Editing Grammatical number (section)

==Formal expression==
[[Synthetic language]]s typically distinguish grammatical number by [[inflection]]. ([[Analytic language]]s, such as [[Chinese spoken language|Chinese]], often do not mark grammatical number.)

Some languages have no [[marker (linguistics)|marker]] for the plural in certain cases, e.g. [[Swedish language|Swedish]] {{lang|sv|hus}} – "house, houses" (but {{lang|sv|huset}} – "the house", {{lang|sv|husen}} – "the houses").

In most languages, the singular is formally unmarked, whereas the plural is marked in some way. Other languages, most notably the [[Bantu languages]], mark both the singular and the plural, for instance [[Swahili language|Swahili]] (see example below). The third logical possibility, found in only a few languages such as [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]], is an unmarked plural contrasting with marked singular. Below are some examples of number [[affix]]es for nouns (where the inflecting [[morpheme]]s are underlined):

* [[Affix]]ation (by adding or removing [[prefix]]es, [[suffix]]es, [[infix]]es, or [[circumfix]]es):
** [[Estonian language|Estonian]]: {{lang|et|puu}} "tree, wood" (singular) – {{lang|et|puu<u>d</u>}} "the trees, woods" (nominative plural), or {{lang|et|kolm puud}} "three trees" ([[Partitive case|partitive]] singular)
** [[Finnish language|Finnish]]: {{lang|fi|lehmä}} "cow, the cow" (singular) – {{lang|fi|lehmä<u>t</u>}} "the cows" ([[nominative]] plural)
** [[Turkish language|Turkish]]: {{lang|tr|dağ}} "the mountain" (singular) – {{lang|tr|dağ<u>lar</u>}} "mountains" (plural)
** [[Slovene language|Slovene]]: {{lang|sl|líp<u>a</u>}} "linden" (singular) – {{lang|sl|líp<u>i</u>}} "linden" (dual) – {{lang|sl|líp<u>e</u>}} "linden" (plural)
** [[Sanskrit]]: {{lang|sa|पुरुषस्}} {{lang|sa-Latn|puruṣ<u>as</u>}} "man" (singular) – {{lang|sa|पुरुषौ}} {{lang|sa-Latn|puruṣ<u>au</u>}} "two men" (dual) – {{lang|sa|पुरुषास्}} {{lang|sa-Latn|puruṣ<u>ās</u>}} "men" (plural)
** [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]]: {{lang|si|මලක්}} {{lang|si-Latn|mal<u>ak</u>}} "flower" (singular) – {{lang|sa|මල්}} {{lang|si-Latn|mal}} "flowers" (plural)
** [[Swahili language|Swahili]]: {{lang|sw|<u>m</u>toto}} "child" (singular) – {{lang|sw|<u>wa</u>toto}} "children" (plural)
** [[Luganda|Ganda]]: {{lang|lg|<u>omu</u>sajja}} "man" (singular) – {{lang|lg|<u>aba</u>sajja}} "men" (plural)
** [[Georgian language|Georgian]]: {{lang|ka|კაცი}} {{lang|ka-Latn|k'aci}} "man" (singular) – {{lang|ka|კაცები}} {{lang|ka-Latn|k'ac<u>eb</u>i}} "men" (where ''-i'' is the nominative case marker)
** [[Welsh language|Welsh]]: {{lang|cy|plant}} "children" (collective) – {{lang|cy|pl<u>e</u>nt<u>yn</u>}} "child" (singulative) {{small|Care should be taken with Welsh not to confuse ''singulative/collective'' with ''singular/plural'', see [[Colloquial Welsh nouns]].}}
** [[Barngarla language|Barngarla]]: {{lang|bjb|wárraidya}} "emu" (singular)  – {{lang|bjb|wárraidya<u>lbili</u>}} "two emus" (dual)  – {{lang|bjb|wárraidya<u>rri</u>}} "emus" (plural) – {{lang|bjb|wárraidya<u>ilyarranha</u>}} "a lot of emus" (greater plural)<ref name="Zuckermann2020"/>
* [[Simulfix]] (through various kinds of internal [[Apophony|sound alternations]]):
** [[Arabic language|Arabic]]: {{lang|ar|كِتَاب }} {{lang|ar-Latn|k<u>i</u>t<u>ā</u>b}} "book" (singular) – {{lang|ar|كُتُب}} {{lang|ar-Latn|k<u>u</u>t<u>u</u>b}} "books" (plural)
** Welsh: {{lang|cy|adar}} "birds" (collective) - {{lang|cy|deryn}} "bird" (singulative). The {{lang|cy|-yn}} suffix which adds an extra syllable to the root word ({{lang|cy|adar}}) causes the initial (and semantically empty) syllable to be dropped. The suffix also causes the same vowel affection as seen in the ''affixation'' type above and the ''apophony'' type below, changing the root vowel {{lang|cy|a}} to {{lang|cy|e}}. The same process can be seen in the pair {{lang|cy|hosan}} "sock" and {{lang|cy|sanau}} "socks" where the plural suffix {{lang|cy|-au}} causes the initial syllable ({{lang|cy|ho-}}) to be dropped.
* [[Apophony]] (alternating between different vowels):
** [[Dinka language|Dinka]]: {{lang|din|k<u>a</u>t}} "frame" – {{lang|din|k<u>ɛ</u>t}} "frames"
** [[English language|English]]: ''f<u>oo</u>t'' – ''f<u>ee</u>t''
** [[German language|German]]: {{lang|de|M<u>u</u>tter}} "mother" – {{lang|de|M<u>ü</u>tter}} "mothers"
** [[Welsh language|Welsh]]: {{lang|cy|b<u>a</u>chg<u>e</u>n}} "boy" – {{lang|cy|b<u>e</u>chg<u>y</u>n}} "boys" {{small|(See ''[[Affection (linguistics)|affection]]'')}}
* [[Reduplication]] (through doubling):
** [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]: {{lang|id|orang}} "person" (singular) – {{lang|id|orang-<u>orang</u>}} "people" (plural); '''BUT''' {{lang|id|dua orang}} "two people" and {{lang|id|banyak orang}} "many people" (reduplication is not done when the context is clear and when the plurality is not emphasized)
** [[Pipil language|Pipil]]: {{lang|ppl|kumit}} "pot" (singular) – {{lang|ppl|<u>kuj</u>-kumit}} "pots" (plural); similar to Indonesian, reduplication is omitted when plurality is marked elsewhere or not emphasized.
** [[Somali language|Somali]]: {{lang|so|buug}} "book" (singular) – {{lang|so|buug-<u>ag</u>}} "books" (plural)
* [[Suppletion]] (the use of the one word as the inflected form of another word):
** [[Serbo-Croatian]]: {{lang|sh|čov(j)ek}} "man" (singular) – {{lang|sh|ljudi}} "men, folks" (plural)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vrabec |first1=Željko |year=2022 |title=Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian: An Essential Grammar |series=Routledge Essential Grammars |location=London |publisher=Routledge |page=26 |doi=10.4324/9781003154525-3 |isbn=978-1-003-15452-5 |s2cid=241612802 }}</ref>
** English: ''person'' (singular) - ''people'' (plural) <small>(used colloquially. In formal and careful speech ''persons'' is still used as the plural of ''person'' while ''people'' also has its own plural in ''peoples''.)</small>
* [[Tone (linguistics)|Tonality]] (by changing a drag tone to a push tone)
** [[Limburgish]]: {{lang|li|daãg}} "day" (singular) – {{lang|li|daàg}} "days" (plural)
** [[Ancient Greek]]: {{lang|grc|γλῶσσα}} {{lang|grc-Latn|glôssa}} "tongue" (singular) – {{lang|grc|γλώσσα}} {{lang|grc-Latn|glǒssa}} "two tongues" (dual)

Elements marking number may appear on nouns and [[pronoun]]s in [[dependent-marking language]]s or on [[verb]]s and [[adjectives]] in [[head-marking language]]s.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English<br />(dependent-marking)
! Western Apache<br />(head-marking)
|-
| Paul is teaching the cowboy.
| Paul {{lang|apw|idilohí yiłch'ígó'aah.}}
|-
| Paul is teaching the cowboy<u>'''s'''</u>.
| Paul {{lang|apw|idilohí yiłch'í<u>'''da'''</u>gó'aah.}}
|}

In the English sentence above, the plural suffix ''-s'' is added to the noun ''cowboy''. In the equivalent in [[Western Apache language|Western Apache]], a [[head-marking language]], a plural affix {{lang|apw|da-}} is added to the verb {{lang|apw|yiłch'ígó'aah}} "he is teaching him", resulting in {{lang|apw|yiłch'ídagó'aah}} "he is teaching them" while noun {{lang|apw|idilohí}} "cowboy" is unmarked for number.

===Number particles===
Plurality is sometimes marked by a specialized number particle (or number word). This is frequent in Australian and Austronesian languages. An example from [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]] is the word {{lang|tl|mga}} [mɐˈŋa]: compare {{lang|tl|bahay}} "house" with {{lang|tl|mga bahay}} "houses". In [[Kapampangan language|Kapampangan]], certain nouns optionally denote plurality by secondary stress: {{lang|pam|ing laláki}} "man" and {{lang|pam|ing babái}} "woman" become {{lang|pam|ding láláki}} "men" and {{lang|pam|ding bábái}} "women".

===Classifiers with number morphology===
In [[Sanskrit]] and some other languages, number and case are fused categories and there is concord for number between a noun and its [[Predicate (grammar)|predicator]]. Some languages however (for example, [[Assamese language|Assamese]]) lack this feature.

Languages that show number inflection for a large enough corpus of nouns or allow them to combine directly with singular and plural numerals can be described as non-classifier languages. On the other hand, there are languages that obligatorily require a counter word or the so-called [[Classifier (linguistics)|classifier]] for all nouns. For example, the category of number in Assamese is fused with the category of classifier, which always carries a definite/indefinite reading. The singularity or plurality of the noun is determined by the addition of the classifier [[suffix]] either to the noun or to the numeral. Number system in Assamese is either realized as numeral or as nominal inflection, but not both. Numerals [ek] 'one' and [dui] 'two', can be realized as both [[free morpheme]] and [[clitics]]. When used with classifiers, these two numerals are cliticised to the classifiers.

Pingelapese is a Micronesian language spoken on the Pingelap atoll and on two of the eastern Caroline Islands, called the high island of Pohnpei. In Pingelapese, the meaning, use, or shape of an object can be expressed through the use of numerical classifiers. These classifiers combine a noun and a number that together can give more details about the object. There are at least five sets of numerical classifiers in Pingelapese. Each classifier has a numeral part and a classifier part that corresponds to the noun it is describing. The classifier follows the noun in a phrase. There is a separate set of numerical classifiers that is used when the object is not specified. Examples of this is the names of the days of the week.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hattori |first=Ryoko |year=2012 |title=Preverbal Particles in Pingelapese |publisher=Ann Arbor |pages=38–41 |isbn=978-126781721-1}}</ref>

===Obligatoriness of number marking===
In many languages, such as English, number is obligatorily expressed in every grammatical context. Some limit number expression to certain classes of nouns, such as [[animacy|animates]] or referentially prominent nouns (as with proximate forms in most [[Algonquian languages]], opposed to referentially less prominent obviative forms). In others, such as Chinese and Japanese, number marking is not consistently applied to most nouns unless a distinction is needed or already present.

A very common situation is for plural number to not be marked if there is any other overt indication of number, as for example in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]: {{lang|hu|virág}} "flower"; {{lang|hu|virágok}} "flowers"; {{lang|hu|hat virág}} "six flowers".

===Transnumeral{{anchor|general number}}===
Many languages, such as [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and [[Malay language|Malay]] (including [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]), particularly spoken in Southeast and East Asia, have optional number marking. In such cases, an unmarked noun is neither singular nor plural, but rather ambiguous as to number. This is called ''transnumeral'' or sometimes ''general number,'' abbreviated {{sc|'''trn'''}}. In many such languages, number tends to be marked for definite and highly [[animacy hierarchy|animate]] referents, most notably first-person pronouns.