Singulative

Singulative number one the singular (referred to in some languages singular ) indicating the form of a noun . In such languages ​​there is an unmodified basic form (the simplest form) that is grammatically "numerus-undifferentiated" and z. B. represents the designation for a collective (it is also called transnumeral ): The singulative is formed from this collective form secondary through expansion and / or phonetic changes (in Indo-European languages ​​mostly affixes or umlaut or both) .

Many languages ​​(such as German) do not require a singular . There the singular is already the simplest form, and all other nominal stems are derived from it.

However, Welsh, for example, has nouns whose simplest basic form expresses a collective . An Singulativsuffix the singular form is created: adar (birds) → Aderyn (a bird) (suffix + umlaut) mefus (strawberries) → mefusen (a strawberry) or coed (forest) → coeden (tree).

See also

• Singular tantum
• Plural tantum
• Variety plural
• Countability (grammar)

literature

• Greville G. Corbett: Number. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2000, ISBN 0-521-64016-4 .
• Peter Meijes Tiersma: Local and General Markedness. In: Language Vol. 58, No. 4, 1982, ISSN  0097-8507 , pp. 832-849.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Metzler Lexicon Language . 2., revised. Ed., Ed. v. Helmut luck . Metzler, Stuttgart a. Weimar, p. 486, Lemma Numerus .