Universal #1375

Legacy number: 1375

 Number  1371
 Original  In classifier languages without inflectional plurals neither counters nor measures ever take plural markers and, unlike typical noun class systems, the classifiers themselves practically never vary lexically for number.
 Standardized  IF a classifier language has no inflectional plural, THEN neither counters nor measures take plural markers.
IF a classifier language has no inflectional plural, THEN classifiers themselves never vary lexically for number
 Keywords  classifier, number
 Domain  inflection, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  sample of about 100 languages in Greenberg 1972
 Source  Greenberg 1972: 32

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Discussion
Counterexamples
In Guami (Chibchan), I ‘person’ is used as a classifier with ‘one’ and NI ‘people’ with numbers greater than one (Alphonse 1956: 13); mentioned in Greenberg 1972.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006