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. 398–408
The nominal system in Wapishana (Aruák), preliminary results
Published online: 1 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.00029.gue
https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.00029.gue
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to provide a preliminary investigation into the nominal system of Wapishana, focusing on the count vs. mass distinction, which is grammatically encoded in this language. Evidence for this distinction can be identified in the constraints imposed by the presence of numerals, number marking, and quantifiers. Nouns such as wyn ‘water’ do not combine with numerals, whereas other words such as baydkury ‘jaguar’ do. The suffixation of the morpheme -nau/-nhau to express plurality seems to be optional and may even be blocked by the presence of numerals. The language exhibits specialized quantifiers for count, liquid, and non-liquid mass nouns.
Keywords: Wapishana, count, mass, number, quantifiers
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Numerals and -nau/-nhau
- 3.Quantifiers
- 4.Final remarks
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
References
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