(Meadow Mari)

AdNumNoCase & PronNum=NCase

AdNumNoCase: Adnominal numerals are not inflected. (No numeral agreement.)

PronNum=NCase: Pronominal numerals are inflected the same as the nouns they replace.

(1)nəljəlmə-mtunem-am.
fourlanguageACCstudy1SG
’I study four languages.’ (T. E.)

(2)məńarjəlmə-mtunem-at?nələt-əm.
how_manylanguageACCstudy2SGfourACC
’How many languages do you study? Four.’ (T. E.)

(3)kokmeraŋ-əmpokt-etgən,iktə-žə-m-atkuč-eno-tkert
tworabbitACCchase2SGifone3SGACCtoocatchCVBNEG2SGcan.CNG
’If you chase two rabbits, you can’t catch either of them.’ (Alhoniemi 1985: 98)

In Meadow Mari, numerals in adnominal function do not agree with the noun (1). When they have a pronominal function, the long form of the numeral is used, which has the same agreement properties as the noun that it replaces (2)–(3).

Author: Bogáta Timár


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