Article published in:
Diachronica
Vol. 34:2 (2017) ► pp. 127–174

The development and typology of number suppletion in adjectives

| Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
This paper looks at the cross-linguistically rare phenomenon of number suppletion in adjectives. I consider how such suppletion arises by looking at six known examples with a special focus on the Brittonic languages (Breton, Cornish and Welsh), which are discussed as an extended case study. Three generalisations are suggested on the basis of the typological study. First, adjectives denoting size (“small” and “big”) are at the centre of this phenomenon. Second, where the etymology of the adjectives is known, the plural member of the suppletive pair for “small” develops from a lexeme denoting something having been divided into or consisting of small parts. These lexemes can also be used with some singular nouns and in such cases they denote the component structure of the referent. Finally, adjectives with number suppletion tend to mark plural number consistently in environments in which plural marking is otherwise optional or rare.
Keywords: suppletion, adjectives, grammatical number, agreement, inflectional morphology, Brittonic languages, verbal number
Published online: 20 July 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.34.2.01nur
Bibliography

Bibliography

Corpora

Brown, Dunstan, Marina Chumakina, Greville G. Corbett & Andrew Hippisley
2003 Surrey Suppletion Database. University of Surrey. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C., C. O’Dochartaigh, W. Hicks, M. Morgan & N. Laporte
(eds.) 2001 Cronfa electroneg o Gymraeg (CEG): A 1 million word lexical database and frequency count for Welsh, Bangor University. www​.bangor​.ac​.uk​/canolfanbedwyr​/ceg​.php​.en [CEG]
Isaac, Graham R., Simon Rodway, Silva Nurmio, Kit Kapphahn & Patrick Sims-Williams
(eds.) 2013 Rhyddiaith Gymraeg o lawysgrifau’r 13eg ganrif: Fersiwn 2.0. Aberystwyth University. http://​hdl​.handle​.net​/2160​/11163 [13c]
Luft, Diana, Peter Wynn Thomas & D. Mark Smith
(eds.) 2007–2013 Rhyddiaith Gymraeg 1300–1425: Welsh prose 1300–1425. Cardiff University. http://​www​.rhyddiaithganoloesol​.caerdydd​.ac​.uk [1300–1425].
Roberts, Richard Glyn, Sarah Rowles & Patrick Sims-Williams
(eds.) 2015 Rhyddiaith y 15eg ganrif: Fersiwn 1.0, Aberystwyth University. http://​hdl​.handle​.net​/2160​/26752 [15c]
Willis, David & Ingo Mittendorf
(eds.) 2004 Corpws hanesyddol yr iaith Gymraeg 1500–1850: A Historical corpus of the Welsh language 1500–1850. University of Cambridge. http://​people​.ds​.cam​.ac​.uk​/dwew2​/hcwl​/menu​.htm. [1500–1850]

[ p. 162 ]References

Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y.
2003 A grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia. (Cambridge Grammatical Descriptions). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Awbery, Gwenllïan
2009 Welsh. In Martin Ball & Nicole Müller (eds.), The Celtic languages, 359–426. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
2014 Problems with phrasal compounds in Welsh. Journal of Celtic Linguistics 15. 3–38.Google Scholar
Bauer, Bernhard
2008 Studien zu den Altbretonischen Glossen. Vienna: Magister der Philosophie thesis. http://​othes​.univie​.ac​.at​/685/. (4 March 2016)
Bloomfield, Leonard
1962 The Menomini language. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
1975 Menomini lexicon, ed. by Charles F. Hockett. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Public Museum Publications in Anthropology and History 3.Google Scholar
Bobaljik, Jonathan David
2012 Universals in comparative morphology: Suppletion, superlatives, and the structure of words (Current Studies in Linguistics 50). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Bobaljik, Jonathan David & Heidi Harley
Forthcoming. Suppletion is local: Evidence from Hiaki. In Heather Newell, Maíre Noonan, Glynne Piggot & Lisa Travis eds. The structure of words at the interfaces Oxford Oxford University Press Crossref
Booij, Geert
1996 Inherent versus contextual inflection and the split morphology hypothesis. In Geert Booij & Jaap van Marle (eds.), Yearbook of morphology 1995. 1–16. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Börjars, Kersti & Nigel Vincent
2011 The pre-conditions for suppletion. In Alexandra Galani, Glyn Hicks & George Tsoulas (eds.), Morphology and its interfaces. 239–265. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ciorănescu, Alexandre
1966 Diccionario etimológico rumano. La Laguna: Universidad de la Laguna.Google Scholar
Comrie, Bernard
1982 Grammatical relations in Huichol. In Paul J. Hopper & Sandra A. Thompson (eds.), Studies in transitivity (Syntax and Semantics 15). 95–115. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Corbett, Greville G.
2000 Number (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2007 Canonical typology, suppletion, and possible words. Language 83(1). 8–42. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Durie, Mark
1986 The grammaticization of number as a verbal category. In Vassiliki Nikiforidou, Mary VanClay, Mary Niepokuj & Deborah Feder (eds.), Proceedings of the twelfth annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society. 355–368. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Linguistics Society.Google Scholar
Favereau, Francis
1992 Dictionnaire du breton contemporain/Geriadur ar brezhoneg a-vremañ. Morlaix: Editions Skol Vreizh.Google Scholar
Fortson, Benjamin W., IV
2003 An approach to semantic change. In Brian D. Joseph & Richard D. Janda (eds.), The handbook of historical linguistics. 648–666. Oxford: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fynes-Clinton, Osbert Henry
1913 The Welsh vocabulary of the Bangor district. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hale, Kenneth, Laverne Masayesva Jeanne & Paula M. Pranka
1991 On suppletion, selection, and agreement. In Carol Georgopoulos & Roberta Ishihara (eds.), Interdisciplinary approaches to language. 255–270. Dordrecht: Kluwer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
[ p. 163 ]
Heath, Jeffrey
1981 Basic materials in Mara: Grammar, texts and dictionary (Pacific Linguistics C-60). Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar
Hemon, Roparz
1975 A historical morphology and syntax of Breton. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.Google Scholar
1959–1979 Geriadur istorel ar brezhoneg/Dictionnaire historique du breton. Rennes: Preder.Google Scholar
Hippisley, Andrew, Marina Chumakina, Greville G. Corbett & Dunstan Brown
2004 Suppletion: Frequency, categories and distribution of stems. Studies in Language 28(2). 387–418. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, Philip & Ian Hinchliffe
2013 Swedish: A comprehensive grammar, 3rd edn. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jackendoff, Ray
1991 Parts and boundaries. Cognition 41. 9–45. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, Kenneth
1953 Language and history in early Britain. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Jarman, Alfred O.H.
(ed.) 1982 Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Jenkins, Daniel
(ed. and trans.) 1986 The law of Hywel Dda. Llandysul: Gomer.Google Scholar
Jørgensen, Anders R.
2012 Plural suppletion in adjectives: The case of the plural of Breton and Cornish bihan “little”. Paper presented at the Workshop on Building Blocks of Breton Grammar, Philipps University of Marburg, 26–27 April 2012.
Juge, Matthew L.
1999 On the rise of suppletion in verbal paradigms. In Steve S. Chang, Lily Liaw & Josef Ruppenhofer (eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society. 183–194. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Linguistics Society.Google Scholar
Jurafsky, Daniel
1996 Universal tendencies in the semantics of the diminutive. Language 72(3). 533–578. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Karlsson, Fred
2015 Finnish: An essential grammar, 3rd edn. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kelly, Fergus
1997 Early Irish farming: A study based mainly on the law-texts of the 7th and 8th centuries AD (Early Irish Law Series 4). Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.Google Scholar
Latham, Ronald E., David R. Howlett & Richard K. Ashdowne
(eds.) 1975–2013 Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British sources. Oxford: British Academy. ( DMLBS )Google Scholar
Lewis, Charlton T. & Charles Short
(eds.) 1897 A Latin dictionary founded on Andrews’ edition of Freund’s Latin dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, Henry & Jean R.F. Piette
1966 Llawlyfr Llydaweg Canol (diwygiedig), 3rd edn. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Linnard, William
1979 Trees in the law of Hywel (Pamphlets on Welsh Law). Aberystwyth: Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies.Google Scholar
2000 Welsh woods and forests: A history. Llandysul: Gomer.Google Scholar
Ljunggren, Karl Gustav
1944 Adjektiven liten och små . Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi 58. 47–61.Google Scholar
Maiden, Martin
2004 When lexemes become allomorphs: On the genesis of suppletion. Folia Linguistica 38(3–4). 227–256.Google Scholar
2014 Two suppletive adjectives in Megleno-Romanian. Revue Romane 49(1). 32–51. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mel’čuk, Igor A.
1976 On suppletion. Linguistics 170. 45–90.Google Scholar
1994 Suppletion: Toward a logical analysis of the concept. Studies in Language 18. 339–410. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Nance, R. Morton
1990 Gerlyver noweth Kernewek-Sawsnek ha Sawsnek-Kernewek. Redruth: Dyllansow Truran.Google Scholar
Norris, Edwin
(ed. and trans.) 1859 The ancient Cornish drama, vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
[ p. 164 ]
Nurmio, Silva
2015 Studies in grammatical number in Old and Middle Welsh. Cambridge: University of Cambridge dissertation.Google Scholar
Nurmio, Silva & David Willis
2016 The rise and fall of a minor category: The case of the Welsh numerative. Journal of Historical Linguistics 6(2): 297–339. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Nurmio, Silva
2017 Collective nouns in Welsh: a noun category or a plural allomorph? Transactions of the Philological Society 115(1). 58–78. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
OED Online
Oxford: Oxford University Press. www​.oed​.com (4 March 2016).
Padel, Oliver
1979–1980 Miscellania Cornica. Studia Celtica 14–15. 233–245.Google Scholar
Parry-Williams, Thomas Herbert
1932 (ed.). Canu rhydd cynnar. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Pedersen, Holger
1909 Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen, vol. 1. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.Google Scholar
Phillips, Manon
2000 Defod a moes y llys. In T. M. Charles-Edwards, Morfydd E. Owen & Paul Russell (eds.), The Welsh king and his court. 347–361. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Pokorny, Julius
1959 Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, vol. 1. Bern: Francke.Google Scholar
Schrijver, Peter
2011a Middle and Early Modern Breton. In Elmar Ternes (ed.), Brythonic Celtic-Britannisches Keltisch: From medieval British to Modern Breton. 359–429. Bremen: Hempen Verlag.Google Scholar
2011b Old British. In Elmar Ternes (ed.), Brythonic Celtic-Britannisches Keltisch: From medieval British to Modern Breton. 1–84. Bremen: Hempen Verlag.Google Scholar
Schumacher, Stefan
2011 Mittel- und Frühneukymrisch. In Elmar Ternes (ed.), Brythonic Celtic-Britannisches Keltisch: From medieval British to Modern Breton. 85–235. Bremen: Hempen Verlag.Google Scholar
Sihler, Andrew L.
1995 New comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sims-Williams, Patrick
2003 The Celtic inscriptions of Britain: Phonology and chronology, c. 400–1200 (Publications of the Philological Society 37). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Ternes, Elmar
2011 Neubretonisch. In Elmar Ternes (ed.), Brythonic Celtic-Britannisches Keltisch: From medieval British to Modern Breton. 431–529. Bremen: Hempen Verlag.Google Scholar
Thomas, Alan R.
2000 The Welsh dialect survey. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Thomas, Peter Wynn
2006 Gramadeg y Gymraeg, 3rd edn. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
(eds.) 1950– Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru. Cardiff: University of Wales Press (2nd edition from 2003–, ed. Gareth A. Bevan & Patrick J. Donovan, www​.geiriadur​.ac​.uk [4 March, 2016]). (GPC).
(eds.) 2013 Electronic dictionary of the Irish language. www​.dil​.ie. (4 March, 2016). (eDIL) .
Veselinova, Ljuba N.
2006 Suppletion in verb paradigms: Bits and pieces of the puzzle (Typological Studies in Language 67). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Watkins, T. Arwyn
1961 Ieithyddiaeth: Agweddau ar astudio iaith. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Williams, Nicholas J.A.
2011 Middle and Late Cornish. In Elmar Ternes (ed.), Brythonic Celtic-Britannisches Keltisch: From medieval British to Modern Breton. 237–357. Bremen: Hempen Verlag.Google Scholar
Willis, David
2009 Old and Middle Welsh. In Martin J. Ball & Nicole Müller (eds.), The Celtic Languages, 117–160. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
2014 Maintaining the historical directionality of syntactic change in numeral phrases. Paper presented at the 16th Diachronic Generative Syntax Conference, Research Institute for Linguistics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, 3–5 July 2014.[ p. 165 ]
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Kim, Ronald I.
2019. Suppletive Stem Distribution: A Diachronic Perspective. Transactions of the Philological Society 117:3 ► pp. 455 ff. Crossref logo
Nurmio, Silva
2019. Grammatical Number in Welsh: Diachrony and Typology. Transactions of the Philological Society 117:S1 ► pp. 1 ff. Crossref logo
Plank, Frans & Nigel Vincent
2019. Suppletion: Questions for History and Theory. Transactions of the Philological Society 117:3 ► pp. 319 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 01 december 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.