Typological category of plurality

1.8 Typological category of plurality

The system of grammatical forms expressing grammatical degree (number) is termed (called) the category of plurality. This category. In comparing languages the formants indicating this category are usually added to the stem of nouns (or pronouns). WE should distinguish the logical number (degree) and grammatical number. From the logical point of view proper nouns usually denote a single thing or a person. e.g.: John, Собир, London, Тўйтепа, etc. The common nouns are used to denote common type of things, of course, logically more than one.

As we know that the category of plurality denotes more than oneness of things, people or phenomena. Grammatically it can be based in English on the opposition of `zero morpheme and the suffix – s, – en, and root changing abilities of some nouns: i.e. – s, – en, in Uzbek it is based on the opposition of zero morpheme and suffix – лар, i.e. – лар. Among the parts of speech this category is distinguished grammatically by nouns, pronouns and verbs. In comparing languages this category may also be denoted lexically by numerals. (i.e. two, fifteen, thirty, thousand‑иккт, ўн беш, ўттиз, минг) Numerals are not used in the grammatical plural forms because in the plural form they became substantive zed i.e. they become nouns (икктлар, олтичилар).

It should be kept in mind that there are languages having `dual` and `trial` numbers pronouns – ic-wif-we where wit denoted a dual number)

Plurality of nouns. Uzbek nouns and pronouns usually denote this number by means of suffix – лар (eg: одам – лар, муттаҳам-лар) Which can sometimes be used also to denote respect to a person who is spoken about. e.g.: Дадамлар келдилар. (But you have to keep in mind that you can’t have mote than one father).

English nouns can express the notion of plurality in the following ways:

a) by means of suffixes:

– s, – es (wife-wives, head-heads)

– en (ox-oxen, child-children, brother-brotheren);

– a datum-data, sanatorium-sanatoria, phenomenon-phenomena) etc.

b) by changing the root vowel (man-men, goose-geese)

Plurality of verbs The English verbs can denote the notion of plurality in the following ways:

a) by opposing the finite verbs in the third person singular to the other forms with zero morpheme: live-s live#

b) by means of suppletive forms of auxiliary verbs:

am, is-are; was-were; have-has-had;

The Uzbek verbs usually express plurality by means of the following suffixes:

a) – лар (келди) лар;

б) – миз, – сиз, – гниз, дилар (бора-миз, келадилар);

с) – ш, – иш (кел-ишди);

This category can be expressed by means of personal pronouns in both languages; Cl.: I-we; me-us; he/she/ it-they; In Uzbek:мен-бизж сен-сизлар; у-улар.

Lexically this category may be expressed in both languages with the help of numerals. e.g.: anmy-қзниш, dual‑иккилик, majority‑кўпчилик, family‑оила, pair‑жуфт, double‑икки (лантирилган), etc.

Plurality can sometimes be expressed by means of prepositions (between, among‑орасида, ўртасида)_adverbs (arm-in-arm‑йўлланилиб), indefinite pronouns (some‑бир неча, анча, бироз), verbs (join-қўшилмоқ бирлашмоқ, gathe‑тўпламоқ), get together – йиғилиқ unite – бирлашмоқ) also by quantitative markers (two-seater, many staged, two-storeyed): and in Uzbek (кўпхад, қўшариқ, учкўприк).

2.9. Typological category of person

The category of person should be dealt with in close connection with the category of number (plurality). Because in the languages of Indo-European family these categories are expressed by one and the same morpheme simultaneously i.e. a morpheme denoting number at the same time expresses person as well. For instance, in Latin the morpheme-n+ in such forms as amant, habent, Legunt, amabant, habebunt, etc. expresses simultaneously the third person and the plural number.

In the comparing languages the category of person is a characteristic feature of pronouns and verbs. They (languages) make distinction between the three classes of personal pronouns denoting respectively the person(s) spoken to (the second person) and the person(s) (or things) spoken about (the third person).

singular plural

1‑person-the speaker the speaker and same other people

2‑person-a person spoken to more than one people spoken to

3‑person-a person of a thing spoken about some people or things spoken about

The category of person in verbs is represented by the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd person and it expresses the relations between the speaker, the person or people spoken to and other person or people spoken about. However this system doesn’t hold good for the modern English verb and this is for two reasons:

1) there is no distinction of persons in the plural number. Thus the form live may within the plural number be connected with a subject of any person e.g.

you} live

we

they

2) there is no distinction of numbers in the 1‑and 2 – person. Thus the form «live» in these person may refer to both one and more than one subject. Thus the opposition all other persons expresses relation of the 3^rd with any person of both numbers i.e. stem-s \ stem – i. The marked member of the position differs greatly from that of imparked in form and in meaning, It should be kept in mind that in the Subjunctive mood that form «live» denotes any person of both numbers.

The ending ‘s’ having four meanings to express simultaneously is of course a synthetic feature standing rather by itself in the general structure of Modern English.

There a special subclass of the English verbs which do not fit into the system of person and number described above and they must be treated separately both in a practical study of the language and in theoretical analysis. They are called modal verbs ‘can, may, must’ etc. Being delective verbs they do not admit any suffix to their stem and do not denote any person or number and usually accompany the notional verbs in speech giving them additional meanings of notions as ability permission, necessity or obligation etc.

The verb «be» has a system of its own both in the present indicative and in the past

There is own more special class of the English verbs called impersonal verbs. Having the suffix – s in the third person singular of the present simple they do not denote any person or thing as the doer of the action. Such verbs usually denote natural phenomena such as to rain, to hail to snow to drizzle, to thunder, to lighten, to warm up, e.g. it often rains in autumn. It is thundering and lightening.

The personal system of the Uzbek verbs is as follows

In Uzbek we have no the so called modal verbs and impersonal verbs as it is understood in English or Russian (дождит, смеркается, темнеет, похолодало). The functions of the modal verbs are performed in Uzbek by means of the adjectives such as зарур, керак, даркор, лозим etc. As to the impersonal verbs in Uzbek we use the so called impersonal verbs which are combined only with one and the nouns denoting the names of natural phenomena, such as кор, ёмгир, дул, etc. e.g.: Ёмгир ёгади, чакмок чакди.

Dealing with the category of person attention must be to the use of the pronominal forms in transposition. The value of such 'metaphors' may be traced in many modern languages. The first to be mentioned in English is the use of the personal pronouns 'we, you, they' in patterns where they are synonymous with the formal generic 'one' which denotes anyone who occurs in a definite situation. Semantically it corresponds to the Uzbek generic words as 'одам, киши, инсон. e.g.:

You (we) don ' (know what to do in such a situation.

One doesn’t know what to do in such a situation.

Бундай холатда нима килишингни билмайсан киши

Инсон зоти борки яратгани унутиб фарзанди томон интилади.

The so called 'editorial 'we’ (Lat. plural is modestial) is well for instance, as used in many modern languages by authors of scientific papers, monographs or articles in newspapers, etc. The pronoun 'we' is commonly used in proverbs, e.g.:

We shall see what we shall see.

We never know the value of the water till the well is dry,

Kuduq qurimaguncha (ariqdan oqqan) suvni qadrini bilmaymiz

Compare the Uzbek proverbs which are also addressed to anyone who appears in a situation, e.g.

Nima eksang shuni o’rasan.

Sar qdrini zargar biladi.

Bilib turib bilmaslikka olamiz.

Expressive affect of great subtlety will be found in the use of the pronoun 'we' in such examples;

‘I say’ said Hurstwood, as they came up the theatre lobby, we are exceedingly charming this evening.

'How do we feel today?' said the doctor facing the patient.