Marking plural in noun stems, PL1

u-tsøt t ɕik-la kurik-la paalo paalo that-amount INDF-DAT all-DAT turn turn t ɕhi-na ɖok-sa tɕhaa nø-tu do;VBZR-NFNT1 shed-ground manure give.manure=PURP ts ʏk-ken bet. TE36 cause-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Whatever the number of houses there are, to that number of houses one by one they make the sheep to stay and fertilize the fields.’ The speaker is telling how the village leaders organize the flock of sheep to stay in all the fields of the village. There are other constructions like those above. I treat them under correlative clauses in section 17.2.7.

3.6 Number in nouns and noun phrases

As for marking the number in nouns and NPs, Lhomi only has a two way system, singular and plural; it has no dual. Singular is unmarked and plural is marked, either in noun stems or at the phrase level with quantifiers that follow the lexical head noun. Of course there are some nouns including some kinship terms and personal pronouns that are inherently plural, e.g. ‘we, they’.

3.6.1 Marking plural in noun stems, PL1

In section 3.5.1 on personal pronouns I have already mentioned the plural marker PL1 -so, which combines with personal pronouns. Hale and Shrestha in their Newar Grammar 2006:97 talk about plurality of associated persons. This is very close to what Lhomi has. I have called this marker PL1 because there is also another plural marker which I have labeled PL2. PL1 refers to a group of men or associates of someone, family members of a person, or a group of animals. PL1 combines with personal pronouns, kinship terms, titles of men, proper names of men, certain quantifiers, and those count nouns that refer to humans or animals. The following examples illustrate the use of this plural marker. With proper names of people 1. 3.62 mikmar lhamu-so ʈap-soŋ. Mikmar Lhamu-PL1 go-PST.VIS ‘Mikmar Lhamu with her friends or with her family left.’ With personal pronouns 2. 3.63 roo-so kurik-ki ɖas-si ɖas-si-la 3SG-PL1 all-ERG be.alike-INTNS be.alike-INTNS-DAT nam taŋ-a bet. TE33 make.equal[PST] IMMED-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘They all made the villagers to be equal.’ ‘They all’ refers to the new leaders of the village who restored law and order in the village and made all the villagers equal. 3.64 roo- raŋ-so nampu jari jari jaŋ 1SG-self-PL1 among some some CONTR2 dzop dzop-la nuk t ɕhi-na ɖo-ken bet. TE30 group group-DAT this.way do;VBZR-NFNT1 go-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Actually some by themselveson their own move along walking in a well formed group.’ This is from a story that tells about sheep. The speaker refers to behaviour of sheep here. 3.65 hi-na ŋis-so mitsaŋ kurik thaŋ-puwa dʑaa-puwa jøt. TE74 this-IN 1PL.EXCL-PL1 family all health-ADJVZR strength-ADJVZR EXIST.EXP ‘We, the whole family here, are healthy and strong.’ The writer specifies the reference by adding the noun ‘family’. Otherwise his pronoun reference would be ambiguous whether it referred to family or friends or a group. With animate count nouns 3. 3.66 hi-ni piip- ʏ ʈho-pu-so lit-tɕuŋ. TE3 this-ABL Piipu-GEN bond.friend-M1-PL1 arrive-PST.EXP ‘Then came my bond friend of Piipu village with his associates.’ This is from a travel narrative. A Lhomi person may have only one or two bond friends. Reference here is either to the family of the friend or his travel companions. The total number may be two or more, up to a few, with this plural marker. With kinship terms 4. 3.67 pha-pu-so wa ɕɕi kuttɕi ŋa-tsøt juŋ-ro tɕhi. TE4 father-M1-PL1 please please five-amount come-AID do;VBZR[IMP] ‘Hello all men of my sub-clan, I plead, please do come, about five of you’ Speaker is shouting to the whole village and asking the male members of his sub-clan to come and help him build a house. The number of addressees is more than five, but probably not more than ten in this case. With quantifiers 5. 3.68 pha-ma p ʏn khajes-so... father-F2 brother.cousin plural-PL1 ‘All my relatives...’ The quantifier khajet is the most common plural marker which combines with any count noun. This is the way someone would start a speech to an audience that consists of his aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, etc. To add the plural marker -so to the quantifier khajet makes the whole NP a term of address and a sign that a speech will follow. This may be the only quantifier that combines with this associate person plural marker -so.

3.6.2 Marking plural in noun stems, NPs, and demonstratives