Das grammatische Raritätenkabinett
A catalogue of rare and unusual grammatical phenomena documented across the world’s languages. 147 published entries.
11 entries
| # | Phenomenon | Found in | Domain | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 140 | number distinction (singular/plural) only on 2nd person pronouns, as well as on determiner demonstratives, and not on any other pronouns (including 1st) or nouns | Malagasy (West Indonesian, Austronesian) | morphology: inflection / categories and their domains: person, number | personal pronoun |