On nominal number marking in Amharic: Singular, plural and transnumeral

Abstract

International audienceMy presentation examines the transnumeral nature of count nouns in Amharic. Traditional Amharic grammars (e.g., Leslau 1995) typically distinguish between a morphologically unmarked singular form and a marked plural form of a noun, e.g., ʤɨb ‘a hyena (SG)’ vs. ʤɨb-otʧ ‘hyenas (PL)’. In contrast, Baye (e.g. 1996: 70–71) proposes that the suffix -otʧ marks the paucal, while both the singular and the plural are expressed by the unmarked noun. Another, little-noticed perspective, put forward by Hartmann (1980: 282–283), argues that bare count nouns in Amharic lack specification for singular or plural, a phenomenon he refers to as unbestimmter Numerus (‘undefined number’), as in ʔɨzzɨh ʤɨb ʔallä. (here hyena exist.NONPAST.3SM) ‘There are hyenas/is a hyena here.’In this paper, I adopt Hartmann’s (1980) relatively overlooked analysis and demonstrate that Amharic count nouns do not have inherent specifications for number in the lexicon. By analyzing morphosyntactic and semantic patterns, I argue that overt number marking in Amharic primarily functions as an indicator of definiteness. This challenges the conventional view of number as an intrinsic nominal feature, situating Amharic within the broader typological spectrum of languages with fluid number systems, where specific-number interpretations emerge from a combination of pragmatic, morphological and morphosyntactic cues. These findings contribute to a better understanding of Amharic grammar and shed more light on the interplay between number, gender, and definiteness