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A typology of the mass/count distinction in Brazil and its relevance for mass/count theories
Edited by Suzi Lima and Susan Rothstein
[Linguistic Variation 20:2] 2020
► pp. 288–299

Countability in Mbyá

| University of Toronto

This paper investigates the distribution of nouns in Mbyá (Tupi-Guarani), with respect to plural marking, numerals and quantifiers. The study reveals the existence of a robust grammatical distinction between a class of count nouns, which consists mostly of individual denoting nouns, and a class of mass nouns, which consists mostly of substance denoting nouns.

Keywords: Mbyá, Tupí-Guaraní, countability, quantifiers, associative plurals
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background on the grammar of Mbyá
  • 3.Number marking
  • 4.Numerals
  • 5.Quantifiers and Q-words
  • 6.Distributional classes of nouns
  • 7.Measuring and portioning
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Glosses
  • References
Published online: 1 October 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.00021.tho
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