Number and the Count/mass Distinction in Kaingang
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/2237-4876.2022v25n3p66Keywords:
Kaingang, numerals, quantifiers, count/mass, distinction, reduplication, suppletionAbstract
This paper presents a preliminary description of the count/mass distinction in Kaingang, a Jê language spoken in southern Brazil. First, we show that there is no plural morphological marker for nouns. We show that morphological processes in verbs (suppletion, reduplication, prefixation of the morpheme kyg-) can express plurality of events (iterativity) and pluralization of verbal arguments. Second, we show that constructions with numerals and quantifiers can be used to distinguish count from mass nouns in Kaingang. Count nouns can be combined directly with numerals whereas mass nouns require a counting/measuring unit in these constructions. Likewise, count nouns occur with the count-quantifier ’e ‘many’ with a cardinal interpretation, whereas mass nouns occur with the quantifier mág ‘a lot’ with a volume interpretation. We also show that some mass nouns, in contexts where the counting/measuring unit is salient, can be directly combined with numerals/count quantifiers.
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