4.1. Number

DGS uses different strategies to mark plurality on nouns. One common strategy is to use quantifiers [Lexicon 3.10.2], [Syntax 4.4] as in (a) or numerals [Lexicon 3.10.1] as in (b).

 

a.       many book

         โ€˜many booksโ€™

         

 

 

b.      five book

         โ€˜five booksโ€™

        

 

 

In addition, plurality is realized by reduplication of classifier constructions [Morphology 5]. In the DGS examples below number on nouns is marked via reduplication of a Size-and-Shape-Specifier (SASS) as in (a) or reduplication of an entity classifier as in (b).

 

a.       paper sass++

         โ€˜Paper postersโ€™

                                                                                   (based on Pfau & Steinbach, 2006: 149)

 

 

 

 

b.      table book cl(]):be_located_on++

         โ€˜Books are located on the table next to each other.โ€™

 

                                                                                   (based on Pfau & Steinbach, 2005:127)