitydeficiency)isnotyetwell-documented.Inthisregard,someauthorshaveinsistedontheIndo-Europeanheritage(Molho1970:59),whileothershaveconsideredlexicalplurals(partly)recentdevelopmentsfollowingfromaninteriorizedsemanticreinterpretationofaweakformwithrespecttoagrammaticallyregularformexpressingthestandard«external»plural(Curat1988:49).

oTypologicalaspects

Beyondthetypologicalgeneralizationsapplyingtothe/numbermarkinglanguages/,thequestionisraisedwhetherthereareother(unknown)strategiesforlexicalpluralitywithinthe"non-numbermarking”languages,i.e.withintheclassifierlanguages 
and the 
numberneutrallanguages»(Chierchia2010).Thiskindofresearchisinlinewiththerecenttypologicaladvances 
intheresearchonmass/count(e.g.Massam2012).

oHistoryofLinguistics

The«discovery»oflexicalplurals(likethedistinctionbetweencountandmass)isoftenascribedtoJespersen(1913 
: 114;1924).However, theyhad alreadybeen noticed by 
severalgrammariansofAntiquity,limitingthemselvestoobservingamismatchbetweenmeaningandformorlookingforasemanticexplanationoranexplanationbymeansofellipsis(seeColombat1993forsomeexamples).Alotofhistoriographicalresearchneedstobeconductedhere,allthemoresosincethereisaprofusionofterminology,andsincelexicalpluralsseemtohavebeen“rediscovered”atseveraloccasions 
(Lasersohn2011)

Pleasenotethattheconferencedoes*not*dealwithirregularinflectionalmorphology(e.g./man/men/)throughwhichalanguageexpressescompletelyregulargrammaticaloppositionsinnumber.

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