Count-mass distinction in Sakurabiat
Acknowledging the fact that not all languages seem to distinguish grammatically between mass nouns and count
nouns, this paper aims to provide information on whether or not the count-mass distinction is expressed in the Sakurabiat
language, which belongs to the Tuparic branch of the Tupian linguistic family. The paper presents a brief survey of the
grammatical properties associated with notional mass and notional count nouns in Sakurabiat. The properties of constructions with
nouns and numerals are described and compared to constructions with pluralized nouns and numerals. The question of individual
versus event quantification with numerals, and the role played by quantifiers and comparatives are also analyzed. The Sakurabiat
data contributes to the investigation about the expression (or non-expression) of a count-mass distinction in underrepresented and
understudied languages.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Nouns
- 3.Sakurabiat numeral system: One, two, many
- 4.Constructions with numerals
- 5.Plural marker
- 6.Pluralized nouns and numerals
- 7.Individual and event quantification with numerals
- 8.Quantifiers and comparatives
- 9.Is there a count/mass distinction in Sakurabiat?
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
References (6)
References
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Doetjes, Jenny. 2017. The count/mass distinction in grammar and cognition. Annual Review of Linguistics
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Galucio, Ana Vilacy. 2001. The morphosyntax of Mekens (Tupi). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago dissertation.
Lima, Suzi & Susan
Rothstein. (this volume). The count/mass distinction questionnaire. Unpublished manuscript, designed for investigating the expression of count/mass distinction in indigenous Brazilian languages.
Massam, Diane (ed.). 2012. Count and mass across languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Rothstein, Susan. 2010. Counting, measuring and the mass count distinction. Journal of Semantics
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Cited by (2)
Cited by two other publications
Assis Navarro, Michel Platiny
2024.
Countability in Kaingang.
Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 9:1

Dellai, Érica Milani, Vitória Maria Jasper Ern, Léia de Jesus Silva, Roberta Pires de Oliveira, Beatriz Martins Rachadel & Bianca Maria de Souza
2021.
A distinção massa e contável na gramática Rikbaktsa (Macro-Jê).
LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas 21
► pp. e021007 ff.

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