komfo,amonan wrote:
On 7/11/06, Maxim Katcharov
<maxim.katcharov@gmail.com>
wrote:
I don't suggest that a language would not function without plurals,
but that it's odd that the line was drawn between 1 and 2. Without an
explanation for this, one would think that there are languages out
there that have a pervasive plural that makes itself known between 2
and 3, for example.
It is not unusual for lines between 1 & 2 and 2 & 3 to be drawn --
singular, dual, plural. This was normal in the Semitic languages and in
ancient, ancient Greek.
Sure... Even Biblical Hebrew had already limited the use of the dual to
a few cases, but dual is pervasive all through classical Sanskrit.
Every noun has to be declined in its 7 cases in singular, dual, and
plural; every verb has singular dual and plural forms in all persons...
~mark
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