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11 - The Semantics of Distributed Number

from Compositional Analyses and Theoretical Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2021

Tibor Kiss
Affiliation:
Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany
Francis Jeffry Pelletier
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
Halima Husić
Affiliation:
Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany
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Summary

We propose that pluralization of bare nouns in Western Armenian and Turkish is a two-step process. First, the noun is atomized giving a singular form (this is achieved via a null exponent of number under Num) and a new noun is created providing a brand new semi-lattice to serve as the underlying semantic domain. Second, the higher NumP operates morphosyntactically on the singular, and returns a set of atoms from the semi-lattice introduced by the higher n. This is a case of morphological compositionality where one number is built out of another. Our proposal gives a satisfying solution to the puzzle of how “indeterminate nouns” in these languages can express singularity and plurality, depending on the context.

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Things and Stuff
The Semantics of the Count-Mass Distinction
, pp. 261 - 278
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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