Plurality and Its Syntactic Realization

This paper discusses the differences between classifier and non-classifier languages in describing the plurality of NPs/DPs, but aims to disclose the universal principle based in the concept of plurality in both types of languages. We claim that all the common nouns/nominals are basically plural and can be regarded to be equivalent to mass nouns in the lexicon, and that the behavior of numeration is realized differently in syntax between the classifier and non-classifier languages. Classifier and non-classifier languages differ in their syntactic realization of plurality, but it is true that both types of languages contain mass nouns. Mass nouns can be checked for their singularity/plurality, though they may indicate the indivisible material as a whole. In other words, mass nouns can also be counted by means of partitives, such as a glass of, a kilo of, a sheet of, and others. Therefore, we claim that all nouns are mass/plural in the lexicon. Countability is the realization of the feature <div> in Borer (2005)’s term.