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Article published In:
Approaches to Hungarian 18: Special issue of the Journal of Uralic Linguistics 2:1 (2023)
Edited by Donka F. Farkas, Gábor Alberti and Balázs Surányi
[Journal of Uralic Linguistics 2:1] 2023
► pp. 50–73

Associative plurals and their associates

An integrated approach to the nominal plural markers of Hungarian

ORCID logo | Eötvös Loránd University | Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics

This paper presents an integrated approach to the morphosyntax of the three nominal plural markers of Hungarian: multiplicative -k, possessive -i, and associative plural -ék. It explicates the relationship between the associative and multiplicative plural markers, and between the associative plural and the anaphoric possession marker -é. Central in the analysis proposed is the hypothesis that the marker -é consistently plays the role of a predicational relator formally licensing the silence of one of the two terms in the predication relationship that it mediates. The syntax underlying the associative plural involves an asyndetic coordination relation in which the content of a silent plural pronoun is specified by a complex noun phrase headed by the silent noun group. The analysis has im-plications for the syntax of number and demonstratives and for the licensing of silent nouns and pronouns.

Keywords: multiplicative plural, possessive plural, associative plural, anaphoric possessive, predication, asyndetic specification, silent nouns, pronouns, demonstratives
Article outline
  • 1.The aim and structure of this paper
  • 2.Number in possessive noun phrases
  • 3.Anaphoric possessive -é
    • 3.1Preamble: English anaphoric possessives
    • 3.2Hungarian anaphoric possessive -é
  • 4.Associative plural -ék
    • 4.1The -é of associative plurals as a relator licensing silent group
    • 4.2Asyndetic specification, with the pronoun as the second term
    • 4.3The locus of plural marking in associative plurals
    • 4.4The locus of the definite article in associative plurals
    • 4.5On the size of the subject of group
    • 4.6Associative plurals in oblique contexts
    • 4.7On licensing silence
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 19 June 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jul.00014.dik
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