Gender and numeral classifiers in Modern Nepali and their Proto-Indo-European analogues
2020 ◽
Vol 5
(1)
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pp. 475
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Proto-Indo-European (PIE) had two grammatical genders (common and neuter); the feminine was a shared innovation of the non-Anatolian part of the family. Using comparison with Modern Nepali, we argue that the puzzling feminine forms of the numerals ‘3’ and ‘4’ in Celtic and Indo-Iranian, and possibly also some similar constructions in Latin and Old Irish, are survivals of a system of numeral classifiers predating the full gender system. They contain the feminine element * s(o)r-, grammaticalized as a numeral classifier in PIE. A similar situation is attested in Nepali, where grammatical gender occurs alongside numeral classifiers. Analogies between numeral phrases in PIE and Nepali help elucidate the historical development in question.
Keyword(s):
2021 ◽
Vol 33
(1)
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pp. 122-146
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Keyword(s):
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2007 ◽
Vol 10
(3)
◽
pp. 239-256
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