A comparative approach to nominal morphology in Transeurasian Case and plurality
Plurality and case markers in Transeurasian languages have different morphological statuses, varying from case particles to affixes. Particles preserve a certain autonomy; they are usually invariable and do not depend on the morphophonological features of the preceding stem. Affixes participate in internal morphophonological processes depending on the preceding stem. However, in many cases we can observe the process of grammaticalization turning particles or postpositions into affixes. All Transeurasian languages that preserve case and plurality markers follow the same stem—plurality marker—case marker scheme. Cross-linguistically recurrent paradigmatic patterns imply that observed material and functional similarity is not coincidental. The chapter summarizes previous studies in the field, proposes a reconstruction of case and number systems in the individual language families within Transeurasian, and discusses the common patterns among them.