Countability and Number Without Number Inflection

2021 ◽  
pp. 557-582
Author(s):  
Moles Paul ◽  
Anne Zribi-Hertz ◽  
Herby Glaude
Keyword(s):  
Haitian Creole ◽  
Plural Marking

This chapter explores the mass–count distinction in Haitian Creole, where all nouns, including those meaning ‘mud’ or ‘remorse’, are combinable with cardinals and plural marking. It is argued that the English/Haitian contrast lies in the distribution of covert classifiers—freer in Haitian than in English—rather than in the relevance/irrelevance of the mass–count distinction. This distinction is arguably grounded in both syntax and the lexicon. A subclass of nouns (e.g. liv ‘book’) require 3pl pronominalization when bare, do not combine with small-amount markers, are strictly entity-denoting: they are assumed to merge with a lexically induced classifier. Stuff-denoting nouns (labou ‘mud’, remò ‘remorse’) are ambivalent with respect to pronominalization (3sg/3pl), combine with small-amount markers, and may denote continuous stuff or discontinuous units of stuff. It is assumed that while all lexical roots must combine with a classifier feature to trigger discontinuous readings, this feature may occur in n° (triggering entity denotations) or in Cl° (triggering unit-of-stuff-denotations).

Mass/count

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Gillon ◽  
Nicole Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Count Nouns ◽  
Measure Phrase ◽  
Plural Marking

This chapter investigates the mass/count distinction in Michif. In many languages, mass and count nouns are distinguished via the (in)ability to occur with plural marking, the (in)ability to occur with numerals without a measure phrase, and the (in)ability to occur with certain quantifiers (Jespersen 1909; Chierchia 1998). However, these diagnostics do not apply to all languages. For example, in Inuttut (Labrador Inuktitut), none of those diagnostics distinguishes between mass and count nouns, but there are other diagnostics that do (Gillon 2012). This chapter shows that Michif displays a split: in one part of the grammar, the three diagnostics distinguish between mass and count nouns, and in another part, the diagnostics do not. This shows that Michif disambiguates between French-derived vocabulary and Algonquian-derived vocabulary, which complicates the notion that the Michif DP is French (Bakker 1997).

Plural marking in the second language: Atomicity, definiteness, and transfer

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Sea Hee Choi ◽  
Tania Ionin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Mass Nouns ◽  
Count Nouns ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Plural Marking

Abstract This paper examines whether second language (L2)-English learners whose native languages (L1; Korean and Mandarin) lack obligatory plural marking transfer the properties of plural marking from their L1s, and whether transfer is manifested both offline (in a grammaticality judgment task) and online (in a self-paced reading task). The online task tests the predictions of the morphological congruency hypothesis (Jiang 2007), according to which L2 learners have particular difficulty automatically activating the meaning of L2 morphemes that are incongruent with their L1. Experiment 1 tests L2 learners’ sensitivity to errors of –s oversuppliance with mass nouns, while Experiment 2 tests their sensitivity to errors of –s omission with count nouns. The findings show that (a) L2 learners detect errors with nonatomic mass nouns (sunlights) but not atomic ones (furnitures), both offline and online; and (b) L1-Korean L2-English learners are more successful than L1-Mandarin L2-English learners in detecting missing –s with definite plurals (these boat), while the two groups behave similarly with indefinite plurals (many boat). Given that definite plurals require plural marking in Korean but not in Mandarin, the second finding is consistent with L1-transfer. Overall, the findings show that learners are able to overcome morphological incongruency and acquire novel uses of L2 morphemes.

The Tense, Mood, and Aspect System of Haitian Creole and the Problem of Transmission of Grammar in Creole Genesis

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Lefebvre
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Haitian Creole ◽  
Phonological Form ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Semantic Properties

It is often assumed that creolization involves a break in the transmission of grammar. On the basis of data drawn from the TMA system of Haitian creole, as compared with those of its source languages — French, the superstratum language, and Fongbe, one of the substratum languages — this paper argues that creolization does not involve a break in transmission of grammar. The properties of the Haitian creole TMA system are shown to reflect in a systematic way those of its contributing languages. While the syntactic and the semantic properties of the TMA markers of the creole parallel those of Fongbe, the markers' phonological form appears to be derived from phonetic strings found in the superstratum language. This systematic division of properties is predicted by the hypothesis that relexification has played a major role in the formation of the creole. The fact that the lexical entries of the creole have phonological representations which are derived from phonetic strings found in the superstratum language is the visible signal that creolization involves the creation of a new language. The fact that the lexical entries of the creole show semantic and syntactic properties that parallel those of the languages of the substratum argues that there has been no break in the transmission of grammar in the formation of the creole.

Haitian Creole Newspaper Reader

1992 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 414
Author(s):  
Albert Valdman ◽  
Kate Howe
Keyword(s):  
Haitian Creole

Reflections inspired by a scholarly book on the Haitian Creole language and a good old-fashioned language debate

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (233) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rozevel Jean-Baptiste ◽  
Juan R. Valdez
Keyword(s):  
Historical Account ◽  
Scholarly Book ◽  
Haitian Creole ◽  
Recent Developments

AbstractThe following note is a brief discussion of the most recent developments in the language debate in Haiti. Our main objective is to raise awareness of the ongoing tensions between those that advocate for some type of bilingual Haitian society and those who passionately seek to empower Haitian Creole. These reflections were triggered by the availability of the first comprehensive linguistic, social and historical account of Haitian Creole, Spears and Joseph's (2010)

Plural marking on noun-associated forms

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-401
Author(s):  
Francesca Di Garbo
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Type ◽  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Number Marking ◽  
Number Systems ◽  
Plural Marking ◽  
Type 3 ◽  
Semantic Properties

AbstractNumber systems can be morphosemantic or morphosyntactic, based on whether number marking is restricted to nouns or also extends to noun-associated forms, such as adnominal modifiers, predicates, and pronouns. While it is well-known that asymmetries in the distribution of plural marking on nouns can be due to lexico-semantic properties such as animacy and/or inherent number, the question of whether these properties also affect patterns of plural agreement has been less broadly investigated. This paper examines the distribution of plural agreement in 24 Cushitic (Afro-Asiatic) languages. The number systems of the languages of the sample are classified into three types, ranging from radically morphosemantic (Type 1) to radically morphosyntactic (Type 2). A subset of languages displays a combination of morphosemantic and morphosyntactic strategies, and thus qualifies as a mixed type (Type 3). In these languages, the distribution of plural agreement is largely lexically-specified: nouns denoting groups, masses, and collections are more likely to trigger plural agreement than other types of nouns. These results thus show that, similarly to the nominal domain, the lexical semantics of nouns may also affect plural marking on noun-associated forms. Furthermore, in Cushitic, radically morphosemantic and radically morphosyntactic number systems appear to be diachronically connected to each other, with the latter seemingly evolving from the former, as testified by ongoing variation and change in some of the sampled languages. The relevance of these findings for understanding the typology and evolution of number systems is discussed.

Japanese -tati and generalized associative plurals

2021 ◽  
pp. 462-484
Author(s):  
Satoshi Tomioka
Keyword(s):  
Common Noun ◽  
Plural Marking ◽  
Extended Notion

This chapter presents descriptive generalizations of plural marking in Japanese with the morpheme -tati and proposes an account for its distributional and interpretive properties that are puzzling in many ways. The semantic peculiarities of -tati plurals, such as their tendency to be definite and the lack of generic and kind interpretations, result from the use of -tati as an associative plural marker. When -tati attaches to an individual-denoting expression, it denotes a plurality that consists of the referent of the expression and entities associated with. It is argued that -tati maintains this associative meaning even when it combines with a common noun. The extended notion of associativity allows X-tati, where X is a common noun, to include non-Xs in its denotation as long as such entities are closely associated with X, yielding similative plurals. This potential heterogeneity can solve most, if not all, of the puzzles posed by -tati plurals.

Raising constructions in Haitian Creole

1992 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viviane Deprez
Keyword(s):  
Haitian Creole
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