Jak se počítají substantiva v češtině: poznámky ke kategorii čísla
How to count nouns in Czech: Remarks on the category of number

Summary/Abstract: The present contribution deals with the grammatical category of number in Czech nouns. On the basis of empirical investigation, we propose the introduction of a new semantic distinction within the forms of nouns, namely the distinction of a simple quantitative meaning versus a pair/group meaning. There are nouns in Czech that typically refer to a pair or to a (commonly encountered) group of entities, not merely to a large amount of these entities (e.g. <i>ruce</i> ‘arms’, <i>vlasy</i> ‘hair’, or <i>sirky</i> ‘matches’). These nouns are combined with set numerals rather than with the basic ones. In the paper, we argue that the above mentioned subcategorization is grammaticalized. A brief outline of the expressions of the pair/group meaning in Czech as compared to some other languages (German, English, Slavonic) is also provided.

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