What is number?

Definition
	Number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions (such as "one" or "more than one").
	The count distinctions typically, but not always, correspond to the actual count of the referents of the marked noun or pronoun.

Example (English)
	In the word girls, plural number is marked by the suffix -s.

Kinds
	Here are some kinds of numbers:
	What is dual number? What is plural number? What is singular number? What is a trial number?

Generic
	A number is a kind of
	What is a grammatical category?

Sources
	Crystal 1980 245
	Hartmann and Stork 1972 155
	Mish 1991 811

Context for this page:

Concept module: number
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): N
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

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