Singular and plural

One of the simplest number distinctions a language can make is singular and plural. Singular denotes exactly one referent, while plural denotes more than one referent. For example, in English:^[7]

dog (singular, one)
dogs (plural, two or more)

To mark number, English has different singular and plural forms for nouns and verbs (in the third person): "my dog watches television" (singular) and "my dogs watch television" (plural).^[7] This is not universal: Wambaya marks number on nouns but not verbs,^[8] and Onondaga marks number on verbs but not nouns.^[9] Latin has different singular and plural forms for nouns, verbs, and adjectives, in contrast to English where adjectives do not change for number.^[10] Tundra Nenets can mark singular and plural on nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and postpositions.^[11] However, the most common part of speech to show a number distinction is pronouns.^[12]^[13] An example of a personal pronoun system distinguishing singular and plural is that of Wayoró:^[14]

More information Singular, Plural ...

Wayoró pronouns
	Singular	Plural
First (exc.)	on	ote
First (inc.)	-	txire
Second	en	djat
Third	ndeke	ndeat

Close

Dual

Like the singular denotes exactly one item, the dual number denotes exactly two items. For example, in Camsá:^[15]

kes̈ - "dog" (singular)
kes̈at - "two dogs" (dual)
kes̈ëng - "dogs" (plural)

In languages with a singular/dual/plural paradigm, the exact meaning of plural depends on whether the dual is obligatory or facultative (optional).^[16] In contrast to English and other singular/plural languages where plural means two or more, in languages with an obligatory dual, plural strictly means three or more. This is the case for Sanskrit,^[17] North Mansi,^[18] and Alutiiq.^[19] In languages with a facultative dual, two of something can be referred to using either the dual or the plural, and so plural means two or more. This is the case for modern Arabic dialects,^[20] at least some Inuktitut dialects,^[21] and Yandruwandha.^[22] In some languages, the dual is obligatory in certain cases but facultative in others. In Slovene, it is obligatory for pronouns but facultative for nouns.^[23] In Comanche, it is obligatory when referring to humans, facultative for other animate nouns, and rarely used for inanimate nouns.^[24]

There are also languages where use of the dual number is more restricted than singular and plural. In the possessive noun forms of Northern Sámi, the possessor can be in the dual number, but the noun possessed can only be singular or plural.^[25] Pronouns are the only part of speech with a dual form in some Polynesian languages, including Samoan,^[26] Tuvaluan,^[27]^{[lower-alpha 1]} and Māori.^[29] In Maltese, the dual only exists for about 30 specific nouns, of which it is obligatory for only 8 (hour, day, week, month, year, once, hundred, and thousand). Words that can take a facultative dual in Maltese include egg, branch, tear, and wicker basket.^[30] In Mezquital Otomi, the dual can only be used by an adult male speaking to another adult male.^[31]

More information Singular, Dual ...

Māori pronouns^[32]
	Singular	Dual	Plural
First (exc.)	au/ahau	maaua	maatou
First (inc.)	-	taaua	taatou
Second	koe	koorua	koutou
Third	ia	raaua	raatou

Close

Dual number existed in all nouns and adjectives of Proto-Indo-European around 4000 BCE, and was inherited in some form in many of its prehistoric, protohistoric, ancient, and medieval descendents. Only rarely has it persisted in Indo-European languages to the modern day. It survived in Proto-Germanic in the first and second person pronouns, where it was then inherited by Old English, Old High German, Old Low German, Early Old Swedish, Old Norwegian, Old Icelandic, and Gothic. It continued in Icelandic until the 1700s, some dialects of Faroese until at least the late 1800s, and some dialects of North Frisian through the 1900s.^[33]^[34] From Proto-Greek it entered Ancient Greek,^[35]^[36] and from Proto-Indo-Iranian it entered Sanskrit.^[37]^[17] From Proto-Slavic, it still exists today in Slovene and the Sorbian languages.^[38] Indo-European languages that have long ago lost the dual still sometimes have residual traces of it, such as the English distinctions both vs. all, either vs. any, and neither vs. none. The Norwegian både, cognate with English both, has further evolved to be able to refer to more than two items, as in både epler, pærer, og druer, literally "both apples, pears, and grapes."^[39]

Trial

The trial number denotes exactly three items. For example, in Awa:^[40]

iya - "dog" (singular)
iyatade - "two dogs" (dual)
iyatado - "three dogs" (trial)
iyamadi - "dogs" (plural)

It is rare for a language to mark the trial on nouns,^[41] and some sources even claim that trial marking on nouns does not exist.^[42]^[43] However, it has been recorded for a few languages; besides Awa, Arabana,^[44]^[45] Urama,^[46] and Angaataha have trial number.^[47] It is much more common for a language to have trial pronouns,^[42]^[43] the case for the Austronesian languages of Larike,^[48]^[49] Tolai,^[50] Raga,^[51] and Wamesa.^[52] A minimal example is Nukna, which has only a single trial pronoun, nanggula, which can be either 2nd or 3rd person.^[53] The trial may also be marked on verbs, such as in Lenakel.^[54]

More information Singular, Dual ...

Larike pronouns
	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
First (exc.)	aʔu	arua	aridu	ami
First (inc.)	-	itua	itidu	ite
Second	ane	irua	iridu	imi
Third	mane	matua	matidu	mati

Close

While the dual can be obligatory or facultative, according to Greville Corbett there are no known cases of an obligatory trial, so the trial might always be facultative. However, languages may have both a facultative dual and a facultative trial, like in Larike, or an obligatory dual and a facultative trial, like in Ngan'gi.^[55]

Most languages with a trial are in the Austronesian family, and most non-Austronesian languages with a trial are nearby in Oceania.^[56] The latter category includes the Austronesian-influenced English creole languages of Tok Pisin,^[57] Bislama,^[58] and Pijin.^[59] In Australia, the trial can also be found in Aboriginal languages of many different language families.^{[lower-alpha 2]} In Indonesia, trial pronouns are common in the storytelling of Abun, a possible language isolate.^[69] In the Solomon Islands, trial pronouns are used very frequently in Touo, either a Central Solomon language or a language isolate. As a result, bilingual speakers of Touo and Pijin will use trial pronouns a lot more commonly in Pijin than other speakers, for whom the trial is usually a lot less common than the dual.^[70] A very rare example of a spoken language with the trial (in both pronouns and verbs) outside of Oceania is Muklom Tangsa, spoken in northeast India.^[71]

Paucal

The paucal number represents 'a few', a small inexactly numbered group of items. For example, in Motuna:^[72]

mahkata - "dog" (singular)
mahkatakaro - "two dogs" (dual)
mahkatanaa - "a few dogs" (paucal)
mahkatangung - "dogs" (plural)

Almost all languages with a paucal also have a dual.^[73]^[74] However, this is not universal. Nouns in Mocoví only have singular, paucal, and plural.^[73]^[75] On the other hand, the pronouns in Mussau^[76]^[77] and Lihir^[78] have dual, trial, and paucal.

More information Singular, Dual ...

Lihir pronouns
	Singular	Dual	Trial	Paucal	Plural
First (exc.)	yo	gel	getol	gehet	ge
First (inc.)	-	kito	kitol	kitahet	giet
Second	wa	gol	gotol	gohet	go
Third	e	dul	dietol	diehet	die

Close

The lower bound of the paucal is usually defined by what other number categories exist in the language. In singular/paucal/plural paradigms, use of the paucal begins at two, but with the addition of the dual, the paucal begins at three. There is usually no exact upper bound on how many paucal refers to, and its approximate range depends on both language and context.^[79] It has been recorded as going up to about 5 in Warndarrang,^[80] about 6 in Baiso,^[62] 10 in Arabic,^[81]^[82] and about 10 or 15 in Murrinh-patha.^[78] In Manam, the primary factor for using the paucal is not a specific number range, but the referents forming a single group; although the paucal is most common between 3 and 5, it has been used with more than 20.^[83] In Paamese, a major factor is relative group size compared to the plural, such that even though the paucal generally means 12 or fewer, a group of 2,000 people may be referred to in the paucal when contrasted with a group of 100,000 referred to in the plural.^[84]

Much like the dual, it is crosslinguistically variable which words and parts of speech may be marked with the paucal. Baiso has the paucal only for nouns and not pronouns,^[62] whereas Yimas has the paucal only for pronouns and not nouns.^[85] In Meryam Mir, the paucal is mostly marked on the verbs.^[86]^[87] Avar has the paucal for only about 90 specific nouns, including brush, spade, snake, and daughter-in-law (the only kin term that can take the paucal in Avar).^[88] Takivatan Bunun has a paucal only in its distal demonstratives used in reference to people.^[89]

It is common for former trials to evolve in meaning to become paucals, and many Austronesian languages have paucal markers that are etymologically derived from the numeral three, indicating the old usage.^[90]^[91] It is less common for duals to evolve into paucals,^[92] but this has been observed in some dialects of Arabic.^[93]^[94] Paucals that are etymologically trials are sometimes incorrectly described as being trials.^{[lower-alpha 3]} For example, trial pronouns were once described as being found in all the Kiwaian languages,^[98]^[99] but it is now recognized that many actually have a paucal instead.^{[lower-alpha 4]} Linguist Michael Cysouw has suggested that most languages reported to have trials in fact have mislabelled paucals, and that true trials are very rare.^[91] On the other hand, Luise Hercus stated in her published grammar of Arabana that the language's trial (which can be marked on nouns) is a true trial which cannot act as a paucal.^[104] Similar things have been said about trial pronouns in Larike^[105] and Anejom̃.^[106]

Russian has what has variably been called paucal numerals,^[107] the count form,^[108]^{[lower-alpha 5]} the adnumerative,^[110] or the genitive of quantification.^[111] When a noun in the nominative case has a numeral added to quantify it, the noun becomes genitive singular with 2, 3, or 4, but genitive plural with 5 or above.^{[lower-alpha 6]} Many linguists have described these as paucal constructions.^[114] However, some have disagreed on the grounds that a Russian noun cannot be declined to stand by itself and mean anywhere between 2 and 4.^[115] Similar constructions can be found in other Slavic languages, including Polish,^[116] Serbo-Croatian,^[117] and Slovene. Because Slovene also has a regular dual, there is a four-way distinction of nouns being singular with 1, dual with 2, plural with 3 or 4, and genitive plural with 5 or more.^[118]

Greater paucal

The greater paucal number is a larger paucal category, for an inexactly numbered group that is larger in size than a smaller paucal. It can be found in the pronouns of the Austronesian language of Sursurunga, which exhibit a five-way distinction described as singular, dual, paucal, greater paucal, and plural. The Sursurunga paucal is used for smaller groups, usually of about three or four, or for nuclear families of any size. The Sursurunga greater paucal is used for groups of four or more (and must be used instead of the plural for a group of two or more dyads). There is thus some overlap between the two groups; a family of four can be referred to in Sursurunga by either of the paucals.^[119] This distinction is found both in Sursurunga's personal pronouns and in two different sets of possessive pronouns, one for edible things and one for non-edible things.^[120]

More information Singular, Dual ...

Sursurunga pronouns^[121]^[119]
	Singular	Dual	Paucal	Greater paucal	Plural
First (exc.)	iau	giur	gimtul	gimhat	gim
First (inc.)	-	gitar	gitul	githat	git
Second	u	gaur	gamtul	gamhat	gam
Third	a	diar	ditul	dihat	di

Close

Quadral

The quadral number denotes exactly four items. Apparent examples of its use are almost entirely confined to pronouns, and specifically those in the languages of Oceania or in sign languages. It has been contested whether the quadral truly exists in natural language; some linguists have rejected it as an extant category,^[122] while others have accepted it.^[123] Some languages that have previously been described as having a quadral, like Sursurunga, have since been reanalyzed as having a paucal instead.^[124]^[119]

Like trial forms, quadral forms of pronouns have been said to be attested in the Melanesian pidgins of Tok Pisin,^[57]^[125] Bislama,^[126] and Pijin.^[127] However, while these are grammatically possible, they are rare, and plural forms are almost always used in their place.

Many different sign languages have been explicitly described as having quadral pronoun forms.^{[lower-alpha 7]}^{[lower-alpha 8]} Estonian Sign Language has even been described as having the quadral for nouns.^[145]

Marshallese has been said to have the quadral as a regular feature in its pronoun system.^[146]^[147] While the apparent Marshallese quadral can mean exactly four, it also has an alternate rhetorical use in speeches to larger groups in order to impart a sense of individual intimacy. According to Greville Corbett, this means it is better classified as a paucal.^[148] However, there is not consensus that this alternate use means Marshallese does not truly have a quadral; the final 2016 reference grammar of Marshallese by Byron W. Bender, a linguist with expertise in the language, still refers to it as having a quadral.^[147] Besides singular, dual, trial, and quadral or paucal, Marshallese additionally has two different plural forms, one for five or more and one for two or more (referred to as multiple and plural absolute respectively), creating a partially overlapping six-way number distinction.^[147]^[149]^[150] Kove has been recorded as having a similar pronoun system as Marshallese, with one addition: the plural (2+) is split between two categories, one for members of the same family and one for members of different families, creating a seven-way distinction.^[151]

More information Singular, Dual ...

Marshallese pronouns (Rālik dialect)
	Singular	Dual	Trial	Quadral or Paucal	Multiple (5+)	Plural (2+)
First (exc.)	ña	kōmro	kōmjeel	kōm(je)eañ	kōmwōj	kōm
First (inc.)	-	kōjro	kōjjeel	kōjeañ	kōjwōj	kōj
Second	kwe	koṃro	koṃjeel	koṃ(je)eañ	koṃwōj	koṃ
Third	e	erro	erjeel	er(je)jeañ	erwōj	er

Close

A few other languages have also been claimed to have quadral pronouns. Robert Blust and others have said they exist in some of the Austronesian Kenyah languages, specifically the highland Lepoʼ Sawa dialect spoken in Long Anap.^[152]^[153]^[154] There seems to be no other published sources of info on this dialect's pronouns, and an investigation into the lowland Lebo’ Vo’ dialect has revealed a paucal instead of a quadral.^[153] A quadral claim has also been made for the animate demonstrative pronouns in Nauruan.^[155] Outside the Austronesian family, Abun storytelling reportedly frequently contains quadral pronouns in addition to trial ones.^[69] Perhaps the only known spoken language outside Oceania to have a claimed quadral is Apinayé of Brazil, recorded as having a third person pronominal prefix meaning "they four", although this has been little researched or described.^[156]^[157]

In some Austronesian languages with a singular/dual/trial/plural pronoun system, the plural forms are etymologically related to the number four. This has led to suggestions or assertions that historically a true quadral did exist, but it has since morphed into a plural form.^{[lower-alpha 9]} It has thus been hypothesized that the quadral existed in Proto-Oceanic^[159] and Proto-Southern Vanuatu.^[166]

Quintal

The quintal number denotes exactly five items. Apparent examples of its use can mostly only be found in pronouns of sign languages. Like the quadral, its existence has been contested, and only some classifications accept it.

Like trial and quadral forms, rare quintal forms of pronouns have been said to be attested in Tok Pisin^[57] and Bislama.^[126] These languages insert numerals to represent exact numbers of referents. For example, in Bislama, the numerals tu (two) and tri (three) are contained within the second person pronouns yutufala (dual) and yutrifala (trial). These forms theoretically have no specific limit, but in practicality usually stop at three.

More information Standard, Rare ...

Bislama pronouns^[167]
	Standard			Rare			Standard
	Singular	Dual	Trial	Quadral	Quintal	...	Plural
First (exc.)	mi	mitufala	mitrifala	mifofala	mifaefala	...	mifala
First (inc.)	-	yumitufala	yumitrifala	yumifofala	yumifaefala	...	yumi
Second	yu	yutufala	yutrifala	yufofala	yufaefala	...	yufala
Third	em	tufala	trifala	fofala	faefala	...	olgeta

Close

Sign languages described as having a quintal in addition to the quadral include American Sign Language,^[128]^[129] Argentine Sign Language,^[130] British Sign Language,^[132] German Sign Language,^[134]^[135] Levantine Arabic Sign Language,^[139] and Ugandan Sign Language.^[142]

The validity has been debated of categorizing sign language pronouns as having a quadral or a quintal. Linguist Susan McBurney has contended that American Sign Language has a true dual, but that the trial, quadral, and quintal should instead be classified as numeral incorporation rather than grammatical number. This is motivated by the dual marker handshape being distinct from the handshape for the numeral two, in contrast to higher number markers; the ability to also incorporate these numerals into other words, including those for times and amounts; and the use of markers higher than the dual not being obligatory, with replacement by the plural being acceptable. There was not enough data available to McBurney to argue whether or not these reasons equally applied to other sign languages.^[168] Linguist Raquel Veiga Busto has argued they do not equally apply to Catalan Sign Language, and has applied the terms quadral and quintal to the language's pronouns for convenience without taking an official stance as to whether they are grammatical number or numeral incorporation.^[169] A third model is to categorize the apparent trial/quadral/quintal forms as "cardinal plurals", or forms of the grammatical plural number where the number of people is specified.^[170] Other authors have treated these concepts as perfectly equivalent, referring to pronoun numeral incorporation while still applying the terms quadral and quintal.^[142]^[137]

There are also cases of sign language pronouns indicating specific numbers of referents above five. Ugandan Sign Language has a rare pronoun form for exactly six people.^[142] Some American Sign Language speakers have incorporated numerals up to nine into inclusive pronouns upon solicitation.^[171] Israeli Sign Language theoretically has the grammatical ability to incorporate numerals up to ten into pronouns.^[172]

Greater plural

Greater plural is a number larger than and beyond plural. In various forms across different languages, it has also been called the global plural, the remote plural, the plural of abundance,^[173] the unlimited plural,^[174] and the superplural.^[175] For example, in Tswana:^[176]

ntša - "dog" (singular)
dintša - "dogs" (plural)
mantša - "a very large number of dogs" (greater plural)

The greater plural may also be a component of larger number systems. Nouns in Barngarla have a four-way distinction of singular, dual, plural, and greater plural.^[175] The same four-way distinction is found in Mokilese pronouns, where a former trial has evolved to become a plural, leaving the former plural with a greater plural meaning.^[177] A different four-way distinction of singular, paucal, plural, and greater plural can be found in some verbs of Hualapai.^[178] A more complex system is found in Mele-Fila: pronouns distinguish singular, dual, plural, and greater plural, but articles attached to nouns distinguish singular, paucal, and plural. The result is that for full sentences, there is a combined five-way distinction of singular, dual, paucal, plural, and greater plural. Singular and plural have straightforward number agreements, whereas dual has dual pronouns but paucal articles, paucal has plural pronouns but paucal articles, and greater plural has greater plural pronouns but plural articles.^[179]

More information Singular, Dual ...

Mokilese pronouns
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Greater Plural
First (exc.)	ngoah/ngoahi	kama	kamai	kimi
First (inc.)	-	kisa	kisai	kihs
Second	koah/koawoa	kamwa	kamwai	kimwi
Third	ih	ara/ira	arai/irai	ihr

Close

The exact meaning of and terminology for the greater plural differs between languages. In some languages like Miya, it represents a large number of something, and has been called the plural of abundance. In other languages like Kaytetye, it can refer to all of something in existence, and has been called the global plural.^[180]

Like some other grammatical numbers, languages also vary as to which cases the greater plural may be used in. The greater plural is more common in nouns than in pronouns.^[179] Accordingly, in Kaytetye, the greater plural exists only in nouns and not pronouns.^[181] Oppositely, Mokilese has the greater plural in pronouns but not nouns.^[177]^[182] Chamacoco has the greater plural only in first person inclusive pronouns, second person pronouns, and first person inclusive verb inflections.^[183] Tigre has the greater plural only in a single word, nälät, which means a large number of deer.^[179]

Greatest plural

Greatest plural is a number larger than and beyond greater plural. It has also been called the "even greater plural". For example, in Warekena:^[184]^[185]^[186]

ʧinu - "dog" (singular)
ʧinune - "dogs" (plural)
ʧinunawi - "very many dogs" (greater plural)
ʧinunenawi - "very many dogs indeed, so many one cannot count them" (greatest plural)

A similar system is found in Banyun, where the greater plural represents unlimitedness, and the greatest plural represents "a higher degree of unlimitedness".^[185]

Linguist Daniel Harbour has represented the paucal, greater paucal, plural, greater plural, and greatest plural as collectively definable by "cuts" that divide the range of possible numbers into different sections. One low cut defines paucal and plural, and one high cut defines plural and greater plural. Two low cuts define paucal, greater paucal, and plural; one low cut and one high cut define paucal, plural, and greater plural; and two high cuts define plural, greater plural, and greatest plural.^[187] There does not appear to be any language with three such cuts, and so no language with three paucal categories and an "even greater paucal".^[188]^[189]

Because they are inexactly defined, the existence of multiple plural categories may blur the line between paucal and plural.^[190]^[191] For example, Mele-Fila is said to have a paucal, plural, and greater plural. However, the transition between plural and greater plural occurs around 15 to 20. This puts the Mele-Fila "plural" in range of some larger "paucals" described in other languages. Thus the distinction is muddied between a system of paucal, plural, greater plural, and a system of paucal, greater paucal, plural.^[191] Other examples can be found in the related languages of Northern Gumuz and Daatsʼiin. Northern Gumuz is said to mark the plural and greater plural on verbs,^[192] and Daatsʼiin is said to mark "three degrees of plurality" (plural, greater plural, and greatest plural) on verbs.^[193] In both languages though, the "plural" is often actually a paucal, understood to mean about two to four. However, in neither language is this always the case. The Northern Gumuz paucal/plural may sometimes refer to "much greater than four".^[194]

General, singulative, and plurative

In some languages, the default form of a noun is not singular, but rather general, which does not specify number and could mean one or more than one. Singular and plural forms are marked from the general form. The general is used when the specific number is deemed irrelevant or unimportant. In this system, the singular is often called the singulative, to distinguish it as derived from a different form. Similarly, the plural derived from the general has been called the plurative.^[195] For example, in Pular:^[196]

bare - "dog(s)" (general, any number)
bareeru - "dog" (singulative)
bareeji - "dogs" (plurative)

However, some languages only have a two-way difference between general and plurative, like in Japanese:^[197]

inu (犬) - "dog(s)" (general)
inutachi (犬たち) - "dogs" (plurative)

Less common is a two-way distinction between general and singulative. No language has this as its default number contrast, although some languages have specific nouns with this distinction.^[198] For example, in Sidama:^[199]

goto - "hyena(s)" (general)
gotiiččo - "hyena" (singulative)

In some languages like Afar, few nouns have a three-way contrast of general/singulative/plurative, but nouns with two-way contrasts of general/singulative and general/plurative are both common.^[200]

There are also languages which regularly employ different number systems with a dual, trial, paucal, or greater plural in addition to a general:

Hamer - general, singulative, and paucal:^[201]
- qáski - "dog(s)" (general)
- qáskino - "dog" (singulative)
- qáskina - "a few dogs" (paucal)

Warlpiri - general, dual, and paucal:^[202]^[203]
- maliki - "dog(s)" (general)
- malikijarra - "two dogs" (dual)
- malikipatu - "a few dogs" (paucal)

Bambassi - general, dual, and plurative:^[204]
- kané - "dog(s)" (general)
- kankuwe - "two dogs" (dual)
- kanole - "dogs" (plurative)

Baiso - general, singulative, paucal, and plurative:^[205]^[206]^[207]
- ker - "dog(s)" (general)
- kertiti - "dog" (singulative)
- kerdʒedʒa - "a few dogs" (paucal)
- keroor - "dogs" (plurative)

Arabana - general, dual, trial, and plurative:^[208]
- madla - "dog(s)" (general)
- madlapula - "two dogs" (dual)
- madlakarikari - "three dogs" (trial)
- madlakari - "dogs" (plurative)

Kaytetye - general, dual, plurative, and greater plural:^[209]^[210]^[211]
- aleke - "dog(s)" (general)
- aleketherre - "two dogs" (dual)
- alekamerne - "dogs" (plurative)
- alekeynenge - "all dogs" (greater plural)

Additional other systems can be seen in some languages only for specific nouns:

In Burushaski, for nouns that have the same form in the singular and the plural, the plural marker signifies a greater plural:^[212]
- čhúmo - "fish" (general)
- čhúmomuc - "a quite large number of fish" (greater plural)
In addition to general, singulative, and paucal, some nouns in Hamer have an additional distinction that has been analyzed either as a greater plural^[213] or a collective plural.^[214] It seems to unambiguously be a greater plural in specific cases, such as:^[215]
- hámar - "Hamer person/people" (general)
- hamartâ (m) / hamartóno (f) - "Hamer person" (singulative)
- hámarra - "a few Hamer people" (paucal)
- hámarro - "all Hamer people" (greater plural)
Some dialects of Arabic have a few nouns that exhibit a five-way distinction of general, singulative, dual, plurative, and greater plural. In Damascus Arabic:^[190]
- dəbbān - "fly/flies" (general)
- dəbbāne - "fly" (singulative)
- dəbbāntēn - "two flies" (dual)
- dəbbānāt - "flies" (plurative)
- dababīn - "many flies" (greater plural)

Minimal, unit augmented, and augmented

Minimal, unit augmented, and augmented are a different set of number categories for pronouns in languages that grammatically treat a first person dual inclusive pronoun identically to singular pronouns, and a first person trial inclusive pronoun identically to dual pronouns. It is a relative paradigm that replaces the absolute paradigm of singular, dual, trial, and plural for languages where absolute classification is ill-fitting.

For example, under a singular/dual/trial/plural analysis, the pronouns in Ilocano^[216]^[217] and Bininj Kunwok^[218] are:

More information Singular, Dual ...

Ilocano pronouns
	Singular	Dual	Plural
First (exc.)	co	-	mi
First (inc.)	-	ta	tayo
Second	mo	-	yo
Third	na	-	da

Close

More information Singular, Dual ...

Bininj Kunwok pronouns
	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
First (exc.)	ngarduk	ngarrewoneng	-	ngadberre
First (inc.)	-	ngarrgu	garriwoneng	gadberre
Second	nguddanggi	ngurriwoneng	-	ngudberre
Third	nuye/ngarre	berrewoneng	-	bedberre

Close

"Singular" does not exist for first person inclusive, which is by definition at least two people. In Ilocano, the "dual" only exists for first person inclusive, and likewise for the "trial" in Bininj Kunwok. Such categorization has been called "inelegant."^[218] It can also poorly reflect the grammatical structure: using the suffix -woneng, Bininj Kunwok treats the first person inclusive "trial" identically to the "duals" in other persons, even though it refers to three people.

The alternate analysis is thus:

More information Minimal, Augmented ...

Ilocano pronouns
	Minimal	Augmented
First (exc.)	co	mi
First (inc.)	ta	tayo
Second	mo	yo
Third	na	da

Close

More information Minimal, Unit augmented ...

Bininj Kunwok pronouns
	Minimal	Unit augmented	Augmented
First (exc.)	ngarduk	ngarrewoneng	ngadberre
First (inc.)	ngarrgu	garriwoneng	gadberre
Second	nguddanggi	ngurriwoneng	ngudberre
Third	nuye/ngarre	berrewoneng	bedberre

Close

The 'minimal' number is the smallest possible group for each category. For 1st exclusive, 2nd, and 3rd, this is one, and for 1st inclusive, this is two. Unit augmented is one more than minimal. For 1st exclusive, 2nd, and 3rd, this is two, and for 1st inclusive, this is three. Augmented is an equivalent to plural. In a minimal/augmented system, augmented means more than one for 1st exclusive, 2nd, and 3rd, and means more than two for 1st inclusive. In a minimal/unit augmented/augmented system, augmented means more than two for 1st exclusive, 2nd, and 3rd, and means more than three for 1st inclusive.

Besides Ilocano, languages considered to have a minimal/augmented pronoun system include Tagalog,^[219]^[220] Maranao,^[221] Maskelynes,^[222] and Ho-Chunk.^[223] The three-way distinction with the addition of unit augmented is mostly found in Australian Aboriginal languages, more specifically non-Pama-Nyungan languages.^[224]^{[lower-alpha 10]} Among the very few languages outside Australia it applies to is the Austronesian language Äiwoo^[224]^[237] and the Trans–New Guinea language of Kunimaipa.^[224]^[238]

Minimal and augmented may also combine with paucal to create a three-way pronoun system of minimal, paucal, and augmented/plural. This is reportedly the case with Kayapo.^[239]^[240] A four-way system of minimal, unit augmented, paucal, and plural is theoretically possible, but has never been observed in any natural language.^[240]

Composed numbers

Composed numbers are number categories built from multiple number markers combined. They are "a rare phenomenon."^[241]

Dual and plural

In Breton:^[241]

lagad - "eye" (singular)
daoulagad - "two eyes" (dual)
lagadoù - "eyes" (plural)
daoulagadoù - "pairs of eyes" (composed, dual + plural)

Breton only has the dual for nouns that naturally come in pairs, mostly body parts and items of clothing. The composed dual and plural indicates multiple sets of two each, whereas the regular plural represents multiple items without them conceptualized as coming in pairs.^[242] There is at least one attestation in Ancient Egyptian, from an inscription dating to the reign of Merneptah, of the exact same grammatical construction with the word "hand" (to mean multiple pairs of hands).^[243]

A similar category can be found in some nouns of Classical Arabic, where it has been called the "dual of the plural". However, its meaning is the reverse of the Breton construction. Rather than multiple sets of two each, it indicates two sets of multiple each. Thus there is rumḥun, spear (singular); rumḥani, two spears (dual); rimāḥun, spears (plural); and rimāḥāni, two groups of spears (dual of the plural).^[244]^[245] The Arabic dual of the plural more specifically implies a minimum of six items, or two groups of three each.^[244]

Plural and plural

In Breton^[241] and Classical Arabic,^[246]^[247] as well as in Somali^[248] and Maasai,^[249] some nouns may compose the plural with itself, to mean multiple different groups. This has been called the "plural of the plural", the plural plural, or the double plural.^[246]^[247] An Arabic example is kalb, dog (singular); aklub, dogs (plural); and akālib, groups of dogs (double plural).^[250] The Arabic double plural implies a minimum of nine items, or three groups of three each. Some Classical Arabic nouns may even compose the plural with itself yet again, to create the "plural plural plural" or triple plural, such as firqat, sect (singular); firaq, sects (plural); ʔafrāq, groups of sects (double plural); and ʔafārīq, groups of groups of sects (triple plural). The triple plural implies a minimum of 27 items.^[251] According to the 15th century linguist and polymath Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, the Arabic word for male camel, jamalun, may be cumulatively pluralized up to six times: ʔajmulun (plural), ʔajmālun (double plural), jāmilun (triple plural), jimālun (quadruple plural), jimālatun (quintuple plural), and jimālātun (sextuple plural).^[252]^{[lower-alpha 11]}

Conflated numbers

Some number categories, formed from the combination of other existing categories, have only been attested as occurring secondarily alongside other grammatical number systems within a language. These have been called conflated numbers.^[257]

Singular-dual

A few languages have specific parts of speech that distinguish between two number categories: one or two, and more than two. The former category can be thought of as a single conflated singular-dual number.^[257] For example, in the nouns of Kalaw Lagaw Ya:^[258]^[259]

ùmay - "dog(s)" (one or two)
ùmayl - "dogs" (plural, three or more)

The pronouns and verbs of Kalaw Lagaw Ya distinguish singular, dual, and plural, leaving no ambiguity between one and two in full sentences.^[258]

While Kalaw Lagaw Ya has the singular-dual in all nouns, Central Pame has it specifically in inanimate nouns, such as čihàgŋ, spoon(s) (one or two), and šihàgŋ, spoons (plural, three or more). Pame animate nouns largely have a full three-way distinction: nadò, dog (singular); nadòi, two dogs (dual); and ladòt, dogs (plural).^[260]

The singular-dual may also be found in verbs: Hopi verbs distinguish singular-dual and plural (3+), while Hopi pronouns distinguish singular and plural (2+). The dual can be represented with a plural pronoun combined with a singular-dual verb. This phenomenon has been called a constructed number^[261] or a Frankendual.^[262] However, Hopi nouns still overtly distinguish singular, dual, and plural. Idi goes even further by having no specific dual markers of any kind for any part of speech, with the only way to represent dual being combining a singular-dual verb with a plural noun.^[263] A more complex example comes from Koasati, where besides plural, some verbs have singular and dual, some verbs just have singular, and some verbs just have singular-dual:^[264]

More information Verb, Singular ...

Some Koasati verbs
Verb	Singular	Dual	Plural
"to sit"	cokkó:lin	cikkí:kan	í:san
"to run"	walí:kan	tóɬkan
"to die"	íllin		hápkan

Close

Singular-dual-trial

In the Tucanoan language of Tuyuca, inanimate classifiers (which attach to nouns) distinguish one to three versus more than three:^[265]^[266]

hoópóro - "banana(s)" (one to three)
hoópóri - "bananas" (plural, four or more)

The related Tucanoan language of Wanano also has some nouns that function this way.^[267]^[268]

The same number distinction is also seen in the verb for "climb" in Miriwoong, an Australian language.^[68]

Singular-dual-trial-quadral

In Piratapuyo, closely related to Wanano, some nouns with inanimate classifiers distinguish between one and four versus more than four:^[267]^[269]^[270]

pika - "finger(s)" (one to four)
pikari - "fingers" (plural, five or more)

Singular-paucal

Zuni, similarly to Hopi, shows a singular-dual versus plural distinction in its verbs, and a plural noun with a nonplural verb indicates dual. However, the opposite combination, a nonplural noun with a plural verb, is also possible, and can be variably interpreted as one, two, or a few. Zuni nouns have thus been described as having a "singular-paucal" versus plural distinction.^[271]^[272]

Some nouns in Navajo have also been described as working this way, such as:^[273]

kǫ - "fire(s)" (one or several)
daakǫ - "fires" (many)

Similarly, although Larike pronouns exhibit singular, dual, trial, and plural, they can only be used for human referents. For nonhuman referents, there are only two possible numbers, which are marked on the verb: a plural, and a "singular" that can be used to mean anywhere from one to a few.^[265]

Nondual

The nondual^{[lower-alpha 12]} number means any number except two. For example, in Wangkumara:^[276]

d̯it̯i - "dog(s)" (nondual, one or three or more than three)
d̯it̯ibula - "two dogs" (dual)

Wangkumara does not normally mark number directly on nouns. Instead, it distinguishes singular, dual, and plural using adnominal pronouns, plural-indicating adjectives like 'many', or marking on other adjectives. The exception is that nouns take the dual enclitic when referring to two. Thus for nouns alone, the only distinction is dual and nondual.^[276]

A more complex system can be found in the Tanoan languages of Kiowa and Jemez. These languages have what is called an inverse number system. Although the languages distinguish between singular, dual, and plural, any given noun only has a single possible number marker. What number is implicit in an unmarked noun depends on its class. In Kiowa, by default, Class I nouns are singular-dual, Class II nouns are plural (two or more), Class III nouns are dual, and Class IV nouns are mass nouns with no number. The inverse number marker changes the noun to whatever number(s) the unmarked noun isn't, such as changing Class III nouns from dual to nondual.^[277] In Jemez, Class III nouns are the opposite: they are inherently nondual, and get marked for dual.^[278]

More information Class, Noun ...

Some Kiowa nouns^[279]
Class	Noun	Singular	Dual	Plural
I	bug	pól		póldau
II	stick	áadau	áa
III	tomato	k’âundau	k’âun	k’âundau
III	tomato	k’âundau		k’âundau
IV	rock	ts’ów

Close

More information Class, Noun ...

Some Jemez nouns^[280]
Class	Noun	Singular	Dual	Plural
I	crow	kyáá	kyáásh
II	bridge	wáákwesh		wáákwe
III	flower	pá	pásh	pá
III	flower	pá		pá
IV	snow	zú

Close

The nondual versus dual distinction may also be found in verbs. Timbisha has verbs with several different possible number distinctions, including nondual ones.^[281] A more minor example is Forest Enets, which has the nondual only in its intransitive third person imperative verbs.^[282]

More information Verb, Singular ...

Some Timbisha verbs
Verb	Singular	Dual	Plural
"to emerge"	to’e	toto’e	kɨa
"to fall"	pahe	pokoa
"to kill"	pakka		wasɨ
"to go"	mi’a	mimi’a	mi’a
"to go"	mi’a		mi’a

Close

The nondual violates a proposed universal of conflated systems, namely that they will always encompass every value except plural.^[283] Regardless, the nondual has still been referred to as a conflation of number values.^[284]

Numberless languages

A small number of languages have no grammatical number at all, even in pronouns. A well known example is Pirahã. Acehnese comes close, but appears to have a singular/plural distinction only in the first person pronouns.^[285]

More information First, Second ...

Pirahã pronouns
First	ti
Second	gíxai
Third	hiapióxio

Close

Summary of number systems

More information System, Number of distinctions ...

Grammatical number distinctions found in world languages
System	Number of distinctions	Example
System	Number of distinctions	Language	Part(s) of speech	Source
(Numberless)	1	Pirahã	-	^[286]
Singular, plural	2	English	Nouns, pronouns, verbs (3rd person)	^[7]
General, singulative	2	Sidama	Nouns (some)	^[199]
General, plurative	2	Japanese	Nouns	^[287]
General, greater plural	2	Burushaski	Nouns (some)	^[212]
Minimal, augmented	2	Ilocano	Pronouns	^[216]^[217]
Singular-dual, plural	2	Kalaw Lagaw Ya	Nouns	^[258]
Singular-dual, plural	2	Hopi	Verbs	^[261]^[262]
Singular-paucal, plural	2	Zuni	Nouns	^[271]^[272]
Singular-paucal, plural	2	Larike	Verbs (non-human referents)	^[265]
Singular-dual-trial, plural	2	Tuyuca	Nouns (inanimate)	^[265]^[266]
Singular-dual-trial-quadral, plural	2	Piratapuyo	Nouns (some)	^[267]^[269]
Nondual, dual	2	Wangkumara	Nouns	^[276]
Nondual, dual	2	Timbisha	Verbs (some)	^[281]
Singular, dual, plural	3	Alutiiq	Nouns, pronouns, verbs	^[288]
Singular, paucal, plural	3	Mocoví	Nouns	^[73]^[75]
Singular, plural, double plural	3	Somali	Nouns (some)	^[248]
Singular, plural, greater plural	3	Tswana	Nouns (some)	^[289]
General, singulative, paucal	3	Hamer	Nouns (some)	^[201]
General, singulative, plurative	3	Pular	Nouns	^[196]
General, dual, paucal	3	Warlpiri	Nouns	^[202]
General, dual, plurative	3	Bambassi	Nouns	^[290]
Minimal, unit augmented, augmented	3	Bininj Kunwok	Pronouns	^[218]
Minimal, paucal, plural	3	Kayapo	Pronouns	^[239]^[240]
Singular, dual, trial, plural	4	Urama	Nouns, pronouns	^[291]
Singular, dual, trial, plural	4	Lenakel	Verbs, pronouns	^[292]
Singular, dual, paucal, plural	4	Motuna	Nouns	^[293]
Singular, dual, paucal, plural	4	Yimas	Pronouns	^[85]
Singular, dual, plural, dual + plural (4+)	4	Breton	Nouns (some)	^[241]^[242]
Singular, dual, plural, plural + dual (6+)	4	Classical Arabic	Nouns (some)	^[244]
Singular, dual, plural, double plural	4	Classical Arabic	Nouns (some)	^[246]^[247]
Singular, dual, plural, greater plural	4	Barngarla	Nouns	^[175]
Singular, dual, plural, greater plural	4	Mokilese	Pronouns	^[177]
Singular, paucal, plural, greater plural	4	Hualapai	Verbs (some)	^[178]
Singular, plural, greater plural, greatest plural	4	Warekena	Nouns	^[185]^[186]
Singular, plural, greater plural, greatest plural	4	Daatsʼiin	Verbs (some cases)	^[193]
General, singulative, paucal, and plurative	4	Baiso	Nouns	^[205]
General, singulative, paucal, greater plural	4	Hamer	Nouns (some)	^[214]
General, dual, trial, plurative	4	Arabana	Nouns	^[208]
General, dual, plurative, greater plural	4	Kaytetye	Nouns	^[209]^[211]
Singular, dual, trial, quadral*, plural	5	Russian Sign Language	Pronouns	^[141]
Singular, dual, trial, paucal, plural	5	Mussau	Pronouns	^[76]^[77]
Singular, dual, paucal, greater paucal, plural	5	Sursurunga	Pronouns	^[119]
Singular, dual, paucal, plural, greater plural	5	Mele-Fila	Pronoun/article combinations	^[179]
Singular, dual, plural, double plural, triple plural	5	Classical Arabic	Nouns (some)	^[251]
General, singulative, dual, plurative, greater plural	5	Damascus Arabic	Nouns (some)	^[190]
Singular, dual, trial, quadral, quintal, plural	6	Levantine Arabic Sign Language	Pronouns	^[139]
Singular, dual, trial, quadral*/paucal, plural (5+), plural (2+)	6	Marshallese	Pronouns	^[147]^[149]
Singular, dual, trial, quadral, quintal, [six referents]*, plural	7	Ugandan Sign Language	Pronouns	^[142]
Singular, dual, plural, double plural, triple plural, quadruple plural, quintuple plural, sextuple plural	8	Classical Arabic (15th century)	The word for camel	^[252]
Singular, dual, trial, quadral, quintal, [six referents], ... [nine referents], plural	10	American Sign Language	Pronouns (some speakers)	^[171]
Singular, dual, trial, quadral, quintal, [six referents], ... [ten referents], plural	11	Israeli Sign Language	Pronouns	^[172]
Singular, dual, trial, ... plural	?^†	Bislama	Pronouns	^[126]
*Category's existence has been debated ^†No exact limit

Close