Universal #550
Legacy number: 550
| Number | 548 |
| Original | If numeral expressions for the smallest addends take the plural of the noun when they designate numbers >1, then complex numerals with one as an addend will take the plural of the noun if ‘one’ is not a separate word. |
| Standardized | IF numeral expressions for the smallest addends take the plural of the noun when they designate numbers >1, THEN complex numerals with one as an addend will take the plural of the noun if ‘one’ is not a separate word. |
| Keywords | numeral, noun |
| Domain | inflection, word formation |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | 56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a |
| Source | Greenberg 1978a: 283 (#42) |
Discussion
Notes
For example English ‘two’, ‘three’. etc. take the noun in the plural. So does ‘eleven’. When ‘one’ is a separate word, the whole expression may (e.g. Bantu languages in general) or may not (e. g. English ‘twenty-one’) take the singular.
Comment
For example English 'two', 'three'. etc. take the noun in the plural. So does 'eleven'. When 'one' is a separate word, the whole expression may (e.g. Bantu languages in general) or may not (e. g. English 'twenty-one') take the singular.
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