Editing Grammatical number (section)

==Distributives and collectives==

Distributives and collectives are two related categories whose inclusion in grammatical number has been contested. Both describe how members of a group are viewed, rather than how many members are in that group.<ref name="Corbett2000p117">{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=117–118 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref>

===Distributive plural===

The distributive plural denotes multiple entities that are separated and distinct, either in physical space, through time, or by type.<ref>{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=111–117 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref> For example, in [[Dagaare language|Dagaare]]:<ref name="Grimm2021">{{cite book |last=Grimm |first=Scott |editor-last1=Hofherr |editor-first1=Patricia Cabredo |editor-last2=Doetjes |editor-first2=Jenny |year=2021 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Grammatical Number |series=Oxford Handbooks in Linguistics |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |chapter=Inverse Number in Dagaare |pages=445–462 [450] |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198795858.013.21 |isbn=978-0-19-879585-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ali |first1=Mark |last2=Grimm |first2=Scott |last3=Bodomo |first3=Adams |author-link3=Adams Bodomo |year=2021 |title=A Dictionary and Grammatical Sketch of Dagaare |series=African Language Grammars and Dictionaries 4 |location=Berlin |publisher=Language Science Press |pages=v, 52 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.4501694 |isbn=978-3-96110-306-5 }}</ref>

*{{lang|dga|baa}} - "dog" (singular)
*{{lang|dga|baa'''re'''}} - "dogs" (plural)
*{{lang|dga|baa'''rɛɛ'''}} - "dogs in different locations" (distributive plural)

In Dagaare, the distributive plural may indicate either referents in different locations or referents of different types.<ref name="Grimm2021"/> By contrast, in [[Quileute language|Quileute]], it only means referents in different locations, and in [[Mohawk language|Mohawk]], it only means referents of different types. Thus in Mohawk there is {{lang|moh|ierakewáhtha’}}, towel, and {{lang|moh|ierakewahtha’'''shòn:’a'''}}, various products for wiping like towels, napkins, and so on.<ref>{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=112–113 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref> It is also possible to have distributive pronouns, such as those found in [[Yir-Yoront language|Yir-Yoront]], which distinguish between "you and I" and "you and I, acting separately".<ref>{{cite book |last=Alpher |first=Barry |year=1991 |title=Yir-Yoront Lexicon: Sketch and Dictionary of an Australian Language |series=Trends in Linguistics Documentation 6 |location=Berlin |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |pages=37–40 |isbn=3-11-012682-6 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Yir-Yoront pronouns (nominative)
|-
!
! Singular
! Dual
! Dual<br>(Distributive)
! Plural
! Plural<br>(Distributive)
|-
! First (exc.)
| {{lang|yyr|ngoyo}}
| {{lang|yyr|ngelen}}
| {{lang|yyr|ngel-ngelen}}
| {{lang|yyr|ngethn}}
| {{lang|yyr|ngel-ngethn}}
|-
! First (inc.)
| -
| {{lang|yyr|ngele}}
| {{lang|yyr|ngel-ngele}}
| {{lang|yyr|ngopol}}
| {{lang|yyr|ngol-ngopol}}
|-
! Second
| {{lang|yyr|nhorto}}
| {{lang|yyr|nhopol}}
| {{lang|yyr|nhol-nhopol}}
| {{lang|yyr|nhepl}}
| {{lang|yyr|nhel-nhepl}}
|-
! Third
| {{lang|yyr|nholo}}
| {{lang|yyr|pula}}
| {{lang|yyr|pul-pula}}
| {{lang|yyr|pilin}}
| {{lang|yyr|pil-pilin}}
|}

However, it is most common to mark the distributive on verbs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mithun |first=Marianne |author-link=Marianne Mithun |year=2006 |orig-year=1999 |title=The Languages of Native North America |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |edition=3rd |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=88–89 |isbn=978-0-521-23228-9 }}</ref> This may distribute the action across various individuals, such as in the [[Guarani language|Paraguayan Guaraní]] constructions: {{lang|gn|ha’ekuéra opo’i ita’i}}, "they dropped a pebble"; {{lang|gn|ha’ekuéra opo’i'''po’i''' ita’i}}, "they each dropped a pebble".<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=MA |last=Hamidzadeh |first=Khashayar |year=2013 |title=Reduplication in Paraguayan Guaraní: A Descriptive Account |url=https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/a7255446-a228-40c3-bbd0-e1cd77a19fe2/content |page=91 |publisher=University of Manitoba |access-date=2024-03-21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321000452/https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/a7255446-a228-40c3-bbd0-e1cd77a19fe2/content |archive-date=2024-03-21 }}</ref> It may also distribute the action across time, such as in the [[Kumak language|Nêlêmwa]] words {{lang|nee|taxe}}, to throw, and {{lang|nee|t'''ar'''axe}}, to throw (repeatedly).<ref>{{cite book |last=Bril |first=Isabelle |author-link=Isabelle Bril |editor-last1=Storch |editor-first1=Anne |editor-link1=Anne Storch |editor-last2=Dimmendaal |editor-first2=Gerrit J. |editor-link2=Gerrit Dimmendaal |year=2014 |title=Number – Constructions and Semantics: Case Studies from Africa, Amazonia, India and Oceania |series=Studies in Language Companion Series, vol. 151 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |chapter=Number and Numeration in Nêlêmwa and Zuanga (New Caledonia): Ontologies, Definiteness and Pragmatics |pages=167–198 [184–185] |isbn=978-90-272-7063-4 }}</ref> Some [[ǂʼAmkoe language|ǂʼAmkoe]] verbs offer multiple senses of the distributive for one verb: {{lang|huc|qǁʼao|italic=yes}}, to stab; {{lang|huc|'''kí'''qǁʼao'''tcu'''|italic=yes}}, to stab (repeatedly); {{lang|huc|'''kí'''qǁʼao'''qǁo'''|italic=yes}}, to stab (several things at different locations).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Collins |first=Chris |date=2001 |title=Aspects of Plurality in ǂHoan |journal=Language |volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=456–476 [465–470] |doi=10.1353/lan.2001.0141 |jstor=3086940 }}</ref> The distributive plural may be a part of even larger paradigms: in [[Urarina language|Urarina]], intransitive verbs describing a positional state (such as "it is lying on its side") distinguish between singular, dual, paucal, plural (4+), and distributive plural.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Krasnoukhova |first1=Olga |editor-last1=Acquaviva |editor-first1=Paolo |editor-last2=Daniel |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Daniel (linguist) |year=2022 |chapter=Number in the Languages of South America |title=Number in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook |series=Comparative Handbooks of Linguistics, vol. 5 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=609–670 [648] |isbn=978-3-11-056069-5}}</ref>

While some linguists have treated the distributive as a category of grammatical number,<ref>See:
*{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Frowein |first=Friedel Martin |year=2011 |title=A Grammar of Siar, an Oceanic Language of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea  |url=https://opal.latrobe.edu.au/ndownloader/files/38778330 |pages=18, 124, 140, 140n49 |publisher=La Trobe University |access-date=2024-03-21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321050241/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/figshare-production-eu-latrobe-storage9079-ap-southeast-2/38778330/34054_SOURCE01_3_A.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIARRFKZQ25KW2DIYRU/20240321/ap-southeast-2/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240321T050239Z&X-Amz-Expires=10&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=26f85e3d7f28a236934d1bbb96397fe48e4e74957ef565cb6b01c7f17e816c58 |archive-date=2024-03-21 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Krasnoukhova |first1=Olga |editor-last1=Acquaviva |editor-first1=Paolo |editor-last2=Daniel |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Daniel (linguist) |year=2022 |chapter=Number in the Languages of South America |title=Number in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook |series=Comparative Handbooks of Linguistics, vol. 5 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=609–670 [648] |isbn=978-3-11-056069-5}}
*{{cite book |author-last1=Young |author-first1=Robert W. |author-link1=Robert W. Young |author-last2=Morgan |author-first2=William |author-link2=William Morgan (Navajo scholar) |year=1972 |orig-year=1943 |title=The Navaho Language: The Elements of Navaho Grammar with a Dictionary in Two Parts Containing Basic Vocabularies of Navaho and English |location=Salt Lake City, UT |publisher=Deseret Book Company |page=2 }}
</ref> others have rejected this.<ref>See:
*{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=114–117, 120 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}
*{{cite book |last=Hofherr |first=Patricia Cabredo |editor-last1=Hofherr |editor-first1=Patricia Cabredo |editor-last2=Doetjes |editor-first2=Jenny |year=2021 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Grammatical Number |series=Oxford Handbooks in Linguistics |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |chapter=Nominal Number Morphology |pages=135–163 [139–142] |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198795858.013.7 |isbn=978-0-19-879585-8 }}
*{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Paulette |editor-last1=Dixon |editor-first1=R. M. W. |editor-link1=Robert M. W. Dixon |editor-last2=Aikhenvald |editor-first2=Alexandra Y. |editor-link2=Alexandra Aikhenvald |year=2006 |orig-year=2004 |title=Adjective Classes: A Cross-Linguistic Typology |series=Explorations in Linguistic Typology 1 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |chapter=Adjectives in Papantla Totonac |pages=147–176 [152] |isbn=978-0-19-920346-8  }}
</ref> A few things make its categorization as a grammatical number potentially problematic. Several languages allow the distributive to be added to mass nouns that are normally not considered to have number,<ref>{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=113–114, 116, 120 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref> such as the Dagaare {{lang|dga|salema}}, gold, and {{lang|dga|salem'''ɛɛ'''}}, "gold in different locations".<ref name="Grimm2021"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ali |first1=Mark |last2=Grimm |first2=Scott |last3=Bodomo |first3=Adams |author-link3=Adams Bodomo |year=2021 |title=A Dictionary and Grammatical Sketch of Dagaare |series=African Language Grammars and Dictionaries 4 |location=Berlin |publisher=Language Science Press |pages=v, 263 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.4501694 |isbn=978-3-96110-306-5 }}</ref> This can be described as a nondistributive versus distributive distinction, with neither being singular or plural.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ojeda |first=Almerindo E. |date=1998 |title=The Semantics of Collectives and Distributives in Papago |journal=Natural Language Semantics |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=245–270 [248–249] |doi=10.1023/A:1008289808782 |jstor=23752366 }}</ref> Several languages also allow separate plural and distributive markers to be added to a word at the same time. Additionally, grammatical number frequently requires [[Agreement (linguistics)|agreement]], but distributivity does not.<ref>{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=114–116, 120 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref>

===Collective plural===

The collective plural denotes multiple entities that are considered together as a unit. It is often conceptualized as the opposite of the distributive.<ref name="Corbett2000p117"/> For example, in [[Tunica language|Tunica]]:<ref>See:
*{{cite book |last=Haas |first=Mary R. |author-link=Mary Haas |title=Tunica Grammar |type=Unpublished manuscript |pages=282–285 |url=https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text%3A350118 }}
*{{cite book |last=Haas |first=Mary R. |author-link=Mary Haas |editor-last=Osgood |editor-first=Cornelius |year=1967 |orig-year=1946 |title=Linguistic Structures of Native America |series=Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology no. 6 |url=https://archive.org/details/linguisticstruct0000osgo/mode/2up |location=New York |publisher=Johnson Reprint Company |chapter=A Grammatical Sketch of Tunica |pages=337–366 [344, 359] }}
*{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Harvey |first=Megan Anna |year=2023 |title=Documenting Reawakening Languages: A Case Study of Tunica |url=https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/669841/azu_etd_20895_sip1_m.pdf |pages=50, 114–115, 556–557 |publisher=University of Arizona |access-date=2024-03-24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324023413/https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/669841/azu_etd_20895_sip1_m.pdf |archive-date=2024-03-24 }}
*{{cite journal |author-last1=Heaton |author-first1=Raina |author-last2=Anderson |author-first2=Patricia |date=2017 |title=When Animals Become Humans: Grammatical Gender in Tunica |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=341–363 [342, 345–351] |doi=10.1086/689832 }}
</ref>

*{{lang|tun|sa}} - "dog" (singular)
*{{lang|tun|sa'''{{`}}unima'''}} - "two dogs" (dual)
*{{lang|tun|sa'''sinima'''}} - "dogs" (plural)
*{{lang|tun|sa'''hchi'''}} - "pack of dogs" (collective plural)

The collective may be limited to just a small subset of nouns, like in [[Bandial language|Kujireray]], where it can only be used with certain insects and small objects: {{lang|bqj|'''e'''nipora}}, fly; {{lang|bqj|'''si'''nipora}}, flies; and {{lang|bqj|'''ba'''nipora}}, swarm of flies.<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Watson |first=Rachel |year=2015 |title=Kujireray: Morphosyntax, Noun Classification and Verbal Nouns |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/22829/1/Watson_4244.pdf |pages=242–244 |publisher=SOAS University of London |access-date=2024-03-24 |archive-date=2021-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208023629/https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/22829/1/Watson_4244.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Just like the distributive, the collective can also change the meaning of verbs, as in [[Panyjima language|Panyjima]]: {{lang|pnw|karri}}, to stand, and {{lang|pnw|karri'''nyayi'''}}, to stand together.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dench |first=Alan |date=1987 |title=Kinship and Collective Activity in the Ngayarda Languages of Australia |journal=Language in Society |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=321–339 [324] |doi=10.1017/S0047404500012410 |jstor=4167857 }}</ref> In [[Vaeakau-Taumako language|Vaeakau-Taumako]], the collective is indicated through different [[Article (grammar)|articles]]: {{lang|piv|te tai}}, the person; {{lang|piv|ngha tai}}, the people; and {{lang|piv|a tai}}, the group of people.<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=Næss |author-first1=Åshild |author-last2=Hovdhaugen |author-first2=Even |author-link2=Even Hovdhaugen |year=2011 |title=A Grammar of Vaeakau-Taumako |series=Mouton Grammar Library 52 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=18, 36, 52, 165–172, 349 |isbn=978-3-11-023827-3 }}</ref>

The collective presents similar issues as the distributive in its potential classification as grammatical number, including the fact that some languages allow both collective and plural markers on the same words. Adding a collective to a plural word does not change the number of referents, only how those referents are conceptualized.<ref>{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Greville G. |author-link=Greville G Corbett |year=2004 |orig-year=2000 |title=Number |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=117–120 |isbn=0-511-01591-7 }}</ref>