Number

STUB

Number is an inflectional dimension used on countable referring expressions to designate the number of referents concerned. Languages differ as to how number is categorized. The most common distinctions are between singular, dual, paucal and plural.

Synonyms

• cardinality (though this generally refers to the purely semantic level, while number designates an inflectional category)

Polysemy

The term number is also commonly used (non-technically, and not quite accurately) in the sense of numeral.

Inflectional categories

• singular
• plural
• dual
• trial
• quadral
• paucal
• singulative
• plurative
• general number, transnumeral

Reference

• Corbett, Greville G. 2000. Number. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Other languages

French nombre (fr) German Numerus