Universal #115

Legacy number: 115

 Number  115
 Original  It is common for certain case distinctions to be neutralized for a given number, while the opposite phenomenon perhaps never occurs.
 Standardized  Cases can be neutralized for a given Number, but not Numbers for a given Case.
 Keywords  number, case
 Domain  inflection
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  almost absolute?
 Basis  30 languages of Greenberg 1963 sample
 Source  inferred by Uspensky 1965: 210 from Greenberg 1963: 103

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Finnish (Finnic, Uralic)
Notes
See also Louis Hjelmslev (1935). La catégorie des cas. Etude de grammaire générale. Première partie. Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget (Acta Jutlandica VII, 1). Hjelmslev argues that Number may be dominant over Case (being conducive to case syncretism for given numbers), but also Case over Number (being conducive to number syncretism for a given case; e.g. in Finno-Ugric).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
See also Louis Hjelmslev 1935. La catégorie des cas. Etude de grammaire générale. Première partie. Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget (Acta Jutlandica VII, 1).
Hjelmslev argues that Number may be dominant over Case (being conducive to case syncretism for given numbers), but also Case over Number (being conducive to number syncretism for a given case; e.g. in Finno-Ugric).