Universal #117

Legacy number: 117

 Number  117
 Original  In languages with a distinction between active (animate) vs. passive (inanimate) nouns, passive nouns don’t distinguish numbers (SG/PL).
 Standardized  IF nouns are grammatically distinguished as active (animate) and passive (inanimate), THEN the passive (inanimate) nouns do not show number distinctions.
 Keywords  noun, animate, inanimate, plural number
 Domain  inflection
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  languages in Ivanov 1958
 Source  Ivanov 1958: 39; cited also in Uspensky 1963: 213

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Discussion
Counterexamples
a possible exception could be Yenisei languages (early stages)(isolate)(mentioned in Uspensky 1965)
Notes
See #916 for the plurality hierarchy, claimed to hold universally, irrespective of noun class systems.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
See <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=916"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0"> for the plurality hierarchy, claimed to hold universally, irrespective of noun class systems.