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Article published In: A typology of the mass/count distinction in Brazil and its relevance for mass/count theories
Edited by Suzi Oliveira de Lima and Susan Rothstein
[Linguistic Variation 20:2] 2020
► pp. 366–381

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On the semantic properties of mass and count nouns in Guajajára (Tenetehára)

 | University of Georgia
 | Federal University of Minas Gerais
Published online: 1 October 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.00027.cha
Abstract
In this paper we show that Guajajára has grammaticalized the distinction between mass and count nouns, but that the coding of this distinction is different from the systems of coding in classifier languages, number-marking languages, and number-neutral languages (. 1998a. Plurality of mass nouns and the notion of “semantic parameter”. In Susan Rothstein (ed.), Events and grammar, 53–103. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 1998b. Reference to kinds across languages. Natural Language Semantics 61. 339–405. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, Chierchia, Gennaro. 2010. Mass Nouns, Vagueness and Semantic Variation. Synthese 174 (1). 99–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Wilhelm, Andrea. 2008. Bare nouns and number in Denë Suliné. Natural Language Semantics 161. 39–68. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). As a result, we conclude that Guajajára presents a challenge to the tripartite classification of languages proposed in Chierchia’s work, since Guajajára number marking is non-inflectional and optional when plural is already expressed by other quantificational expressions. Furthermore, in Guajajára notional mass nouns can pluralize and directly combine with numerals without the mediation of container or measure constructions in contexts where conventional and non-conventional container and units of measurement are implied. This last observation suggests that coercion is not a mechanism that operates in this language.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Numerals and the mass/count distinction
  • 3.Plural number in Guajajára
  • 4.Quantifiers in Guajajára
  • 5.Final remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (21)
References
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Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Assis Navarro, Michel Platiny
2024. Countability in Kaingang. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 9:1 DOI logo
Castro, Ricardo Campos & Quesler Fagundes Camargos
2023. Da Individuação à Cumulatividade: a incorporação nominal em Tenetehára (Tupí-Guaraní). DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada 39:2 DOI logo

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