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Article published In: Journal of Historical Linguistics
Vol. 6:2 (2016) ► pp.297–339

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The rise and fall of a minor category

The case of the Welsh numerative

 | Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |
 | University of Cambridge |
Published online: 2 March 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.6.2.05nur
Some languages use a special form of the noun, a “numerative”, after some or all numerals. In such languages, a distinct numerative is typically not available for all nouns, but rather only for a small subset, forming a morphological “minor category” (. 2000. Number. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). We examine how such a system emerges and disintegrates diachronically, looking in detail at Welsh, a language in which a distinct numerative emerged as the result of the phonological attrition of plural suffixes and analogical extension of new plural suffixes to all relevant syntactic environments except after numerals. Nouns with distinct numeratives tend to be animate and to denote units frequently counted, an association previously noted also for minor duals (Plank, Frans. 1996. Domains of the Dual, in Maltese and in General. Rivista di Linguistica 81.123–140.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). We suggest that this association arose in Welsh via differential analogical extension in two directions: animates resisted analogical extension of the pattern numeral + singular noun; and animates were most receptive to extension of the pattern numeral + numerative. We show that the loss of the numerative proceeded the same way in reverse: numeratives were first reanalyzed as special plurals, and this pattern, numeral + plural noun, resisted analogical spread of the dominant numeral + singular pattern most robustly with kinship terms and a unit of time, namely ‘year’. These developments show much commonality with other cases where the diachrony of the numerative is known, confirming the observation that numeratives typically emerge from the disintegration of a major category, such as plural or dual, and that they are diachronically unstable, liable ultimately to analogical elimination.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The numerative in crosslinguistic perspective
    • 2.1The numerative as a minor category
    • 2.2The diachrony of numeratives
  • 3.Overview of the morphosyntax of Welsh numeral phrases
  • 4.Sources of evidence
  • 5.The development of numeral phrases in Middle Welsh
    • 5.1Historical background
    • 5.2Nouns with a numerative in Middle Welsh
    • 5.3Animacy and frequency
    • 5.4Middle Welsh numeral phrases in typological and diachronic context
  • 6.The loss of the numerative system
    • 6.1The fifteenth century
    • 6.2The sixteenth century
    • 6.3The modern period (1650–1800)
    • 6.4Interpreting the developments in the modern period
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • Notes
  • Primary texts
  • References
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