Das grammatische Raritätenkabinett
A catalogue of rare and unusual grammatical phenomena documented across the world’s languages. 147 published entries.
53 entries · page 1 of 2
| # | Phenomenon | Found in | Domain | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | reduplication of verb to form finite verb of restrictive relative clauses with non-actor head nouns | Wetan (Eastern Indonesian, Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / types of exponents and their uses | reduplication, finite verb, restrictive relative clasue |
| 32 | plural marking of a small subset of nouns (persons, kin) by lengthening of the vowel of the antepenultimate syllable, not a salient structural position otherwise (e.g., stress is on long vowels, otherwise on the penult) | Hawaiian, Samoan (Polynesian, Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / types of exponents and their uses | number, plural, vowel lengthening |
| 33 | negation expressed negatively, by omission of material present in affirmative clause (marked realis vs. unmarked irrealis mood inflection) | Tamil, Kannada, Toda, and elsewhere in South Dravidian; Malakmalak (Pama-Nyungan, Australian) (?); Achumawi (Hokan) (?) | morphology: inflection / zero | negation |
| 34 | verb inflection with non-zero exponent for 3rd person (subject or object agreement/cross-reference), but zero for all other persons | Standard English (Germanic, IE) | morphology: inflection / zero | verb inflection, person, 3rd |
| 35 | zero exponence for plural, non-zero for singular (not singulative!) as well as dual | Imonda (Trans-New Guinea, "Papuan") | morphology: inflection / zero | number, plural, singular, dual |
| 36 | inverse number marking: same exponent denoting singular, dual, or plural in different declensions, depending on which number is least expected from the basic meaning of nouns in that declension class (its prototypical members, at any rate) |
Kiowa-Tanoan family [a family possession, hence an infrequentale?] | morphology: inflection / zero | number |
| 37 | absolutive singular (marking intransitive subject) as the morphologically most complex noun form, expressed by a variety of suffixes or also by reduplication of stem | Chukchi (Chukchi-Kamchatkan) | morphology: inflection / markedness: case | absolutive, reduplication |
| 38 | absolutive (marking intransitive subject and transitive direct object) as the morphologically marked case vis-à-vis (zero-marked) ergative (marking transitive subject), (a) on NPs which are not focused or topicalized and then are not case-marked at all, (b) on NPs which are focused |
(a) Nias (Sundic, Western Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian)<br> (b) Yukaghir (isolate or Uralic); dialects of Komi (Permic, Finno-Ugric, Uralic) Old Wardaman (Australian) (?); Kabardian (Northwest Caucasian) (?) | morphology: inflection / markedness: case | absolutive, ergative, focus |
| 39 | nominative (marking intransitive and transitive subject) as the morphologically marked case vis-à-vis (zero-marked) accusative (marking direct object), for all nouns or for some noun classes | some older Germanic lgs (IE); Old French (Italic, IE); Oromo, Dasenech, Kambata, and perhaps a few further Cushitic lgs (Afroasiatic); Zayse and perhaps a few further Omotic lgs (Afroasiatic); some Berber lgs (Afroasiatic); Old Egyptian (pronouns) (Afroasiatic); Proto-Afroasiatic (!);Eastern Nilotic lgs with tonal case (Nilo-Saharan); some Surmic lgs (Nilo-Saharan); Mojave and most other Yuman lgs (Hokan); varieties of Maidu (Penutian); Wappo (Yukian); Shokleng (Jê, Tupi, Andean-Equatorial); Malakmalak (nonPN, Australian); Houailou (Oceanic, Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / markedness: case | nominative, accusative |
| 40 | stem suppletion of an adjectival word (viz., the cardinal numeral 'one') determined by gender | Classical Greek (Hellenic, IE) | morphology: inflection / suppletion | adjective, gender |
| 41 | stem suppletion of a noun ('man, person') essentially determined by number, with one stem used for all singular cases and another stem for all plural cases, but with both stems used for the dual, distributed by cases (most taking the plural stem, but a few the singular stem). | Slovene (Slavonic, IE) | morphology: inflection / suppletion | noun, number, dual |
| 42 | number suppletion of the indefinite pronoun, with the singular form identical to the numeral 'one' and (here comes the nonesuch) the plural (and also mass) form supplied by the plural of an interrogative pronoun | Standard German (Germanic, IE) | morphology: inflection / suppletion | indefinite pronoun, interrogative pronoun, number |
| 43 | definite article co-expressing tense (past vs. non-past) | Chamicuro (Maipuran Arawakan) | morphology: inflection / cumulation, sensitivity | definite article, tense |
| 44 | internally unanalysable independent personal pronoun expressing the meaning '1st person singular non-topic acting on 2nd person singular topic' | Tagalog (Philippine Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / cumulation, sensitivity | pronoun, person, 1st, 2nd |
| 45 | tense not only marked on verbs, but simultaneously on other words too, including nouns (tense agreement?) | Kayardild, Lardil, Baagandji, Pitta-Pitta (Australian); Titan and perhaps other members of the Admiralty subgroup (Oceanic, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian) Malagasy (West Indonesian, Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / locus | tense, agreement |
| 46 | nouns requiring marking for person | Elamite (extinct isolate, Ancient Near East); Nama (Khoisan) | morphology: inflection / locus | noun, person |
| 47 | use of an oblique case on a non-finite verb form to express evidentiality (hearsay, inferential) | Estonian and South Estonian dialects (Uralic); Latvian (Baltic, IE); Kayardild ((non?)PN, Australian) | morphology: inflection / locus | evidentiality, case, verb, non-finite |
| 48 | words taking as many as four cases simultaneously | Kayardild ((non?)PN, Australian) | morphology: inflection / complexity | case, Suffixaufnahme |
| 49 | an extra-large case inventory, of above 20 cases | Hungarian (Ugric, Uralic) (?) | morphology: inflection / complexity | case |
| 50 | an extra-large inventory of pronominal words, of some 200 | Rennell (Futunic, Polynesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / complexity | pronoun |
| 51 | lack of even a minimal binary contrast (proximal/distal) in basic local adverbial deictics | Bavarian (Germanic, IE) | morphology: inflection / complexity | adverb, deixis, proximal, distal |
| 52 | a divine gender (for nouns for gods, saints, comets, and other supernatural referents), contrasting with masculine, feminine, animal, and inanimate genders | Jicaltepec Mixtec (Oto-Manguean) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | gender, noun |
| 53 | gender contrast of nouns, but not of pronouns (except interrogative ones, in Teop) | Turkana (Nilotic, Nilo-Saharan); Teop (Bougainville, Oceanic, Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | noun, pronoun |
| 54 | gender contrast (MASC/FEM) in personal pronouns for 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes also 1st plural and for 2nd singular but not for 1st and 3rd singular, in some pronominal paradigms | Tàhàggart, Tuareg, Kabyle, Proto-Berber (?!) (Berber, Afroasiatic) [a family trait: limited to Berber but not shared by all members] | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | personal pronoun, person, number |
| 55 | gender contrast in personal pronouns exclusively in 1st person singular | Tocharian A (IE); Thai (Daic, Austroasiatic) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | personal pronoun, 1st person |
| 56 | gender contrast (MASC/FEM) in personal pronouns exclusively in 1st person plural, both inclusive and exclusive | Shirumba (Heiban, Kordofanian) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | personal pronoun, inclusive, exclusive |
| 57 | a mixed (aka "common", "resolution", "indefinite") gender in 3rd person (probably also 2nd and 1st person) non-singular pronouns for reference to mixed sets of antecedents, which naturally is without a singular counterpart | all Central Khoisan lgs, and widespread also elsewhere in Khoisan; Vanimo (Sko, "Papuan"); Bukiyip (Torricelli, "Papuan"); probably also elsewhere in "Papuan"; probably Khasi (Mon-Khmer); probably Turkana (Nilo-Saharan); probably Chinook (Chinookan) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | mixed gender, number |
| 58 | contrast in pronouns for 2nd and 3rd person for sex of the referent and also of the speaker | Diuxi Mixtec (Oto-Manguean) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | personal pronoun |
| 59 | contrast in pronouns for 3rd person for number (SG/PL), gender (both of the referent and of the speaker), kin relationship between speaker and referent (and if affine, then also whether in ascending or descending generation), and ethnic identity (Yuchi vs. other) | Yuchi (isolate, east central Oklahoma, USA) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | personal pronoun, number, kinship |
| 60 | contrast in personal pronouns for moyety, kin class, and generation level membership | Adnyamadhanha and other Australian lgs | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | personal pronoun, moyety, kinship |
| 61 | choice of 3rd person personal pronoun determined by gender (MASC/FEM/NEUT, contrasting in SG only and not corresponding to animacy distinctions in any consistent manner), except in adpositional phrases (with adpositions governing the dative or genitive), where the relevant contrast rather is one of animacy or related notions, with masculine and feminine pronouns now only referring to animate (or concrete, figure, salient) referents and with the neuter pronoun (both in singular and plural) replaced by local-adverbial forms (da, wo ), preceding rather than following their adpositions, for inanimate (abstract, ground, not-so-salient) referents | German (Germanic, IE) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | personal pronoun, adverb, animacy |
| 62 | inflection of the great majority of words – nominal, pronominal, verbal –for sex of the speaker (and, in the case of male forms, also of the addressee, with males using female forms when addressing females), with female forms formed from male forms by final syllable reduction or male forms formed from female forms by adding a syllable (whose form depends on the class of word so inflected) | Yana (Hokan) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | deixis |
| 63 | pronoun of most respectful address recruited from pronoun of identity ((allerhöchst)dieselben), rather than from indefinite or least definite pronoun | 18th century German (Germanic, IE) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: gender, respect | pronoun of address, respect, social distance |
| 64 | a three-way distinction of possession for possessive pronouns, which also distinguish inclusive and exclusive: alienable, inalienable, family possession | Khinalug (Lezgic, NE Caucasian) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: possession | possessive pronoun, inclusive, exclusive |
| 65 | inclusive/exclusive contrast for 2nd person ('you several, non-SAPs included/excluded') | SE Ambrym (Austronesian), Port Sandwich (Austronesian) (?); Yokuts (Yokutsan); Ojibwe, Cree, Fox, Potawatomi, Naskapi (Algonquian) (?); Otomi (Otomanguean); Abkhaz (East Caucasian) (?); Ghomala? (Grassfield Bantu); Nama (Khoisan); Ordoss (Eastern Mongolian, Altaic); Bavarian (IE) (?) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | inclusive, exclusive, 2nd person |
| 66 | dual with 1st person exclusive but not with 1st person inclusive | Yagua (Ge-Pano-Carib); Tübatulabal (Uto-Aztecan) (?); Savosavo (East Papuan) (?); Ngankikurrungkurr (nonPN, Australian) (?) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | inclusive, exclusive, dual |
| 67 | a three-way distinction among personal pronouns between 'singular speaker', 'singular non-speaker' (i.e. addressee or other), 'plural' (any speech-act role or combination of roles). | Balante (West Atlantic, Niger-Congo) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | personal pronoun |
| 68 | an ambal (aka 'paral', only referring to natural pairs) in addition to a dual (referring to any two referents) | Tocharian A and B (IE) (especially B, since in A the dual itself is obsolescent) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | dual, ambal |
| 69 | a quadral number with personal pronouns | Sursurunga, Tangga (both Patpatar-Tolai, Austronesian) (?) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | quadral, personal pronoun |
| 70 | independent personal pronouns for 1st and 3rd (animate) person inflecting for both number and case, but that for 2nd person inflecting for neither category (defectiveness of 2nd person pronouns in number alone being more common) | Modern Standard English (Germanic, IE) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | personal pronoun, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, number, case |
| 71 | no number inflection at all on any personal pronouns | Mura Pirahã (isolate, Macro-Chibchan); Kawi (Old Javanese, Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | personal pronoun |
| 72 | number marking (for plural and dual) on personal pronouns (suppletive) as well as on expressives (or ideophones; by suffix, which is unusual in Mon-Khmer, a family otherwise preferring prefixes and infixes), but not on any other word class (including nouns and verbs) | Bahnar (or Bahnaric in general?) (Mon-Khmer, Austro-Asiatic) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | personal pronoun, ideophone |
| 73 | duals up and down the referential hierarchy (ignoring INCL/EXCL) PRONOUNS NOUNS 1ST 2ND 3RD (a) +DU----------------> in abundance +DU-----------> –DU 65+ languages +DU------> –DU------> 3+ languages +DU –DU-----------> 9+ languages +DU----------------> over half of all (existing) lgs (b) –DU +DU-----------> Cl. Arabic (Semitic, Afroasiatic) + –DU------> +DU------> Ugaritic (Semitic, Afroasiatic) + –DU-----------> +DU 10+ languages +DU------> –DU +DU Kewa ("Papuan") (?) +DU –DU +DU------> northern dialects of Ostyak (Uralic) –DU------> +DU –DU 4+ languages –DU +DU –DU------> in no (attested) language (?) +DU –DU------> +DU in no (attested) language (?) –DU +DU------> –DU Rawa (Trans-NG, "Papuan") (?) +DU –DU +DU –DU Sedang (Austroasiatic) –DU +DU –DU +DU in no (attested) language (?) |
see above, or see Image - if you can | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | dual, personal pronouns |
| 109 | bound morphology (almost) exclusively prefixal | Athabaskan lgs [a family possession?] | morphology: inflection / types of exponents and their uses | prefix |
| 114 | stem suppletion of the verb 'say' determined by the person of the addressee | some Oto-Manguean lgs | morphology: inflection / suppletion | verb, indirect object |
| 115 | stem suppletion of 'two', as the only numeral, depending on the use of the numeral for counting or for quantifying a noun | Maltese (Semitic, Afroasiatic); Chinese (Sinitic, Sino-Tibetan) | morphology: inflection / suppletion | numeral |
| 116 | different definite article depending on whether an accompanying adjective denotes colour or another kind of property concept | Belhare (Kiranti, Tibeto-Burman) | morphology: inflection / cumulation, sensitivity | definite article, adjective, property concepts, colour |
| 117 | sets of local cases regularly distinguishing whether locatum is above, below, or on same level as deictic reference point | Bantawa, Belhare, Rai (Kiranti, Tibeto-Burman) | morphology: inflection / complexity | case, local cases, deixis |
| 118 | neither tense nor aspect grammaticalized at all | Maybrat, Hatam, perhaps further languages of the Bird's Head area, New Guinea (non-Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: tense-aspect | tense, aspect, grammaticalization |
| 119 | "conjunct vs. disjunct" system of (bound) person marking, with the conjunct form referring to the speaker in statements and the addressee in questions, and the disjunct form referring to everything else (addressee in statements, speaker in questions (where this makes sense), non-SAP in statements and questions) | Awa Pit, Tsafiki (Barbacoan); Newar, Lhasa-Tibetan, Lhomi (Tibeto-Burman) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | personal pronouns, person |