Similative meaning of the plurality marker in the Komi language

Introduction: the marker of the additive plural in the Komi language has a number of peripheral meanings. The article is devoted to the analysis of the comparative interpretation of the numerical indicator. Objective: to identify and describe the conditions under which the plural marker expresses similative meaning. Research materials: Komi Language Corpus and audio- and video-recordings contained in the Komi Media Library. Results and novelty of the research: the study showed that in the Komi language, a similative interpretation appears when forming an indicator of the plural of proper names – personal (anthroponyms) and non-personal (toponyms, names of works of art, literature, etc.). Common nouns marked with the same indicator rarely allow a similative interpretation. A symmetric multiplicity can be semantically superimposed on an additive one, as a result of which the same form will simultaneously have both interpretations. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time groups of nouns in the plural form have been identified that allow for a similative interpretation. The results obtained can be used in the typological study of ways of expressing a similative multiplicity.

grammatical number · Komi language · numerical indicators · Personal Names · place names · plural markers · proper names · Ugric languages · Linguistics and Cultural Studies · Linguistics and Language Studies · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation