2 + 2 = 3: Number contrasts in Blackfoot

Glossa

Elizabeth Ritter¹  Kyumin Kim²  Hotze Rullmann³  Martina Wiltschko³ 

[1] BGU and UCalgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary;Cheongju U, 298, Daeseong-ro, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do;UBC, 2613 West Mall, Vancouver;

关键词: singular;    plural;    general number;    verb class;    Blackfoot;   

DOI  :  10.5334/gjgl.289

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Blackfoot nominals are singular, plural or general in number. The existence of languages with either a singular-plural opposition or a plural-general opposition is well-attested in the literature. Following Bliss (2013), we argue that Blackfoot has both systems, albeit in different contexts. We propose that the co-existence of these two systems in Blackfoot is due to the exceptional nature of plural specification in this language – it is alternatively realized as a head or modifying feature in the syntactic representation (in the sense of Wiltschko 2008). We show that regardless of whether plural is syntactically a head or a modifying feature, the semantic interpretation is the same. This is consistent with Rullmann & You’s (2006) finding that plural marking has the same denotation no matter whether it contrasts with singular or with general number.

【 授权许可】

Unknown