Lexical Numbers in Spanish Nouns: With Reference to Their English Equivalents [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512817102

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Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns With Reference To Their English Equivalents

by

JAMES E. IANNUCCI Professor oj Romance Languages St. Joseph's College Philadelphia

UNIVERSITY OF P E N N S Y L V A N I A

Department of Romance Languages PHILADELPHIA 1952

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

A Publication of the Series in ROMANCE LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES, EXTRA SERIES, No. 12

To

B. W I L L I A M S , whose searching analysis of the problems of bilingual lexicography suggested the subject of this study.

PROVOST E D W I N

TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

Pane VII

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SOURCES OF S P A N I S H E X A M P L E S W I T H ABBREVIATIONS

VIII

INFORMANTS

VIII

IX

PREFACE

].

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

HISTORY- OF T H E

PROBLEM

1

FORMAL D I S T I N C T I O N S IN E N G L I S H A M I S P A N I S H

IS

TYPES OF M A S S - N O U N S AND COUNTABLKS

24

COUNTERS

4S

TYPES OF D I S A G R E E M E N T B E T W E E N S P A N I S H AND W I T H R E S P E C T TO L E X I C A L N U M B E R

ENGLISH 55

CONCLUSION

69

INDEX

73

OF WORDS

BIBLIOGRAPHY Abraham, R. D., and Yamamoto, S. Japanese Conversaphonc. New York, 1950. Aristotle. Metaphysics. . Topics. Behaghel, Otto. Deutsche Syntax. Vol. I. Heidelberg, 1923. Beinhauer, Werner. Spanische Umgangssprache. Berlin and Bonn, 1930. Bello, Andrés, and Cuervo, Rufino José. Gramática de la lengua castellana. Buenos Aires, 1945. Bloch, Bernard, and Jorden, Eleanor. Spoken Japanese. Washington, 1945. Bloomfield, Leonard. Language. New York, 1933. Boas, Franz. Handbook of American Indian Languages, P a r t I. Washington, 1911. Bourciez, E. Eléments de linguistique romane 3rd ed. Paris, 1930. Brunot, F. La pensée et la langue 3rd ed. Paris, 1936. C asares, Julio. Introducción a la lexicografía moderna. Madrid, 1950. Coffey, P. The Science of Logic, Vol. I. London, 1918. Curme, George O. A Grammar of the English Language, Vol. I l l : Syntax. Boston, 1931. . A Grammar of the German Language. New York, 1922. Damourette, Jacques, and Pichón, Edouard. Des mots à la pensée, essai de grammaire de la langue française, Vol. I. Paris, 1911-1927. Einstein. Albert, and Infield, Leopold. The Evolution of Physics. New York, 1938. Fernández, Salvador. Gramática Española. Madrid, 1951. Forrest, R. A. D. The Chinese Language. London, 1948. (jili y Gaya. Samuel. Curso Superior de Sintaxis Española. México, D. F., 1943. Guillaume, Gustave. Le problème de l'article et sa solution dans la langue française. Paris, 1919. Hall, Robert A. Melanesien Pidgin English. Baltimore, 1943. Huidobro, Eduardo de. ¡Pobre Lengua! 3rd ed. Santander, 1915. fannucci, James E. "Gemination of Initial Consonants and its Semantic Function in Neapolitan," Romance Philology. II (1948-49), 237-239. Jespersen, Otto. Linguistica. Copenhagen, 1933. . A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, Vol. II. Heidelberg, 1927. . The Philosophy of Grammar. New York. 1924. Kany, Charles E. American-Spanish Syntax. Chicago. 1945. Keniston. Hay ward. The Syntax of Casti I iati Prose: the Sixteenth Century. —. Spanish Syntax List. New York, 1937. . "Verbal Aspect in Spanish," Hispania, X I X (1936), 163-176. Lang. H. R. - T h e Collective Singular in Spanish," PMLA, I (1886), 133-148. I.r>gan, Conrad T. "The Plural of Uncountables." American Speech, X V I (1941), 170-175. Marouzeau, J. Lexique de la terminologie linguistique. Paris, 1943. Meyer-Lübke, \V. Grammaire des langues romanes, Vol. I I I : Syntaxe. Paris, 1900. Osgniach, Augustine J. The Analysis of Objects. New York, 1938. Palmer, H. E. A Grammar of Spoken English. Cambridge, 1939. Reichenbach, Hans. Elements of Symbolic Logic. New York, 1947. Russell. Bertrand Human Knoivledac. Its Scope and Limits. New York, 1948. vu

Sansoni, G. B. An Historical Grammar of Japanese. London, 1928. Sapir, Edward. Totality. Language Monograph VI, 1930. Sweet, Henry. A New English Grammar. Oxford, 1892. Tobler, Adolf. Vermischte Beiträge sur französischen Grammatik, Vol. II. Leipzig, 1894. Valdes, Juan de. Diälogo de la lengua, Ed. Clasicos castellanos. Madrid, 1946. Venn, John. The Principles of Empirical or Inductive Logic. I-ondon, 1889.

SOURCES OF SPANISH EXAMPLES WITH ABBREVIATIONS BEN BUR CON

Jacinto Benavente. Lo increíble. Madrid, 1940. Jacinto Grau. El burlador que no se burla. Madrid, 1930. Azorín (José Martínez Ruiz). Las Confesiones de un pequeño filósofo. Madrid, 1920. Serafín and Joaquín Alvarez Quintero. Cristalina in Teatro Completo. Vol. XXIX. Madrid, 1928. José Ortega y Gasset. Estudios sobre el amor, 5th ed. Madrid, 1944. Serafín and Joaquín Alvarez Quintero. Mi hermana v yo in Teatro Completo, Vol. XXIX. Madrid, 1928. Ramón Gómez de la Sema. El incongruente. Madrid, 1922. Pió Baroja. Las inquietudes de Shanti Andia. Madrid, 1920. Ricardo León. Cristo en los infiernos. Madrid, 1941. Serafín and Joaquín Alvarez Quintero. Concha la limpia in Teatro Completo, Vol. XXIX. Madrid, 1928. Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. La maja desnuda. Valencia, 1919. Concha Espina. El más fuerte. Madrid, 1947. Armando Palacio Valdés. La novela de un novelista. Madrid, 1946. Carranque de Ríos. La vida difícil. Madrid, 1935. Vox, Diccionario General Ilustrado de la Lengua Española. Barcelona, 1945. (Page reference is given after the abbreviation. Examples from VOX are given after the entry.)

CRI EST HER INC INQ LEO LIM MAJ MAS NOV VID VOX

INFORMANTS

INF INF INF INF INF

1 2 3 4 5

All of the informants are native Spaniards now residing in the United States. All speak standard Castilian as their1 native tongue. All have had various periods of residence outside of Spain. Professor of Spanish, 41 yrs. old. Residence in Spain: Madrid, Barcelona. Instructress in Spanish, 38 yrs. old. Residence in Spain : Madrid. Lawyer, 41 years old. Residence in Spain: Madrid. Physician, 50 yrs. old. Residence in Spain: Bilbao, Old Castile, Madrid. Housekeeper, 43 yrs. old. Residence in Spain: León. Madrid. viu

PREFACE In the use of singulars and plurals the relationship between form and meaning is the same in English and Spanish in the vast majority of cases. However, in a great number of instances this relationship is different in the two languages. Very often for the same notion Spanish uses a plural where English has a singular as in bodas : marriage (cf. Eng. nuptials), bigotes : moustache, narices : nose, buenas noches : good night, guía de teléfonos : telephone book, relámpagos : lightning, consejos : advice. Less frequently an English plural is translated by a Spanish singular as in pants : pantalón, people : gente, oats : avena, wits : juicio, fireworks : fuego artificial, measles : sarampión, se ponen el sombrero : they put on their hats. The rationale behind these various examples of disagreement in number between the two languages is, of course, not the same in all cases. For example, bodas belongs to a group of nouns de noting festivities or ceremonies which are used exclusively or most frequently in the plural, a practice which goes back to Classical Latin and is reflected in the English learned word nuptials. In bigotes : moustache, narices : nose, and pants : pantalón we have examples of the class of objects composed of two identical or similar parts. These fluctuate between singular and plural in both languages. In guia de teléfonos : telephone book we have the English rule of using the stem form (which is normally the same as the singular) in the prior elements of compound noun expressions whether logic demands a singular or not. The Spanish plural greetings like buenas noches have been explained as being used at first to address more than one person. 1 In se ponen el sombrero : they put on their hats we have the Spanish distributive use of the singular. In relámpagos : lightning and consejos : advice we have a special type of disagreement which can only be explained by the little-known and less-used distinction between 'mass-noun' and 'countable.' 2 That is, the Spanish noun names an individual component of the mass (countable) while the English noun names the whole class en masse (mass-noun). These categories have been clearly defined by the great Danish linguist. 1 W. Meyer-Liibkc, Grammaire des langues romanes, Vol. I l l : Syntaxe 1900), § 32.

(Paris,

2 J. Marouzeau, Lexique de la terminologie linguistique (Paris, 1943) which records linguistic terminology in English, French and German, does not include any of the various terms for these categories which have been used by such scholars as Leonard Bloomfield, Edward Sapir, Otto Jespersen, Otto Behaghel and others.

IX

Preface

X

Otto Jespersen.3 The present study is an investigation of this last type of disagreement in number between English and Spanish. To my knowledge such a comparative study of number on a purely synchronic basis has never been made between any two languages. The task, therefore, involves the devlopment of a technique for investigating the problem. The method developed here can be applied to the comparative study of any two languages in which the category of grammatical number in nouns is recognized. In some languages, like Chinese, Japanese, and some American Indian languages which do not distinguish between singularity and plurality, the problem does not arise or at least does not arise in the same way. But between any two languages which distinguish singularity and plurality in nouns there must necessarily be some examples of disagreement. Two languages which are not related historically and between which there has been little cultural relationship (Turkish and English, for example) would naturally be expected to show a greater amount of disagreement. English and Spanish, both being Indo-European languages and having had close cultural ties, would be expected to reveal comparatively less disagreement in this feature. The problem is primarily a semantic one. The English singular lightning must sometimes be translated by the Spanish plural relámpagos because the two words are not entirely identical in meaning. They differ clearly with respect to one feature, namely, what we might call their inner notion of number. The precise meaning element can be isolated and brought into greater relief if we consider pairs of synonyms of which one is a countable and the other is a mass-noun. Laugh and laughter are entirely synonymous except for the fact that laugh is a countable and laughter is a mass-noun. Cf. machine : machinery, cough : coughing, leaf : foliage, trip : travel and Spanish máquina : maquinaria, pluma : plumaje, persona : gente, rama : ramaje, ola : oleaje, término : terminología. Bilingual dictionaries do not always deal adequately or consistently with this semantic element and sometimes leave it entirely out of account. Since in various constructions mass-nouns behave differently from countables, the problem also involves some syntactical considerations. For example, in English a singular noun used in the generic sense requires the definite article if it is a countable but not if it is a mass-noun while in Spanish both types of nouns require the definite article in this use, e. g., la vaca es un animal dómestico : the cow is a domestic animal but el oro es un metal precioso : gold is a precious metal. Moreover, since 3

Otto Jespersen, The Philosophy

of Grammar

(New York. 19243. cq. 198-201.

Preface

xi

it is sometimes difficult to determine by meaning alone whether a given noun is a mass-noun or a countable, such syntactical criteria are frequently helpful. Aside from general considerations of methods of investigation, of syntax, and of lexicographical technique, the problem is not primarily one of general linguistic structure. Although there is, of course, some connection between objective reality and the notion of number in the names of things, one cannot predict with certainty whether the name of a given thing in a given language will be a mass-noun or a countable. Some things by their nature seem to be more appropriately expressed by mass-nouns, while for other things the countable type of noun seems to be the more suitable expression. Thus, we expect the names of such things as water, wine, gold, wood to be mass-nouns because in these things no individual unit is easily perceptible to our senses, but for such things as tables, chairs, trees, books, we naturally expect a countable name because the individual unit is clearly perceptible. But between such extremes there are many things such as hair, grass, shrubs, rice, grapes, treasure, fire, etc. which could lend themselves equally well to expression as mass-nouns or as countables because on the one hand it is convenient to refer to such things in the mass, losing sight of the constituent units, and on the other hand the unit is clearly enough defined to be named as an individual. It is precisely in this broad intermediate zone that we may expect to find t-xamples of disagreement between any two languages. It is clear, therefore, that the problem is, in the main, one which concerns individual words, and this shows its fundamentally lexicological nature. The Spanish examples from literary sources were obtained from prose works written in Spain not earlier than 1900. In the choice of these works authors with a very personal or unusual style were avoided. Other examples were obtained orally from native Spanish informants. For the English equivalents native Americans were consulted in doubtful cases. The study is thus limited to the modern Spanish of Spain and the modern English of the United States. These examples are classified into different types. It will be seen that some types yielded more examples than others. Since the various classes were set up before examples were sought for systematically, the study also has some measure of statistical validity. In addition to its practical application in bilingual lexicography the present study has a pedagogical application in foreign-language teaching. The correct use of foreign nouns which differ from their English equivalents in their notion of number is made easier for the student if he understands the rationale behind it. In most foreign-language grammars the

xii

Preface

problem is relegated to the end vocabulary where it is no better treated than in bilingual dictionaries. Rarely does a foreign-language grammar give any special attention to the problem. The author wishes to express his gratitude to Provost Edwin B. Williams and Professor Carlos Claveria whose generous assistance helped to clarify a number of difficult problems. The deepest appreciation is also extended to the informants for their generosity and patience in supplying examples

I.

HISTORY OF T H E PROBLEM

The category of grammatical number in most languages is defined as the distinction between one (singular) and more than one (plural). This distinction is expressed formally by some morphological device (prefix, suffix, vowel modification, reduplication, etc.). No matter what morphological device is employed, its meaning is always the same, namely, "any number greater than one." Without the morphological device the noun carries with it the notion of oneness. This is on the level of the simplest arithmetic and involves very little difficulty either logical or linguistic. The formulas for singular and plural might be expressed very simply as N" and Nx respectively in which N stands for the substantive, and x stands for the morphological device whose meaning is "any number greater than one." The expression of number or quantity is not limited, however, to the use of singulars and plurals. The noun itself may carry with it a notion of number as an integral part of its meaning and independent of the grammatical number described above. We have good examples of this in collective nouns, i. e., nouns which denote a group of individuals thought of as a unit such as army, team, faculty, crowd, etc. From a purely logical point of view army is just as much a plural of soldier as soldiers, and faculty is just as much a plural of teacher as teachers. But the notion of plurality in soldiers and teachers is on an entirely different basis from the notion of plurality in army and faculty. In soldiers and teachers the plural notion is expressed grammatically while in army and faculty it is expressed lexically. This latter aspect of number will be termed 'lexical number' to distinguish it from grammatical number. A more fundamental distinction of lexical number is the distinction between mass-nouns and countables. The world of objective reality presents us with a great variety of things of different sizes, shapes, density, uses, etc. as well as phenomena of various kinds. Our names for all these things fall into two distinct classes. We may either name the class as a whole as in Eng. wheat, machinery, gold, salt, water, shrubbery; Span. arroz, agua, plata, maquinaria, arena (mass-nouns), or we may name an individual member of the class as in Eng. river, seed, machine, chair, shrub; Span, casa, puente, lago, máquina, hoja (countables). Here, again, machinery and shrubbery may be considered the logical plurals of machine and shrub. There is little or no difference in meaning between machinery and machines or between shrubbery and shrubs, but in machines and 1

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns

2

shrubs the notion of plurality is expressed grammatically while in machinery and shrubbery it is expressed lexically. This problem has engaged the attention of philosophers as well as linguists, and a great variety of terms have been invented for these two categories. As is to be expected, the philosopher is more interested in the nature of the thing, while the linguist is more interested in the name of the thing. Aristotle recognized the difference between these two categories in his discussion of the different senses of the term 'sameness,' but he considered the difference of little importance from a logical point of view: "Sameness would be generally regarded as falling, roughly speaking, into three divisions. W e generally apply the term numerically or specifically or generically— numerically in cases where there is more than one name but only one thing, e. g.. 'doublet' and 'cloak'; specifically, where there is more than one thing, but they present no differences in respect of their species, as one man and another, or one horse and another: for things like this that fall under the same species are said to be 'specifically the same'. Similarly, too, those things are called generically the same which fall under the same genus, such as a horse and a man. It might appear that the sense in which water from the same spring1 is called 'the same water' is somehow different and unlike the senses mentioned above: but really such a case as this ought to be ranked in the same class with the things that in one way or another are called 'the same' in view of unity of species. For all such things seem to be of one family and to resemble one another. For the reason why all water is said to be specifically the same as all other water is because of a certain likeness it bears to it, and the only difference in the case of water drawn from the same spring is this, that the likeness is more emphatic: that is why wc do not distinguish it from the things that in one way or another are called 'the same' in view of unity of species." 1

He approaches the distinction between mass-noun and countable somewhat closer in his Metaphysics where he treats the subject of quantity: " 'Quantum' means that which is divisible into two or more constituent parts of which each is by nature a 'one' and a 'this'. A quantum is a plurality if it is numerable, a magnitude if it is measurable. 'Plurality' means that which is divisible potentially into non-continuous parts, 'magnitude' that which is divisible into continuous parts; of magnitude, that which is continuous in one dimension is length, in two breadth, in three depth." 2

This has become a fundamental distinction in classical metaphysics. Augustine J. Osgniach, a modern metaphysician, defines the two kinds of quantity thus: 1 2

Topics, Book I, Chapt. 7. Metaphysics, Book Delta, Chapt. 13.

History

of the

Problem

3

"Since the essence of quantity logically consists in the measurability of corporeal substances, it follows that we must distinguish as many kinds of quantity as there are modes according to which we derive quantity from the unit, the latter being its principle and its measure. The parts constituting quantity may be added to the unit which is its principle in a twofold manner—that is, engendering two kinds of quantity, namely, discrete and continuous. Discrete quantity consists of parts actually distinct and each having its own boundary or extremities; it forms a whole whose unity is purely mental; in reality, it is a multitude or number, since its parts are actually distinct. Continuous quantity is made up of parts not distinct but so united to one another that the boundary of one is identical with that of the next." 3 It should be noted that the distinction made in metaphysics between continuous and non-continuous quantity does not correspond exactly to the distinction between mass-nouns and countables. B y definition, noncontinuous or discrete quantity is applicable only to countables, but continuous quantity, as it is defined here, can be applied to both mass-nouns and countables since the dimensions of a countable

(length,

breadth,

depth) must be considered continuous quantity. In the classification of terms some treatises on classical logic distinguish 'homogeneous' or 'substantial' terms as a special kind of common term offering certain logical difficulties: "The names of materials such as gold, water, air, salt, have been called "substantial terms". We may ask, are such terms general or singular, and do we employ them collectively or distributively? When they are used as predicates—which is not often—"This is gold; that is salt," etc.—their use is evidently distributive: they refer not to the one single collective heap of all that substancc (gold or salt) in existence, but to particular portions of it. When we employ them as subjects, the same is generally t r u e : we rarely if ever have in mind the otic single collection of all the existing material in question, but rather some or any portion of it: "Some water is unfit for drinking"; "Water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen" (i. e. any and every particle or portion of water) ; "Oil is lighter than water" (i. e. any definite quantity or volume of oil, compared with an equal volume of water). The terms are here general and distributive, referring to the portions as units. Moreover we can speak of different kinds of water, etc.—which would show that such terms are used as general and distributive. Still they do not take the indefinite article—we do not speak of o water—because, although distributive and general in the sense of referring to portions of the whole material, still each portion so 8

The Analysis

of Objects

(New York, 1938), pp. 192-193.

6

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns

which includes both 'a man' and 'men'."6 This means that all Japanese nouns are what we should call mass-nouns.7 Among the various linguists who have dealt with the problem of lexical number, Jespersen gives the clearest and soundest treatment of the subject, and it is his terminology which is used here. For mass-noun he also uses the terms 'mass-word' and 'uncountable'; for countable he also uses the term 'thing-word.' The term 'countable' seems to be preferable to 'thing-word' since the English word thing may refer to mass-nouns as well as to countables and therefore does not distinguish the two categories. He points out that both mass-nouns and countables may be material or immaterial and gives a few formal features by which mass-nouns are distinguished from countables in English: "In an ideal language constructed on purely logical principles a form which implied neither singular nor plural would be even more called for when we left the world of countables (such as houses, horses; days, miles; sounds, words, crimes, plans, mistakes, etc.) and got to the world of uncountables. There are a great many words which do no call up the idea of some definite thing with a certain shape or precise limits. I call these "mass-words"; they may be either material, in which case they denote some substance in itself independent of form, such as silver, quick-silver, water, butter, gas, air, etc., or else immaterial, such as leisure, music, traffic, success, tact, commonsense, and especially many "nexus-substantives" (see Ch. X ) like satisfaction, admiration, refinement from verbs, or like restlessness, justice, safety, constancy, from adjectives. "While countables are "quantified" by means of such words as one, two, many, few, mass-words are quantified by means of such words as much, little, less. If some and more may be applied to both classes, a translation into other languages shows that the idea is really different: some horse, some horses, more horses— some quick-silver, more quick-silver, more admiration: Q. irgend ein Pferd, einigc 6

An Historical Grammar of Japanese (London, 1928), p. 87. Franz Boas describes a similar lack of distinction of number in some American Indian languages : "While, according to the structure of our European languages, we always tend to look for the expression of singularity or plurality for the sake of clearness of expression, there are other languages that are entirely indifferent towards this distinction. A good example of this is the Kwakiutl. It Is entirely immaterial to the Kwakiutl whether he says, There is a house or There are houses. The same form is used for expressing both ideas, and the idea of singularity and plurality must be understood either by the context or by the addition of some special adjectives. Similar conditions prevail in the Athapascan languages and in Haida. In Siouan, also, a distinction between singularity and plurality is made only in the case of animate objects." See Handbook of American Indian Languages, P a r t I (Washington, 1911), p. 37. 7

History

of the

Problem

Pferde, mehr (mehrere) Pjerde (Dan. jlere heste)—etwas Quecksilber, mehr Bewunderung (Dan. mere beundring) ."8

7 Quecksitber,

mehr

Jespersen does not discuss the relationship between lexical number and the distinction between abstract and concrete, but his examples seem to show that abstract nouns would fall under the category of immaterial mass-nouns. Leonard Bloomfield obtains similar categories as a result of a formal analysis of English noun expressions based upon the use and non-use of determiners; he uses the terms 'unbounded nouns' and 'bounded nouns' for mass-nouns and countables respectively. He uses the term 'mass noun' as a sub-class of 'unbounded noun.' Thus, Bloomfield's 'mass noun' has a more limited application than Jespersen's 'mass-noun.' The following is Bloomfield's classification: I. Names (proper nouns) occur only in the singular number, take no determiner and are always definite: John, Chicago. The class meaning is 'species 01 object containing only one specimen.' Here and in what follows, space forbids our entering into details, such as the class-cleavage by which a name occurs also as a common noun, in cases like homonymy (two Johns, this John) ; nor cari we take up sub-classes, such as that of river names, which are always preceded by the (the Mississippi). II. Common nouns occur in both categories, definite and indefinite. The class meaning is 'species of object occurring in more than one specimen.' In th( plural number they require a determiner for the definite category (the houses) but not for the indefinite (houses, corresponding to the singular form a house) A. Bounded nouns in the singular number require a determiner (the house a house). The class meaning is 'species of object occurring in more thai one specimen, such that the specimens cannot be subdivided or merged:' B. Unbounded nouns require a determiner for the definite category only (tin milk : milk). The class meaning is 'species of object occurring in mor< than one specimen such that the specimens can be subdhnded or merged. 8 Otto Jespersen, The Philosophy of Grammar (New York, 1924), p. 198 In this same work (p. 240) Jespersen describes briefly a number of interestinf formal distinctions which are made in the Germanic languages. A particularly interesting one is found in the south-western dialects of England. These dialect distinguish between mass-nouns and countables in their forms of the demonstrative adjectives. ThJease 'this' and thik 'that' are used only with countables while thi and that are used only with mass-nouns. He gives the examples: Come unde thease tree by this water and Goo under thik tree an sit on that grass. Further more, the pronoun referring to countables is he for the nominative and en for th accusative, but for mass-nouns the pronoun is it. In German, Danish and th dialects of Jutland he observes a tendency for mass-nouns to pass over to the neute gender. In Danish the neuter forms of adjectives of quantity are used with mass nouns even where these in other respects are of the common gender.

8

Lexical Number In Spanish

Nouns

1. Mass nouns never take a and have no plural (the milk : milk). The class meaning is that of B with the added proviso that the specimens 'exist independently.' 2. Abstract nouns in the indefinite singular without a determiner include all the specimens (life is short) ; with a determiner and in the plural, the specimens are separate (a useful life; nine lives). The class meaning is that of B with the proviso that the specimens 'exist only as the demeanor (quality, action, relation) of other objects.'9

In Bloomfield's classification of common nouns, A and B correspond exactly to our countables and mass-nouns respectively. He attempts to go further, however, in establishing two sub-classes of unbounded nouns (mass-nouns) on a purely formal basis (the use and non-use of determiners). The class meanings which he gives for these two sub-classes indicate that they represent the well-known distinction between concrete nouns and abstract nouns. He distinguishes them formally by the fact that his 'mass nouns' never take a and have no plural while his 'abstract nouns' are used in the indefinite singular without a determiner as well as with a determiner and in the plural. But if his 'abstract nouns' are used with a determiner and in the plural, they do not differ formally in this use from his 'bounded nouns.' There is no formal difference between a useful life, nine lives and a useful tool, nine tools. Since he says that his 'abstract nouns' are also used in the indefinite singular without a determiner (i. e., as mass-nouns), he implies that his 'abstract nouns' regularly function as both mass-nouns and countables. In the case of his 'mass nouns' he does not admit the possibility of their being used with a determiner and in the plural (i. e., as countables). Thus, Bloomfield's formal distinction between 'mass nouns' and 'abstract nouns' means nothing more than that class-cleavage is not normal with 'mass nouns' (i. e., concrete mass-nouns) whereas with 'abstract nouns' (i. e., abstract mass-nouns) it is regular. This is certainly incorrect for we find class-cleavage occurring just as frequently with concrete mass-nouns as it does with abstract mass-nouns. Examples of class-cleavage in concrete mass-nouns are very numerous: hair, straw, seed, paper, fire, iron, cork, muscle, bone, cloth, cake, cheese, etc. On the other hand, examples of abstract mass-nouns which do not permit class-cleavage are certainly not rare: anger, laziness, patience, impatience, treason, sanctity, constancy, faithfulness, redness, etc. Thus, Bloomfield does not succeed in showing that the distinction between concrete mass-nouns and abstract mass-nouns is reflected in 9

Leonard Bloomfield, Language

(New York, 1933), p. 205.

History

of the

Problem

9

English by any formal distinction on the basis of the use and non-use of determiners. His distinction is a purely semantic one and does not belong in a classification based upon formal criteria. 10 Edward Sapir finds it necessary to distinguish between mass-nouns and countables in his study of expressions of totality. He uses the terms indefinitely massed' and 'individualized' to describe mass-nouns and countables respectively: " S o far we have been considering whole-part existence without reference to whether or not they have an assignable structure. Existence may be conceived of either as having structure, e. g., the tabic, the land belonging to X, the cheese formed into a definite object, or as not having structure, e. g., the wood as material, the land extending indefinitely, the cheese thought of as food r a t h e r than as shaped. T h e f o r m e r type may be called 'individualized', the latter 'indefinitely massed'. In many languages these t w o types of objects tend to be differently totalized. "In English, totality of an individualized object tends to be expressed as in 'the ichole table', 'the n'hole land w a s a n n e x e d ' ; and totality of an indefinitely massed object as in 'all the milk has turned sour', 'all t h e land was inundated'. Observe that such t e r m s as 'the whole of the land' ( t y p e 3) and 'all of the land' i type 2) apply only to individualized objects. T h e all of indefinitely massed objects is particularly suited to such abstract entities as 'talk', e. g.. 'all the talk is unnecessary'. 'The whole talk' necessarily refers to a limited discourse (type 1), all of the talk' to a potentially divided discourse with sections or time-measured parts (type 2). 'during the whole of the talk' t o a discourse conceived of as a cumulative unit (type 3 ) . E x i s t e n t s which are logically aggregates, such as 'piled up wood', may metaphorically be conceived of as indefinitely massed objects, hence 'all the wood', r a t h e r than 'all the pieces of wood' collectivized into 'the whole file of wood. " 11

In his discussion of number in German nouns Otto Behaghel observes that the singular can express a 'begrenzte Vorstellung' or a 'nicht begrenzte Vorstellung.' He assumes these terms to be self-explanatory since he does not give any definition or further explanation. As examples of 'begrenzte Vorstellungen' he gives such words as Bismarck, Volk, Mann, Land, Gebirge, Kugel, Ernte, Tod, Jahr, Herbst. For 'nicht begrenzte Vorstellungen' he gives such examples as Menschheit, Vieh, Reiterei, Blut, Eisen, Staub, Hafer, Obst, Licht, Regen, Härte, Schönheit. Judging by his terms 10 It is interesting t o note that this abstract-concrete distinction, which we have inherited f r o m classical logic, h a s enjoyed a v e r y active life in the w o r k s of g r a m m a r i a n s in spite of t h e fact that languages almost never distinguish formally between the t w o categories. " E d w a r d Sapir, Totality ( L a n g u a g e Monograph V I , 1930). p. 11.

Lexical Number

10

In Spanish

Nouns

and his example it is safe to assume that he is distinguishing here between mass-nouns and countables. 12 In the Romance field several scholars have found it necessary to formulate the distinction between mass-nouns and countables to explain various linguistic features. Gustave Guillaume finds the category of lexical number more appropriate than other categories in describing the syntax of the French article. His terms, 'nom continu' and 'nom discontinu' (probably borrowed from philosophy), correspond to mass-noun and countable respectively: "Le différent caractère de leur extension est le trait qui frappe à première vue lorsqu'on examine les noms en dehors de tout contexte. Considérés dans l'espace, les uns se dessinent au regard de l'esprit comme des points qui se répètent discontinûment ; par example : table. Les autres, au contraire, semblent s'étendre d'une manière continue ; ex. : justice. Ainsi, immédiatement, on aperçoit deux grandes catégories de noms : continus et discontinus. Les premiers tendent vers l'article d'extension {le, la) ; les seconds vers l'article ponctuel (un). C'est en portant ce principe de distinction parmi les noms de diverses espèces qu'on obtiendra une distinction appropriée à la théorie de l'article. La classification ordinaire ne saurait suffire : car, dans les catégories qu'elle pose, on trouve à la fois des noms discontinus et des noms continus."18 Ferdinand Brunot emphasizes the importance of the category of lexical number. His terms are 'non nombrable' for mass-noun and 'nombrable' for countable: "Une distinction très importante pour le language, et qu'on ne fait guère est celle-ci. Il y a des choses qui se comptent, ce sont les choses nombrables : des lits : cent lieues; vingt nuits; dix grammes; s'il y en a plusieurs, ce sont plusieurs unités. "Il y a d'autre part des choses qui se divisent en parties, comme le plomb, le vin, la soupe. D'une quantité donnée de soupe on fait des portions : assiettées, cuillerées, etc., non des unités. Ce sont là les choses non nombrables. "Mais, comme nous le verrons, les choses non nombrables deviennent très facilement nombrables. Il y a bien des soupes et bien des vins. Un même nom sera tantôt un nom de choses nombrables, tantôt un nom de choses non nombrables ; ex. : un gâteau. Acheter trois gâteaux (nombrables) ; donnez du gâteau à ces enfants (non nombrable)." 14 12 13

Otto Behaghel, Deutsche Syntax, Vol. I (Heidelberg, 1923), § 339. Gustave Guillaume, Le problème de l'article et sa solution dans la langue française (Paris, 1919), § 22. H. E. Palmer uses similar English terms in his "logical classification of nouns." He distinguishes "nouns of continuous quantity" from "nouns of discontinuous quantity." See A Grammar of Spoken English (Cambridge, 1939), § 66. Henry Sweet speaks of "continuous quantity" as opposed to "discrete or broken quantity" in his discussion of English quantitative pronouns. See A New English Grammar (Oxford, 1892), § 232. 14 F. Brunot, La pensée et la langue, 3rd ed. (Paris, 1936), p. 95

of the

History

11

Problem

Further on he observes that the French partitives du and de la are limited to use before mass-nouns only: "Le

français

partageable manger

et

s'est

créé

une f o r m e

non nombrable.

Elle

pour

exprimer

n'existait

pain signifiait aussi bien manger

du pain

est impossible a u j o r d ' h u i de dire : donnez-moi saires devant les

noms

du pain;

viande."15

de la

de choses

non

pas

une

dans

que manger

z-iandc,

iwtiibrab/es,

portion la

d'une

vieille

chose

langue,

un pain,

où

t a n d i s qu'il

et que du, de la sont nécesqui, tous, sont du singulier :

Damourette and Pichon observe that Latin distinguished clearly between 'substances nombrières' (countable) and 'substances massières' (mass-nouns), and they give a few formal features by which Latin distinguished the two categories: " L e latin n'avait p a s encore réalisé, d a n s l'ordre linguistique, la synthèse de l'idée de quantitude.

E n e f f e t , il

distinguait

deux

ordres

de

substances,

qu'il

traitait de façon tout à fait d i f f é r e n t e a u point de v u e d e l ' e x p r e s s i o n de la quantité i m m é d i a t e : les premières, que nous a p p e l l e r o n s substances espèces

substantielles

essentiellement

décomposables

nombrières,

en individus.

boeuf. A celles-ci seulement le latin donnait une e x p r e s s i o n

étaient les E x . : bas,

flexionnelle

un

d e quanti-

t u d e : elles seules avaient r é g u l i è r e m e n t un singulier et un p l u r i e l : bas, boves; seules, surtout, prenaient la série d e s t r u m e n t s tot, secondes, que nous appellerons substances individus;

elles

n'avaient

d'ordinaire

quot,

multum,

multi,

elles

etc.

Les

m a s s i è r e s , ne se décomposaient pas en que

le

nombre

prenaient une a u t r e s é r i e de s t r u m e n t s de quantitude, /'aulum,

pauci,

singulier: tanlum,

aurum.

quantum,

Elles parum.

etc. suivis du g é n i t i f . ' 1 0

French, however, according to Damourette and Pichon, freed itself from this limitation of Latin and substituted a system of aspect (putation) whereby any noun in the language can be conceived of as a massnoun (putation massive) or as a countable (putation numérative): " I l faut bien pourtant que soit

marquée

la d i f f é r e n c e entre la

considération

d'une q u a n t i t é - m a s s e et la c o n s i d é r a t i o n d'un n o m b r e . Ceci est le rôle, en f r a n ç a i s , d'un autre répartitoire, qui n'a pas, c o m m e la blocalité, d ' e x p r e s s i o n m a i s une e x p r e s s i o n s t r u m e n t a l e : le r é p a r t i t o i r e de putation. m a s s i v e , on d i s t i n g u e seulement mouton.

s'il y a d e

la s u b s t a n c e

Dans

flexionnelle, la

considérée.

putation E x . : du

D a n s la putation n u m é r a t i v e , l'espèce substantielle est considérée c o m m e

d e c o m p o s a b l e en individus : un

mouton,

des

moutons.

La

putation m a s s i v e

ne

connaît donc la substance q u e d a n s s a blocalité continue;' la putation n u m é r a t i v e seule connaît les d e u x blocalités, continue et

discontinue.

Op. cit., p. 110. J a c q u e s D a m o u r e t t e et E d o u a r d Pichon, Des mots à la pensée, grammaire de la langue française. V o l . I ( P a r i s , 1 9 1 1 - 1 9 2 7 ) , § 296. 15

16

essai

de

12

Lexical

Number

In Spanish

Nouns

"Le grand avantage du système français sur le système latin, c'est que le répartitoire de putation, intervocabulaire en latin (des substances nombrières comme bos s'opposant à des substances massières comme aurum), y deviennent intravocabulaire (un boeuf, du boeuf; un bois, du bois). Toutes les espèces substantielles peuvent être conçues sous l'un et l'autre aspect : les substances originellement nombrières peuvent se présenter sous l'aspect massif (de la poire ; du boeuf ; acheter du franc, bouffer du curé, faire de la bicyclette, etc.) ; les substances originellement massières prennent de même l'aspect numératif (un verre, des faïences, des ors éteints, les lins les plus réputés, les cuilres d'un orchestre) par divers mécanismes que nous étudierons au chapitre V ; enfin, comble de souplesse, les substances originellement les plus nombrières peuvent, à partir de leur aspect massif, se reformer un numératif ayant pour base une nouvelle unité singulative." 1T T h i s new and superior feature of the French language is reiterated several times and contrasted to the crude and inflexible Latin expression of lexical number: "Grâce à ces nouveaux répartitoires, la langue a pu renoncer à l'ancienm division des substantifs en massiers et en nombriers, que le français le plus ancien avait héritée du latin, et qui n'était basée que sur une conception grossière du monde extérieur. En français moderne, toute substance peut être envisagée d'un point de vue ou de l'autre. C'est à dire que, par le répartitoire de putation, elle peut être estimée, dans l'ordre de la quantitude, suivant deux systèmes différents : ou bien l'on donne une indication sur la grandeur globale de la masse de substance que l'on prélève sur la totalité de la substance de l'espèce donnée (putation massive) ; ou bien l'on fournit un renseignement sur le nombre des individus que l'on prélève dans l'ensemble de cette espèce, conçue comme décomposable en unités particulières (putation numéraliir)."18 and further on: "De tout ceci, ce qu'il importe de retenir, ce qui marque l'extrême souplesse, l'intelligente adaptabilité de la langue française, c'est qu'il n'est pas de substance nominale que le français ne puisse concevoir dans l'une ou l'autre putations." 1 '-' All these statements are supported b y a b u n d a n t examples of French nouns which can be used both as mass-nouns and as countables such as gâteau, verre, pain, doute, etc. and even such unusual examples as acheter du franc, bouffer du curé, faire de la bicyclette, etc. T h e use of encrier as a mass-noun is considered a very extreme example: "Mais arrivons au cas le plus pur, le plus général et le plus malaisé en apparence, celui où les parties de l'unité organisée n'ont aucune spécifité, le cas. 17

Op. cit., § 297. !» Op. cit., § 339. i» Op. cit., § 350.

History oj the Problem

13

par exemple, d'un encrier. Dans ce cas même, la langue sait passer au massif : elle sait que ce qui caractérise ici l'espèce substantielle, c'est la finalité qui régit l'ordonnance des parties de l'unité ; quelque forme qu'il ait, de quelque manière qu'il soit fait, l'encrier est toujours un encrier; un locuteur hardi dirait très expressivement de l'encrier pour désigner une masse de choses propres à recevoir de l'encre, bien que dans cette masse chaque unité soit indivisible sous peine de sortir de l'espèce substantielle." 20

Now, the very fact that the case of encrier used as a mass-noun is admittedly 'malaisé," and the speaker who uses such a form is admittedly 'hardi" shows that violence is being done to the normal patterns of the French language. It is a well-known fact that striking or jocular effects may be obtained by violating the normal patterns of a language. For example, an extremely fat man having trouble getting into a telephone booth might exclaim in English, "There isn't enough telephone booth here for me!" This does not make telephone booth a mass-noun, nor can we say that in English a telephone booth can normally be conceived of as a mass-noun. It is the very violence done to English pattern which lends a jocular element to such an expression. Likewise, the French speaker who uses de l'encrier in the way Damourette and Pichon suggest is considered "hardi" precisely because he is doing violence to the normal and accepted French pattern. A French speaker would indeed have to be "hardi" to say such things as: il y a du livre dans la bibliothèque; il m'a envoyé de la fleur; j'ai reçu un argent; il y a du nuage dans le ciel; je vais écrire de la lettre ; elle m'a donné du conseil, etc. Damourette and Pichon give the impression that Latin had no flexibility whatsoever in the expression of lexical number and that it possessed no nouns at all which could function both as mass-nouns and as countables. They give only two examples of Latin nouns: bos as an example of an exclusively countable noun and aurum as an example of a noun used exclusively as a mass-noun. But aurum, besides meaning 'gold' (massnoun), also means a 'gold coin,' and in this meaning it is certainly a countable. Many Latin nouns denoting names of materials are used also as countables to denote objects made of that material, e. g., aes 'bronze' (mass-noun) and aera 'bronze statues or figures' (countable). Latin abstract mass-nouna are often used as countables to denote instances of a quality, e. g., ignorantia 'ignorance' (mass-noun) and ignorantiae 'cases or instances of ignorance' (countable). It would be very easy to find 20

Op. cit., § 350.

14

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns

hundreds of Latin nouns which are used both as mass-nouns and as countables. At best, it may be true that French has acquired greater flexibility in the expression of lexical number than Latin had. This, however, would have to be proved statistically. One would have to show that French possesses more nouns which function in both ways than Latin. Furthermore, the French examples would have to be limited to those from literary sources because that is the only kind we have for Latin. Spoken colloquial language tends to deviate more freely from accepted norms than literary language. If spoken colloquial Latin were accessible to us, we might ñnd as much flexibility in the expression of lexical number as Damourette and Pichón are able to show in French. The statements of Damourette and Pichón give an entirely false picture of both Latin and French in the matter of lexical number. Those French examples which are admittedly "malais^" (and hundreds more could be added) show that French does not possess the complete flexibility which they claim for it. On the other hand, they have simply closed their eyes to the fact that Latin has numerous nouns which function both as mass-nouns and as co un tables. Furthermore, turns of expression which are "malaisés" or which might be spoken by a "locuteur hardi" are more properly studied under the heading of stylistics, and even here they would represent the most extreme liberties which can be taken. To lump such considerations together with the description of basic normal patterns is to confuse the picture of the true structure of a language. Andrés Bello and Ruñno J. Cuervo give very brief treatments of lexical number in Spanish. Both these scholars limit their distinction to material nouns, and neither of them attempts to define the formal features by which mass-nouns are distinguished from countables in Spanish. Bello uses the terms 'cosas dividuas' and 'individuos' for mass-nouns and countables respectively: "Los apelativos de cosas materiales ó significan verdaderos indiiñduos, esto es, cosas que no pueden dividirse sin dejar de ser lo que son, como árbol, mesa; ó significan cosas que pueden dividirse hasta el infinito, conservando siempre su naturaleza y su nombre, como agua, oro, plata. Los de la primera clase tienen casi siempre plural, los de la segunda no suelen tenerlo sino para denotar las varías especias, calidades ó procedencias; y en este sentido se dice que Espoña produce excelentes vinos, que en Inglaterra se fabrican buenos paños, las sederías de China. Dícese asimismo los azogues, las platas, los cobres, para denotar los productos de varias minas, ó los surtidos de estos artículos en el mercado. Hay con todo

History of the Problem

15

muchos nombres apelativos de cosas dividuas, que aun sin variar de significado admiten plural, y así se dice, los aires de la Cordillera, las aguas del Tajo."21

Cuervo appends the following note: "Hay denominaciones que se aplican á un conjunto de granos ó partecillas menudas, como trigo, cebada, avena, mijo, centeno, anís, mostosa, polvo, arena; y para denotar una sola de las partes es preciso valerse de expresiones como un araño de trigo, de arena; hay otras que propiamente designan cada grano ó parte, como garbanzo, comino, arveja, guisante, aceituna, ladrillo, y se dice en plural, t/arbanzos, aceitunas, ladrillos. Pero á menudo se confunden las dos categorías usándose en singular los últimos para denotar el conjunto de granos, frutas ó la materia de que se hace algo. "Si mucho tiempo está el acetuna por labrar, menéenla de un cabo á otro" (Herrera, Agrie, gen. III, 35). "Almendra, nuez y avelana va de España (á América) para gente regalada" (Acosta, Hist. nat. y mor. de las Indias, IV, 31). "Solía decir (Augusto) que la ciudad de Roma era antes de ladrillo y que él la había hecho de mármol" (Mariana, Hist. Esp., IV, l ) . " 2 2

The present writer found the category of lexical number formally distinguished in a rather unusual way in Neapolitan. In this dialect the initial consonants of masculine mass-nouns are regularly geminated after the definite article o and after a few other proclitic forms such as the demonstrative adjectives sto 'this' and and so 'that.' Thus we have o ppanc the bread.' o mmele 'the honey,' o ccafé 'the coffee,' o ssale 'the salt," o llatte 'the milk,' o mmeglio 'what is best' with geminated initial consonants for mass-nouns but o prevete 'the priest,' o sole 'the sun,' o frate the brother,' o mare 'the sea,' o lupo 'the wolf' with the initial consonants unaffected for countables. This distinction is further extended to direct object pronouns. A verb following the masculine singular direct pronoun 0 regularly has a geminated initial consonant if the antecedent of this pronoun is a mass-noun, a clause, or is indefinite. If the antecedent is a countable, the initial consonant of the verb remains unaffected. Thus we have o voglio 'I want it (or him),' o tengo 'I have it (or him),' o vede he sees it (or him)' when the antecedent is a countable but o vvoglio 1 want it,' o ttengo 'I have it,' o vvede 'he sees it' when the antecedent is a mass-noun, a clause, or is indefinite. The curious limitation of this feature to the masculine gender seems to point to a spread of the neuter forms ILLUD or ILLU' HOC as the definite article for all masculine 21 Andrés Bello y Rufino J. Cuervo, Gramática de la lengua castellana (Buenos Aires, 1945), § 123. I have not had time to examine carefully a very recent treatment of lexical number in Spanish in Salvador Fernández, Gramática Española < Madrid, 1951), § 94. 22 Note 14.

16

Lexical Number In Spanish

Nouns

mass-nouns. The first step may have been the use of the neuter article with substantivized adjectives as in o mmeglio, o ddoce, o bbello (cf. Span. 10 < ILLUD in lo hermoso). Although Neapolitan orthography shows a geminated initial consonant for the following noun or verb, the better linguistic analysis would be to consider the definite article o and the direct object pronoun o as being followed by a consonant (probably derived from the d of ILLUD or the c of ILLU' HOC) which is regularly assimilated to the initial consonant of the following noun or verb. We should then have a distinctive form of the definite article for mass-nouns and the same form for the direct object pronoun when its antecedent is a mass-noun, namely, o plus a consonant. The proof of the fact that the geminated consonant does not belong to the mass-noun lies in the fact that when a mass-noun is not preceded by the proclitic forms o, so, or sto, its initial consonant is not geminated, e. g., no poco e pane 'a bit of bread,' chieno e sale 'full of salt,' no piezzo e sapone 'a piece of soap.' 23 In his discussion of the dialectal forms of the definite article in Italy E. Bourciez gives the following description of what seems to be a similar distinction in Abruzzese: "Le fait le plus notable, c'est que par là, au sud des Marches, à l'ouest de l'Ombrie, au sud du Latium et dans les Abruzzes. 11 existe une distinction de principe entre un masc. lu (illum) et un neutre lo (représentant peut-être *illu' Aoc),qui s'affaiblit en le dans les Abruzzes. Ainsi, à Ascoli, la forme neutre s'emploie avec les infinitifs ou les adjectifs substantivés, lo durtni "le dormir", lo granne "le grand" (cf. à Agnone dans les Abruzzes leo vuone,o ' leo bielleo "le bien,y le beau",' mais ru fuokro 1

"le feu") ; de plus cet article s'applique exclusivement à certain noms comme lo seme "la semence", tandis que pour d'autres il y a une différence entre lo pelso "le poisson en général" et lu pesïu "tel poisson particulier." 24 The situation described here seems to indicate a distinction between mass-nouns and countables with lo or le used for mass-nouns and lu or ru for countables. Infinitives and substantivized adjectives are special types of mass-nouns, and these are described as taking the neuter forms of the article lo and le. The special use of lo and te with "certain nouns like lo seme" seems to point to the category of mass-nouns. Furthermore, with regard to the noun pesso and its variant pessu, the translation "le poisson en général" seems to describe a mass-noun, and the translation "tel poisson particulier" seems to indicate a countable. Judging from this one example 23 J. E. Iannucci, "Gemination of Initial Consonants and its Semantic Function in Neapolitan," Romance Philology, II (1948-1949), 237-239. 24 E. Bourciez, Eléments de linauistiaue romane. 3rd ed. (Paris. 1930), § 435.

History

of the

Problem

17

the distinction may also be marked by the final vowel. It would also be interesting to discover whether the distinction is limited to masculine nouns as it is in Neapolitan. A further investigation of this feature in the light of the distinction mass-noun versus countable would certainly help to clarify the matter. This brief historical sketch shows that the category of lexical number, far from being a purely semantic or logical distinction, is abundantlv recognized and formally marked in various languages. A number of linguists have found it necessary to formulate this distinction, apparently independently of each other, to explain various features of different languages: Bloomfield to explain the use and non-use of determiners in Knglish noun expressions. Sapir to explain expressions of totality, Brunot to explain the French partitive, Guillaume to define the syntax of the French article, the present writer to explain gemination of the initial consonants of Neapolitan nouns and verbs. It is also evident from the foregoing that there has been little communication of ideas on this problem among the various linguists who have dealt with it. The very fact t h a t so many linguists have found it necessary to formulate the distinction independently shows its importance in the study of language. A glance at the following outline will show the great variety of terminology which has been used: Mass-Xoun continuous homogeneous term substantial term mass-word mass-noun uncountable unbounded nouns indefinitely massed nicht begrenzte Vorstellung non nombrable nom continu substance massiére putation massive cosa dividua nombre de sustancia

Countable discontinuous discrete

(metaphysics, Palmer, Sweet) (logic)

countable thing-word

(Jespersen)

bounded nouns individualized begrenzte Vorstellung

(Bloomfield) (Sapir) (Behaghel)

nombrable nom discontinu substance nombriere putation numerative individuo nombre de cosa

(Brunot) (Guillaume) (Damourette and Pichón) (Bello) (Fernández)

II. FORMAL DISTINCTIONS IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH In dealing with the history of the problem of lexical number we have seen various ways in which this category is distinguished formally in different languages. Although we may not find such thorough-going distinctions as those found in Neapolitan or in the south-western dialects of England, any language which distinguishes between singularity and plurality must necessarily distinguish lexical number in some way. Since the distinction between mass-nouns and countables is essentially a distinction in the way of viewing number or quantity in things, we may expect these categories to be marked formally in the various constructions which involve notions of number or quantity such as the uses of singulars and plurals, the definite and indefinite articles, adjectives of quantity and various other expressions of quantity. Some of the formal distinctions in English have been treated by Jespersen. 1 To my knowledge there has been no attempt to define the formal distinctions for Spanish. In this chapter we shall not be concerned with exceptions of a general or stylistic nature. For these exceptions see pp. 43-47. A. T H E

DISTINCTION

FORMALLY

MARKED IN

ENGLISH

1) The indefinite article and the plural Since the indefinite article and the plural both imply counting, their use is normally restricted to countables. We say a horse, horses; a book, books; an idea, ideas; a jump, jumps but not a fun, funs ; a rubbish, rubbishes; a baggage, baggages; a patience, patiences; a singing, singings. (For exceptions see pp. 43-45.) 2) Adjectives of quantity with singular nouns In the singular the quantitative adjectives much, more, less, enough, some 'of unspecified quantity,' little 'of small quantity* can be used only with mass-nouns.2 We say muck money, more sugar, less tea, enough patience, etc. but not much day, more book, less tree, etc. Some in the sense of 'a certain' and little in the sense of 'small' are used only with countables. In English nouns which have both a mass meaning and a 1 A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles. Vol. II (Heidelberg. 1927), §§ 5.212-5.213. 2 T h e forms more and enough were formerly limited to use with mass-nouns only, while the variants mo and enow were used with plural countables. Thus a distinction was made between mass quantity and numerical quantity by using different words for the t w o concepts. For examples see Jespersen, op. cit.. §§ 2.74-2.75.

18

Formal Distinctions

in English

and Spanish

19

countable meaning this double function of some and little gives rise to certain ambiguities. We bought a little cheese can mean 'we bought i small quantity of cheese' or we bought a small cheese.' He was guilty oj a little injustice can mean he was guilty of an injustice of little importance' or 'he was guilty of injustice to a small degree.' He was looking jor some paper can mean 'he was looking for an unspecified quantity of paper' or 'he was looking for a certain paper.' We may say here that the meaning of the adjective is determined by the notion of number in the noun. Note that the two meanings of little are distinguished in Spanish by two different words: poco 'oj small quantity' used with mass-nouns and pequeño small in size' used with countables. 3) Adjectives of size Adjectives of size like big and small are normally inapplicable to massnouns because mass-nouns do not denote things with a precise shape or definite limits. Thus, expressions like big gold, big wine or small gas, small water do not normally occur in English. 4) The generic singular Both mass-nouns and countables may be used in the singular in the generic sense, but mass-nouns so used are not preceded by any article whereas countables so used must be preceded by the definite article. Thus we have gold is more precious than silver; honesty is the best policy with no article for mass-nouns but the horse is a domestic animal; the automobile had not been invented with the definite article for countables. 1 Spanish makes no corresponding distinction in the generic singular. In Spanish both mass-nouns and countables require the definite article in this use, e. g., el azúcar es dulce; la justicia triunfará with mass-nouns and la zorra es celebrada por su astucia; los intereses del obrero with countables. The much-used rule that the definite article is required in Spanish before nouns used in a general sense, abstract nouns, names of materials, etc. has nothing to do with any distinction made in the syntax of the Spanish definite article. We are dealing here with a fact of English 3 We find two interesting exceptions in the nouns man and woman. Although these two nouns function in every other way as countables, in the generic singular they are regularly used without any article, e. g., man is mortal, woman was created after man. This dots not represent a conversion to mass-nouns for none of the other formal criteria can be applied. We do not say what man!, such man, enough woman, etc. The explanation probably lies in the fact that these nouns show a partial conversion to the status of proper nouns. This use of man may have developed through the association with God, i. e., in the frequent juxtaposition of Cod and man. The corresponding use of woman may have developed similarly through its association with man.

20

Lexical Number In Spanish

Nouns

syntax, not Spanish. Since Spanish does not distinguish mass-nouns, countables, abstract nouns, names of materials, etc. in the expression of the generic, it is unnecessary to make statements about these categories. The rules presented in many grammars for the use of the Spanish definite article which involve such categories are simply attempts to caution the English-speaking student against using the English rule in Spanish. They have no relevancy for the syntax of the Spanish definite article. It would be better to say simply that the definite article is always used in Spanish when the noun is taken in the generic sense. As a note of caution one could then point out the English distinction between the generic use of mass-nouns and countables and also the fact that when a plural noun is used generically in English, it is not preceded by any article. 5) What (a)!, such (a) 4 English exclamations introduced by what regularly require the indefi nite article before singular countables and omit it regularly before massnouns, e. g., what a book!, what a story!, what a week!, with countables but what milk!, what cleverness!, what nonsense! with mass-nouns. Spanish makes no corresponding distinction and this is the reason for such mistakes as the following on the part of Spanish speakers of English: uhat a beautiful weather!, what a nonsense!, what a traffic! or what book!, what big man!, what good idea! The former may be ascribed to ultracorrection and the latter to ignorance of the English construction with the indefinite article. Likewise such is used exclusively with mass-nouns and such a exclusively with countables. (This distinction applies only when such is used in the meaning 'of this or that kind, character, or degree.' When such is used in the meaning 'this or that (one) which has been or is being stated,' the indefinite article is never employed, e. g., such member will be obliged to conduct the meeting.) Thus we have such wheat, such speed, such haste with mass-nouns but such a newspaper, such a novel, such an occurrence with countables. Here again, because Spanish makes no corresponding distinction, we hear similar mistakes, e. g., such an advice, such a news, such a weather or such woman, such flower, such idea. When we teach our students of Spanish that the indefinite article must be omitted with tal and qué, we are revealing a feature of English syntax, not of Spanish. Note the difference in meaning between what noise! and what a noise!, 4 In English these constructions may be considered extensions of the rule concerning the indefinite article. They are treated separately here because they contrast with the corresponding Spanish constructions.

Formal Distinctions

in English and

Spanish

21

i.1hat effort! and what an effort, such abuse and such an abuse, such difficulty and such a difficulty, such injustice and such an injustice. These are all examples of English nouns which have both a mass meaning and a c ountable meaning. The presence or absence of the indefinite article determines which meaning is being used. T h e equivalent Spanish nouns ruido, esfuerzo, abuso, dificultad, injusticia also have both meanings, but it is impossible to distinguish the two meanings with tal and qué. 6)

Anaphoric one, ones

Anaphoric one and ones occur regularly only after adjectives modifying countables, while no anaphoric form is employed after adjectives modifying mass-nouns, e. g., the blue book and the yellow one, the small shirt and the big one, the difficult problems and the easy ones with countables hut old wine and new, damp sand and dry, Spanish grammar and English with no anaphoric form for mass-nouns. Again we find no similar distinction in Spanish. Note, for example, that la gramática española y la ¡iglesa must sometimes be translated by Spanish grammar and English and sometimes by the Spanish grammar and the English one depending upon whether gramática is to be understood as a mass-noun or as a countable. 7)

Expressions of totality

Totality can be expressed in English by the whole only with countables. We say the whole city, the whole affair, the whole chapter with countables, but not the whole sand, the whole air, the whole applause, the whole fun, the whole ignorance with mass-nouns. (Occasionally we find whole used with mass-nouns as in whole milk, but the meaning here is not 'all of the milk' but 'milk from which none of the constituents has l^een removed." Cf. also whole wheat.) All and all ( o f ) the, however, are used both with mass-nouns and with countables: all admiration, all the water, all of the applause with mass-nouns and all the house, all the book, all of the apple with countables. 5 8) Half a and half (of)

the

Half a is used only with countables while half (of) the may be used with both mass-nouns and countables, e. g., half an apple, half a story, half a pound with countables, but not half a honey, half a milk, half a justice with mass-nouns. With mass-nouns half (of) the must be used, •"'Cf. Edward Sapir, Totality

(Language Monograph VI, 1930), p. 11.

22

Lexical Number In Spanish

Nouns

e. g., half of the money, half of the honey, half the fun. Spanish makes a similar distinction in the use of medio and la mitad, de. 9) A great deal of, a good deal of, a lot of A great deal of and a good deal of are used only with mass-nouns, e. g., a great deal of sand, a great deal of patience, a good deal of sleep, a good deal of furniture with mass-nouns, but not a great deal of pennies, a great deal of dogs, a good deal of toys with countables. A lot of, however, is used with both mass-nouns and countables, e. g., a lot of wine, a lot of gossip, a lot of luggage, a lot of celery with mass-nouns, and a lot of boys, a lot of trees, a lot of ideas, a lot of problems with countables. B. T H E DISTINCTION

FORMALLY M A R K E D I N

SPANISH

1) The indefinite article and the plural As in English, the indefinite article and the plural can normally be used only with countables, e. g., un caballo, caballos; un árbol, árboles: un día, días; un problema, problemas. (For exceptions see pp. 43-45.) 2) Adjectives of quantity with singular nouns In the singular the quantitative adjectives mucho, poco, tanto, cuanto, más, menos, bastante, demasiado, alguno 'of unspecified quantity' are normally used only with mass-nouns e. g., mucho trigo, poco aire, tanto dinero, más agua, menos sal, etc. These adjectives are not normally used with singular countables such as mesa, hombre, cosa, ventana, etc. (For exceptions see pp. 45-47.) Note that alguno means 'of unspecified quantity' with mass-nouns, but 'a certain' with countables. Cf. algún dinero, de alguna duración with mass-nouns and algún hombre, algún pais with countables. 3) Adjectives of size Adjectives of size like grande and pequeño are normally inapplicable to mass-nouns because mass-nouns do not denote things with a precise shape or definite limits. Thus, expressions like tinta grande, aire grande, agua pequeña, vino pequeño do not normally occur in Spanish. 4) Medio (adj.) and la mitad de Medio is regularly used only with countables, but la mitad de is used with both mass-nouns and countables, e. g., media manzana, medio puro, media hora, media libra with countables, but not medio vino, medio aire, media sal. (Some exceptions may be found in stereotyped expressions like a media luz in which luz must be construed as a mass-noun.) La

Formal Distinctions

in English

and

Spanish

23

mitad de, however, is used with both categories, e. g., la mitad del azúcar, la mitad del oro, la mitad de la sal with mass-nouns and la mitad de la ciudad, la mitad de la manzana, la mitad del capítulo with countables. 5) Expressions of totality While todo el is used indifferently with mass-nouns as well as with countables (todo el oro, toda el agua; toda la casa, todo el día), entero tends to be restricted to use with countables only. We find la casa entera, el día entero, el país entero with countables but not el oro entero, el agua entera, la arena entera with mass-nouns. The negative pronoun of totality ninguno is used exclusively with countables, e. g., ninguno de los hombres, ninguno de los libros, ninguna de las puertas but not ninguna de la leche, ninguno del azúcar. Note that the corresponding English negative pronoun of totality none is used indifferently with mass-nouns as well as with countables, e. g., none of the milk, none oj the sugar with mass-nouns and none oj the men, none of the countries with countables. The etymology of none (ne 'not' plus an 'one') shows that at first its use must have been restricted to countables just as the use of Span, ninguno still is. 6) The neuter article lo The neuter article lo marks a special type of mass-noun in Spanish, the abstract substantivized adjective, e. g., lo necesario, lo bueno, lo trágico. This feature is not shared by the other Romance languages, but we find an example of it in the Neapolitan dialect where such substantivized adjectives are marked by gemination of the initial consonant after the definite article (see p. 16). The fact that there are fewer formal distinctions in Spanish makes it more difficult to determine whether a noun is a mass-noun or a countable in doubtful cases. For example, in a sentence like la lechuga está muy cara, it is impossible to determine whether lechuga is a mass-noun or a countable used in the generic singular. T h e English equivalent lettuce is very expensive, however, leaves no doubt regarding the lexical number of lettuce. It is clearly marked as a mass-noun by the absence of the definite article. Furthermore, the frequent use of abstract nouns in the plural (las iras del mar, un hombre de iniciativas) and the special uses of quantitative adjectives with singular countables as in mucho tipo extraño or mucho bigote make the task even more difficult.

III. TYPES OF MASS-NOUNS AND COUNTABLES What relationship does the category of lexical number bear to the traditional categories of nouns which have been used in both English and Spanish? We have seen (pp. 7-8) that in Bloomfield's classification of English noun expressions on the basis of the use and non-use of determiners, only common nouns are divided into mass-nouns and countables. Proper nouns fall outside the sphere of lexical number. Proper nouns are distinguished from both mass-nouns and countables by certain formal features, namely, that they normally "occur only in the singular number, take no determiner and are always definite." With a few minor differences such as the use of the definite article with a proper noun qualified by an adjective (la pequeña Lolita), these same formal features normally distinguish proper nouns in Spanish also. However, since the function of a proper noun is to distinguish one individual from other individuals of the same class, it is clear that only countables can acquire proper names. Moreover, when more than one individual of the same class bears the same proper name, the proper name becomes a common noun, and, of course, it always becomes a countable, never a mass-noun: There are several Cambridges in the United States. I have three Smiths in my class. Hay dos Guadalajaras, una en España y otra en Méjico. En esta lista hay cuatro Marinos. In a sense, mass-nouns have in themselves the rank of proper nouns since they name only one thing. Whereas house can apply to millions of individuals of the same class, gold applies only to one thing. For this reason, the device of giving a proper name would have no meaning in the case of mass-nouns. A close approximation to proper names for massnouns is found in certain products which bear the names of their places of origin, e.g., port, skerry, champagne, Camembert, calico, damask, etc. However, such names do not distinguish one individual from different individuals of the same class, but one variety from different varieties of the same thing. The position of collective nouns with respect to lexical number is of particular importance because collectives figure as a special class in the very scheme of lexical number. We have seen that both mass-nouns and collectives may be considered logical plurals although grammatically they may be singulars. Thus, in the English mass-nouns gesticulation, laughter, 24

Types

of Mass-Nouns

and

Countables

25

jewelry, foliage, shrubbery, scenery, lying, coughing we may see logical plurals respectively of gesture, laugh, jewel, leaf, shrub, scene, lie, cough. In the Spanish mass-nouns maquinaria, follaje, ramaje, oleaje, estriadura, terminología, viajar, gente we may see logical plurals respectively of máquina, hoja, rama, ola, estria, termino, viaje, persona. Likewise, in the collective nouns crowd, fleet, team, army, jury, faculty we may see logical plurals respectively of person, ship, player, soldier, juror, teacher. In the Spanish collective nouns ejército, boyada, perrada, cipresal, dentadura, caserío we may see logical plurals respectively of soldado, buey, perro, ciprés, diente, casa. The similarity, however, ends here. There is an important fundamental difference between these two types of logical plurals. Those which we have called mass-nouns denote unlimited aggregation ; those which we have called collective nouns denote an aggregation or collection with definite limits. The former imply no unit; the latter definitely imply a unit which can be pluralized. In a word, collectives behave exactly in the same way as countables, and they should be considered a sub-class of countables. Jespersen stresses this important distinction and urges a stricter definition of the term collective-. " T h o u g h m a n y g r a m m a r i a n s use t h e w o r d [xjssihlc—and

important—to give a logically

collcctivc

in a v e r y loose way, it is

consistent

meaning

to t h i s t e r m

if

we u n d e r s t a n d t h a t it is l o g i c a l l y the opposite of m a s s - w o r d , with w h i c h idea it is often confused: a

collecth'e

is l o g i c a l l y at t h e s a m e t i m e one and m o r e t h a n one.

it m e a n s a h i g h e r unit, but still a unit t h o u g h c o n s i s t i n g of m o r e than one,

and

as it is a unit, it is possible t o f o r m a n e w plural f r o m i t . ' ' 1

Of course, not all mass-nouns are confused with collectives. Such mass-nouns as wood, water, sand, sugar, air, patience, advice, treason, traffic, etc. never offer any difficulty in this respect. Although all of the above mentioned things could be analysed into units such as molecules, grains, drops, instances, etc., the units do not stand out sufficiently to make one think of such things as collections. The type of mass-noun which is often confused with collectives is the type which denotes clearly defined individuals, particularly heterogeneous individuals which may be designated by countable nouns in the same language, e. g., poultry (composed of chickens, ducks, geese, etc.), fruit (composed of apples, pears, peaches, etc.), furniture (composed of tables, chairs, beds, etc.), luggage (composed of trunks, valises, etc.), silverware (composed of knives, forks, spoons, etc.). The application of a few formal criteria will show that these are fundamentally different from such genuine collectives as navy, team, 1

Lingüistica

(Copenhagen,

1 9 3 3 ) . p. 332.

26

Lexical Number In Spanish

Nouns

nation, jury, committee. We say much luggage but not much committee: enough furniture but not enough team; what fruit! but not what jury.'-, on the other hand, we say a big navy but not a big silverware; the whole team but not the whole poultry; half a navy but not half a furniture. It is interesting to note that adjectives which denote size like big and small, when applied to genuine collectives, have reference to the number of individuals, not to their size. A big fleet is one which has many ships; the ships themselves may be either small or large. A small army is one which has few soldiers, not necessarily small ones. A big faculty is one which has many teachers, not necessarily big ones. On the contrary, when such adjectives of size are applied to mass-nouns which denote clearly defined individuals, they have reference, not to the number of individuals, but to their size. Big machinery is not equivalent to many machines but to big machines; Small jewelry is not equivalent to few jewels but to small jewels; Large luggage is not equivalent to many pieces of luggage but to large pieces of luggage or large trunks, valises, etc. Likewise, in Spanish ejército pequeño, pequeño has reference to the number of individuals, not to their size. In gente pequeña, however, pequeña has reference to the size of the individuals, not to their number. The reason for this is that adjectives of size like big and small are normally inapplicable to massnouns because mass-nouns denote things without putting any definite limits to them. (Eng. big air, small wine, large silk and Span, agua grande, tinta pequeña, aire pequeño do not make any sense.) It is only with massnouns which denote clearly defined individuals (i. e., those which are often confused with collectives) that such adjectives can be used, and here, by a curious shift, they come to be applied to the individuals rather than to the mass-noun as a whole. Superficially the lexical number of gente seems more akin to that of ejército than to that of agua. The above analysis, however, shows that the opposite is true. The distinction observed here in the semantic function of adjectives of size, together with the regular formal criteria by which mass-nouns are distinguished from countables, should make it easier to make the troublesome distinction between this special type of mass-noun and genuine collectives. Grammars and dictionaries frequently fail to distinguish these two types of nouns. Many Spanish grammars, for example, include gente among such examples of genuine collective nouns as ejército, marina, enjambre, multitud, tropa, turba, congreso, etc. We have seen above that the meaning of an adjective of size applied to gente distinguishes gente as a mass-noun rather than a collective. A few other formal criteria will

Types of Mass-Nouns and Countables

27

bear this out. Medio ejército is possible but media gente is not; el congreso entero is possible but la gente entera is not; dos multitudes is possible but dos gentes is not. Julio Casares sees no difference between gente and gentio except that gentío is a kind of augmentative of gente i tlGentío comparado con gente no hace más que aumentar el número de personas congregadas."2 He fails to see the difference in lexical number between these two words. Gentío may be used as a genuine collective (i. e., as a countable) while gente, as we have seen, can only be used as a mass-noun. If we apply the test described above, we find that in gentio enorme, enorme has reference to the number of individuals, not to their size as it does in gente enorme. (Note also the difference between ¡qué gentío.' and ¡qué gente! In ¡qué gentío!, qué has reference to the number of individuals while in ¡qué gente! it has reference to the kind.) We can lura!s in Spain seem to show that peninsular Spanish too is overrun with them, lüluardo de Huidobro is vehement in his disapproval of such plurals: ". . . hoy se emplean indebidamente en plural muchas palabras (los arrestos de su pluma, las cnergías de su voluntad, los entusiasmos de este discurso, las escudas constitucionales, etc.)" (p. 168) "Hoy nadie se contenta con decir energía, ni parece i¡ue esta palabra se pueda usar ya sino en plural. . . . ¿ P o r qué hemos de andar diciendo á cada paso, "las energías de su voluntad, las energías del cuerpo, las energías sociales", etc., etc.? Xi una sola vez se hallará esta palabra, así, en plural, en el Quijote, donde el asunto pide á menudo muchas semejantes . . . A Pereda l).

40

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns

speak of the obscurities of a work but not of its clarities or clearnesses ; we may have a dislike for a certain food but not a like for it. As a class, Spanish infinitives used as nouns are exclusively mass-nouns with the exception of a very few which have acquired other meanings such as un decir 'a saying,' un pesar 'a sorrow,' un parecer 'an opinion,' un deber 'a duty,' un ser 'a being,' un cantar 'a song or poem,' un manjar a dish (food).' In the treatment of abstract nouns we found that some, like ocio, prisa, fuerza, energía, etc. may be used in the plural but are limited as countables, i. e., the unit is only vaguely felt, and the difference between the singular and the plural is slight enough for singular and plural to be used interchangeably (the difference being more a matter of aspect than of number). Some concrete mass-nouns present similar characteristics. 8 In some of these the unit underlying the plural is even less clearly defined than in abstract plurals like ocios, prisas, fuerzas, energías: agua el mar se divisaba a ratos con una pálida claridad que parecía irradiar de las aguas. INQ 65 Arroyo: Parte de la calle por donde corren las aguas. V O X (Note that while the English plural waters may be used in the same way, its use is more or less poetic. I t could be used to translate aguas in the first example but not in the second.) aire Los aires natales suelen hacer esos milagros. L I M 139 a mí no me convienen los aires de la pérfida Albión. INQ 292 convendría sacarle de Madrid . . . otros aires . . . otra vida. M A J 229 arena el viento del noroeste . . . fué echando las arenas hacia Legorreta. INQ 118 atmósfera Ni polvo sobre los objetos, ni atmósferas densas de larga clausura. M A J 247 carne aquella muchacha fina, con carnes de pescado azul. INC 94 Gordura: Abundancia de carnes y grasas. V O X como si en su interior ardiese la llama de la vida, transparentada por las carnes de nácar. M A J 22 ( I n the sense of 'human flesh' this noun is almost always used in the

plural. Cf. criar carnes, echar carnes, en carnes.)

carnosidad Era una mujer alta, esbelta, de adorables v justas M A J 109 " Cf. Meyer-I.übkc, op. cit.. § »5.

carnosidades.

Types of Mass-Nouns

and Countables

41

caudal Que así crecían entonces los caudales. LEO 25 Los que gustan disipar todos sus caudales. L E O 128

compañía Ya influido por las malas compañías.

MAS 265

espacio Aquellas legiones flotantes de ángeles y arcángeles suspendidos en los espacios. NOV 211

espuma El sol cabrillea sobre las espumas. I N Q 126 Cf. una mantilla de blonda, blanca y ligera como espuma. L E O 149

interés

Cargadilla: Aumento de una deuda por acumulación de los intereses.

vox

Los intereses de las acciones han sido grandes. I N F 4

lana Montoncillos de cerdas y lanas. CON 111 Pellico de lanas. MAJ 44 H a y que esquilar las lanas a los corderos. I N F 1

mercadería volvía de Cádiz de cargar un galeón de mercaderías. I N Q 34

mercancía Como barco de carga destinado al transporte de mercancías, era un tanto pesado. I N Q 161 Cf. ¡Qué triunfo lanzar la mercancía al día siguiente del conclave. MAJ 66

miel En el almijar, donde se secan los higos, si era por otoño, cogeríamos uno o dos y paladearíamos sus mieles. CON 17 convidándola a probar el fruto prohibido, las mieles venenosas del primer pecado. L E O 121 (Cf. dar mieles 'to flatter.')

música ya suenan las músicas, ya se oyen las aclamaciones. NOYT 95 se oían las músicas de las dulzainas. I N C 127

nieve Al otro día saldría el sol, se derreterían las nieves. MAJ 162

polvo mucho maquillaje y una gran capa de polvos superpuestos. V I D 41 (In the sense of 'cosmetic powder' this word is always plural.)

ropa sobre los muebles destacaban acá y allá ropas finas y suaves de una mujer. C O N 148 con las ventanas y balcones atestados de ropas puestas a secar. I N Q 111 Cf. En estas casas hay siempre ropa tendida. I N Q 53

42 Ml

sol

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns (el mar) es un líquido cargado de sales. INQ 126 (The English plural salts is used in the sense of 'smelling salts.' Cf. also epsom salts.) Entran por ellas (las viviendas) soles y vientos a su antojo. MAS 70 los ojos de Rosario ya no recuerdan los altivos soles que habían transflorado hace un minuto. MAS 244

In all of the foregoing examples the unit underlying the plural is more or less vague. In some (agua, aire, arena, atmósfera, carne, lana, nieve) it would be difficult to say what the unit might be. In others the unit is more clearly defined. In ropas, for instance, the unit is clearly 'a piece of clothing' or 'a garment.' In the first example under ropa the context shows a high degree of individualization, and the plural seems almost necessary. In malas compañías the unit is definitely 'a person.' However, in none of them (even where a high degree of individualization is possible) is the unit felt strongly enough for the noun to be used as a singular countable or in the plural with numbers. Una ropa cannot be used in the sense of 'an article of clothing'; dos malas compañías cannot be used in the sense of 'two objectionable companions.' (Cf. Eng. clothes which is also a limited countable. Although the word denotes units of clothing, no singular is possible, and the plural cannot be used with numbers.) In the majority of these nouns singular and plural may be used interchangeably with practically no difference in meaning. In some (arenas, espacios, sales, nieves, caudales) the plural seems to give the impression of greater extent or amount. It seems to have a kind of augmentative force. In agua and espuma the distinction between singular and plural closely approaches a distinction of aspect. The singular seems more static; the plural seems to lend a feeling of movement. Compare parecía irradiar del agua and parecía irradiar de las aguas; el sol cabrillea sobre la espuma and el sol cabrillea sobre las espumas. In English the tendency to pluralize concrete mass-nouns in this way is much weaker. It is possible with a few nouns like sands, waters, snows, but such plurals almost always have a more or less poetic force in English. It would be impossible to define 'gutter' as 'the part of the street through which the waters flow,' for example, as the Spanish equivalent is defined in VOX. The noun gente is normally used as a mass-noun as in la gente dice, lleno de gente, poca gente, etc. However, it is also frequently used in the plural as a limited countable:

Types of Mass-Nouns and Countables

43

él se hacía acompañar siempre por gentes distintas. INC 190 Había pasado numerosas Nochebuenas con gentes extrañas. INC 39 No puedo con esas gentes. INF 1 Anoche vinieron a verme muchas gentes. INF 4 Polvareda: Efecto causado entre las gentes por dichos o hechos que las alteran o apasionan. VOX Huraño: Que huye de las gentes. VOX trenes sin nadie que vuelven de haber llevado a las gentes al veraneo o a la romería. INC 60 Las gentes, al entrar, hablaban en tono bajo instintivamente. MAJ 9 no tengo esa tendencia exclusivista de las gentes de mi pueblo. INQ 17 Esa es la moral tradicional de las gentes ricas. INQ 249 debía perder su afición a dibujar cosas groseras, las gentes como las veía. MAJ 35 In the first four examples the plural may be interpreted as meaning 'kinds of people.' In the others, however, the unit underlying the plural is clearly a person,' but the degree of individualization is not sufficiently strong to make it possible to use this noun as a singular countable or in the plural with numbers. (Cf. malas compañías.) The lexical number of the plural gentes as it is used in thfl above examples is very similar to the lexical number of English people. In people, however, the unit is more clearly defined as evidenced by the fact that people can be used with numbers (twenty people, one or two people) whereas gentes cannot.9 There are a few devices by which a noun may change its lexical number. In both English and Spanish almost all mass-nouns may become countables to denote different species, varieties, or grades of the same thing: Eng. choice meats, better woods, an inferior coffee; Span, los mejores vinos franceses, un tabaco excelente, una seda finísima. This type of countable of kind is frequent in both languages with abstract nouns modified by an adjective and accompanied by the indefinite article: She has an extraordinary patience with children. He did the work with a mathematical precision. These factors have a special importance. sentía a su lado una felicidad, mayor. INC 75 Mi abuela daba una importancia tan extraordinaria a estas cosas. INQ 27 dijo el millonario con una amabilidad dudosaj VID 112 9 The degree of individualization in the French word gens seems to be intermediate between that of Eng. people and that of Span, gentes. Gens is used with numbers (trois gens, quatre bonnes gens), but this usage is colloquial or at least not entirely acceptable. Jeunes gens, however, as the plural of jeune homme is perfectly acceptable with numbers. See Damourette and Pichón, op. cit., § 358.

44

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns

In line with its greater preference for countables Spanish makes more extensive use of this construction than English. Spanish often uses the construction where English would not: Era un hombre de una perfecta salud. CON 183 Era una mujer de una gran simpatía. INC 79 da la impresión de una fuerza espiritual. INQ 126 navegábamos con una gran lentitud. INQ 19810 This countable of kind is also found in certain Spanish metaphors in which the comparison is with a mass-noun: hacerse un agua, una jalea, ut¡ almíbar, un azúcar, un arrope, un jarabe and ser una leche, una cera, una seda.11 Cf. colloq. Eng. it's a honey. Concrete mass-nouns which are names of materials sometimes become countables to denote objects made of the material: a glass (drinking utensil), a tin (tin can), an oil (oil painting), a felt (felt hat). Likewise in Spanish: Después de cumplir tales empresas dignas de figurar en mármoles. LEO 219 Los santos están bien en los altares, como los genios y los héroes en los bronces. LEO 106 In both languages mass-nouns sometimes become countables in elliptical expressions in which the counter is omitted: one coffee for 'one cup of coffee,' two beers for 'two glasses of beer," three sodas for 'three bottles of soda.' In Spanish: Samuel Gerard sirvió unos whiskis. VID 152 En el mostrador de un bar bebió un café con leche. VID 73 cuando ya tenga impaciencia por marcharse, pediré un chocolate. INC 183 Much less common in such elliptical expressions is the omission of the mass-noun and the retention of the counter: Eng. a draft for 'a draft of air,' a case for 'case of insanity'; Span, una corriente for 'una corriente de aire,' un cabo for 'un cabo de cuerda': 10 Samuel Gili y Gaya observes that in this construction the indefinite article serves to emphasize the quality expressed by the adjective: "Significación semejante tienen (los artículos indeterminados) cuando se aplican a un substantivo acompañado de adjetivo, para encarecer o intensificar la cualidad. Compárese la diferencia expresiva entre tenía una grada sorprendente y tenia gracia sorprendente ; era de un valor indomable y era de valor indomable. See Curso Superior de Sintaxis Española (México, D. F., 1943), § 183. 11 Cf. Werner Beinhauer, Spanische Umgangssprachc (Berlin and Bonn, 1930), p. 176.

Types

of Mass-Nouns

and

Countables

45

Julio se sentó sobre un cabo pero no tardó en levantarse. VID 205 Hay una corriente en este cuarto. I N F 4 Spanish possesses two devices by which countables may be converted into mass-nouns, both by the use of an adjective of quantity with a singular countable. In one of them the singular countable modified by an adjective of quantity has the force of a plural. Cuervo notes that in this construction the use of the singular actually emphasizes the notion of plurality. 12 The idea behind this seems to be that the individuals are so numerous that they can only be conceived of as a mass. Cf. the force of a mass of mistakes, a mass of lies: ¿ N o te arrepientes, don Juan de tanta palabra vana, v caricia inútil, y beso estéril? B U R 303 corrían azorados los criados no sabiendo como atender a tanta manga negra, a tanto brazo blanco. MAJ 216 Como barco cuya tripulación la formaban gentes perseguidas y fuera de la ley, había allá mucho tipo extraño. INQ 171 Hay mucho niño aquí. I N F 4 Hay bastante enfermo en este hospital. I N F 3 The other device by which a countable may be converted into a massnoun seems to have escaped the attention of all investigators in spite of the fact that it is fairly common. In this construction a singular adjective of quantity abandons its normal function of expressing mass or continuous quantity to express size: Es mucha casa para él. I N F 3 Es mucho sombrero para tí ése. I N F 1 Juan tiene mucha familia. I N F 2 (Here we see the construction used with a collective noun.) 12 Op cit., note 14. Juan de Valdés noted this construction in his discussion of similarities between Hebrew and Spanish: "Con la mesma lengua i la hebrea) se conforma (la española) . . . en usar algunas vezes el número singular por el plural, y assí dize mucha naranja, passa o higo por muchas naranjas, passas o higos." See Diálogo de la lengua, Ed. Clásicos castellanos (Madrid. 1946), p. 39. H. R. Lang included this construction in a study of various types of Spanish singulars with a plural force. H e gives numerous examples beginning with the earliest literary monuments. See "The Collective Singular in Spanish." PMLA, I (1886), 133-148. In a review of Lang's article Adolf Tobler gives a few examples of the same construction in Old French. See Vermischte Beiträge cur französischen Grammatik. Vol. II (Leipzig. 1894), pp. 39-48. In his Spanish Syntax List Hayward Keniston records this construction only with tanto (Section 21.2). With tanto it has a range of 6 and a frequency of 7. Although Keniston gives range and frequency for other common adjectives of quantity, the construction in question is not recorded with any of them. This may mean that the construction occurred only with tanto in Keniston's material. If this is so, it indicates a much higher frequency for the construction with tanto than with any other adjective of quantity.

46

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns

Bigotudo: Que tiene mucho bigote. VOX Crestudo' Que tiene mucha cresta. VOX Copudo: Que tiene mucha copa. VOX Panzudo: Que tiene mucha panza. VOX ¿Qué vas a hacer con tanto automóvil? INF 1 Nos es imposible mantener tanta casa. INF 2 Con tanta nariz no se puede ser muy hermoso. INF 4 Tiene bastante pecho. INF 2 Para su edad tiene bastante panza. INF 4 ¡Qué poca nariz tiene este niño! INF 2 Este sombrero tiene muy poca ala. INF 2 ¡Cuánta casa para sólo dos personas! I N F 4 Es demasiada casa para nosotros. INF 2 (Note that because of the double function of singular adjectives of quantity, mucha casa, for instance, can mean either 'many houses' or 'a big house' depending upon the context.) The occurrence of such a construction in dictionary definitions precludes the possibility of colloquialism or even of any stylistic force. In English this construction is much less frequent, it is definitely colloquial, and it always has a more or less jocular or comic force. The jocular or comic element arises in English out of the incongruity produced by confusing quantity as applied to mass-nouns with quantity as applied to countables: We don't have enough house for so many people. That's a lot of hat you're wearing. Get more car for your money! (Found in an automobile advertisement. The device is obviously used to attract attention.) It is significant that the same confusion of quantity as applied to massnouns with quantity as applied to countables produces no unusual stylistic effect in Spanish. This easy passage from one category to the other seems to indicate that the distinction between mass-noun and countable is less strongly felt in Spanish than in English. There is some stylistic force, however, in the figurative use of this construction with mucho. When used figuratively it serves to emphasize whatever quality is indicated by the context and is usually equivalent to Eng. quite a . . . !, some . . . !, a real . . . /: ¡Qué de prisa va usted! ¡Hombre, es que este último modelo es mucho cochel INF I ('some car' or 'quite a car,' i. e., a fast car.) ¡Es mucho meto ese mozuelo loco, mucho nieto! BUR 112 ('some grandson' or 'quite a grandson,' i. e., quite a responsibility because of his waywardness.) ¡Es mucha ahijada la suya, mi querido Ayamonte! LEO 194 Era Magdalena Rubí mucha mujer para tan pobre hombre. LEO 56

Types of Mass-Nouns and Countables

47

A similar conversión of a countable to mass-noun status is found in the use of cosa in the singular with an adjective of quantity: ¡Soy tan poquita cosa al lado de ellas! LEO 197 ¡Si vieras tú qué poca cosa basta! CRI 87 Los hombres sois tan poquita cosa. LEO 37 Eres tan poquita cosa que aunque te llamas Pulgar, nunca pasarás de Pulgarcito.

LEO

169

¿Qué le dijo usted? —Poca cosa. CRI 65 Ya es mucha cosa que venga él, pero además viene ella. INF 1 ¡ Es mucha cosa esto para mí INF 1

IV. COUNTERS Some languages which do not distinguish between singularity and plurality, like Chinese and Japanese, possess a special class of words which grammarians name variously numeratives, numerary adjuncts, numeral auxiliaries, auxiliary numerals, counters, numeral classifiers, or simply classifiers. R. A. D. Forrest describes the function of this wordclass in Chinese as follows: " T h e classifier, then, is a word used with a noun, and, in certain cases, in place of the noun, when the noun is joined with a numeral adjective or demonstrative Its function is, in the modern languages, analogous to that of grammatical gender in Indo-European languages, or t o the class-prefixes in Bantu languages, serving to distinguish words into broad categories of somewhat similar meanings. T h e classifiers are numerous, varying with the noun itself, and in some cases even with different senses of the noun. Dyer Ball lists eighty-five for Cantonese, but of this large number the m a j o r i t y a r e in reality quantitative nouns (like stuck in the G e r m a n cin stuck brot, which is preferable t o an English example, a s containing no hint of a genitive). . . . T o e x e m p l i f y their use, it is e n o u g h t o say that, except in the case of a few words denoting quantity or measurement, no modern variety of Chinese can place a numeral or demonstrative adjective directly before its noun; the t w o parts a r e invariably joined by a classifier, a w o r d which, like the tone, helps t o distinguish between homophones. T h u s Chinese says, not 'one rope', but 'one length ( o f ) r o p e ' ; not 'one cart', but 'one f r a m e ( o f ) c a r t ' ; not 'this book', but 'this t r u n k ( o f ) book' (cf. Latin codex). T h e classifier, like the English 'one' helps to avoid t h e repetition of the noun in such cases as when, in answer to t h e question, 'which c a r t ? ' (i. e., 'which f r a m e c a r t ? ' ) , the Chinese will s a y : 'this f r a m e ' ; the word for 'this' cannot be used alone as a pronoun, but must always be accompanied by the classifier appropriate t o the object denoted." 1

In Japanese also, all nouns, with a very few exceptions, must be accompanied by an appropriate classifier when they are modified by a numeral. As in Chinese, these Japanese classifiers serve to classify all nouns into broad categories on the basis of some similarity of size, shape, purpose, or some other characteristic. The following are a few examples of such Japanese classifiers with some indications of the class of objects with which each one is used: hon with long, round objects such as pens, pencils, cigars, bottles, trees, loaves, etc. dai with vehicles of all sorts such as carts, wagons, carriages, taxis, rikishas, trains, automobiles, etc. 1

The

Chinese

Language

(London, 1948), p. 29. 48

Counters

49

mat with all kinds of flat things such as paper, letters, clothes, rugs, blankets, sheets, stamps, tickets, etc. satsu with books, magazines, pamphlets and all kinds of printed matter. hiki with animals of all kinds except birds. nin with human beings. T h e classifying function of these words is perfectly clear, and this function is reflected in the terms numeral classifier and classifier. How< ver, these words have another and perhaps more important function which has not been sufficiently emphasized. This function is betrayed by the fact that these classifiers do not accompany the noun in all cases, as one would expect if their function were merely to classify. In Japanese they accompany the noun only when the noun is modified by a numeral or .-.(•me other highly individualizing word; in Chinese only when the noun is modified by a numeral or demonstrative adjective. 2 We have seen (pp. 5-6) that G. B. Sansom characterizes the Japanese noun as "a true universal, like ' m a n ' in 'man is mortal' which includes both 'a m a n ' and men'." and we have pointed out that Sansom's "true universal" is the i-quivalent of mass-noun. Now, the juxtaposition of an eminently individualizing word like a number or a demonstrative with a " t r u e universal" (i.e., mass-noun) creates a kind of semantic incongruity. I t is precisely for this reason that such expressions as three advices, two lettuccs, jour thunders, two pneumonias, for example, are jarring in English. We feel the need of a classifier (i. e., a word denoting a unit or instance) in such expressions. If we consider the fact that in Japanese (as well as in Chinese) all nouns are like advice, lettuce, thunder, pneumonia, we can appreciate the need for such classifiers with all Japanese nouns. A few examples will show how classifiers function in Japanese: hamaki go hon five cigars' literally 'cigar five long-round-unit'; jinrikusha san dai 'three iinrikishas' literally 'jinrikisha three vehicle-unit'; shatsu ni mat 'two shirts' literally 'shirt two flat-unit'; kitte go mai 'five stamps' literally stamp five flat-unit'; hito roku nin 'six men' literally 'man six humanr n i t ' : inu go hiki 'five dogs' literally 'dog five animal-unit. 1 3 T h e words hamaki, jinrikusha, shatsu, kitte, hito are really all massr.ouns, and such words as hon, dai, mai, nin, hiki are really the only words - It is interesting to note that both in Neapolitan and in the south-western • lialects of England lexical number is distinguished in the forms of the demonstrative adjectives. In these t w o cases, as well as in Chinese, it is no doubt the strongly individualizing force of demonstratives which causes lexical number to be distinguished. 3 For more details see R. D. Abraham and S. Yamamoto, Japanese Conversar-hone ( N e w York, 1950), § 64.

Lexical Number In Spanish

50

Nouns

in the language which can function as countables. They are the only words which might be conceived of as capable of being pluralized. Of course, they have no plural variant of any kind (cf. Eng. five sheep, three fish). The broad meaning of these classifiers is 'unit' or 'individual' with the added proviso that in each case the unit is of a particular class. Thus, the function of these words is primarily to individualize or particularize rather than to classify. Most of the terms which have been used for this word-class are inappropriate or misleading. Auxiliary numeral is the worst because it implied that they are numbers. Numerative, numerary adjunct and numeral auxiliary all imply that they are used in connection with numbers, but they say nothing about their use with other strongly individualizing expressions, nor do they say anything about their function. Numeral classifier suggests too strongly that their function is to classify numbers. Both classifier and numeral classifier put the emphasis on the less important of their two functions. Even in Chinese, where the classifying function of these words helps to distinguish between homophones, the classifying function cannot be considered the principal one because, if it were, we should expect these words to accompany Chinese nouns invariably. On the contrary, it is only with the most strongly individualizing words (numerals and demonstratives) that these words are indispensable in Chinese. The term counter, used by Bernard Bloch and Eleanor Jorden for this word-class in Japanese, 4 seems to be the most appropriate because it puts the emphasis on their principal function which is to make it possible to count things which are normally conceived oj as uncountable. Other terms such as countifier, individualizer, or particularizer would also be appropriate. However, we shall use the term counter (which is just as appropriate) for this word-class in English and Spanish in order to avoid multiplying terminology uselessly. The function of English counters offers striking analogies to the function of Chinese and Japanese counters. We have seen that when we want to individualize or count, English nouns like advice, lettuce, thunder, pneumonia require counters in exactly the same way as Chinese and Japanese nouns do. The only difference is that whereas Chines^ and Japanese require these counters with all nouns (since all Chinese and Japanese nouns are mass-nouns), English requires them only with mass-nouns. Just as in Chinese or Japanese, counters are indispensable with English mass-nouns only when the mass-nouns are modified by a numeral or some strongly individualizing expression such as severalf different, various, how many?, etc. Otherwise the counter is not necessary and is usually not used. This * Spoken Japanese

(Washington. 1945), p. 162.

Counters

51

becomes apparent in the English translations of some Spanish countables. For instance, los consejos de Juan can be translated by John's advice: quiero algunos consejos can be translated by / want some advice; me dió muchos consejos can be translated by he gave me much advice; but me dió varios consejos must be translated by he gave me several pieces of advice; me dió tres consejos must be translated by he gave me three pieces of advice. Oímos truenos can be translated by we heard thunder; oímos algunos truenos can be translated by we heard some thunder; oímos muchos truenos can still be translated by we heard much thunder; but oímos distintos truenos must be translated by we heard distinct claps of thunder-, oímos dos truenos must be translated we heard two claps of thunder. Forrest mentions the pronominal or anaphoric use of counters with Chinese demonstratives. He gives the literal rendering 'which frame cart?' and the literal answer 'this frame.' English uses the same anaphoric device for mass-nouns as in 'which head of lettuce?'—'this head'; 'which piece of machinery?'—'this piece'; 'which case of pneumonia?'—'that case,' 'the other case,' or 'the first case.' Note that the general anaphoric one (used regularly for countables) can also be used in the above examples. Even the classifying function of counters in Chinese and Japanese can be seen in English, albeit in a more rudimentary and less systematic form. If we consider the examples advice, lettuce, thunder, pneumoniat which we have been using, we find that we cannot use the same counter indiscriminately for all, of them because the things which these nouns name belong to different classes. Thus, the counter for advice is piece or bit, the counter for lettuce is head, the counter for thunder is bolt or clap (also peal) depending upon whether we are referring to both the flash and the sound or only to the sound, the counter for pneumonia is attack or case. Of all English counters piece has the least connotation and the broadest application.5 In addition to being used with all kinds of concrete mass5 This most common of English counters turns up in Pidgin English as piecec and serves as a counter for practically everything. Pidgin English, which is largely English vocabulary with various features of Chinese syntax, converts all English nouns into mass-nouns in conformity with the Chinese rule. Pieccc, then, serves as a blanket translation for all Chinese counters: one piecee flin 'one friend' or 'a friend,' two ¡ñccce song 'two songs,' neither piccee waifo' 'another wife.' E x amples abound in Charles G. Leland, Pidgin English Sing-Song. London, 1924. In the Melanesian variety of Pidgin fella serves the same function. Robert A. Hall observes that in Melanesian Pidgin nouns do not distinguish between singularity and plurality and that fella is used with numerals and demonstratives: one fella mary "one woman,' two fella pickaninny 'two children,' dis fella fashion 'in this way.' See Melanesian Pidgin English (Baltimore, 1943), § 2.11 and § 3.21. Note that in generalizing piecee and fella as blanket counters for everything, the classifying function is completely lost. Only the individualizing function, which we have insisted is the primary one, remains.

52

Lexical Number

In Spanish

Nouns

nouns as in piece of furniture, piece of land, piece of luggage, piece ofpottery, piece of silverware, it is used very freely as a counter for abstract mass-nouns as in piece of gossip, piece of advice, piece of injustice, piece of insolence, piece of hearsay, piece of scandal, piece of luck, piece of good fortune, piece of information, piece of cruelty, piece of brutality. Other counters used with English abstract mass-nouns are stroke, bit, act as in stroke of luck, stroke of misfortune, bit of prudery, bit of nonsense, act of generosity, act of inhumanity,6 Attack and case are abundantly used for diseases and complaints of various kinds: attack of neuralgia, attack of insomnia, attack of arthritis, case of appendicitis, case of pneumonia, case of measles. Case is also used with some abstract nouns as in case of injustice, case of misunderstanding, case of mistaken identity, case of maladjustment. Head is used as a counter for two distinct classes of things: for certain animals as in head of cattle, head of sheep, head of game; and also for certain vegetables whose shape roughly resembles that of a head as in head of cabbage, head of lettuce, head of endive, head of kale, head of cauliflower. (Note that of these five names of vegetables only cabbage and cauliflower can function also as countables as in two cabbages, three cauliflowers. Lettuce, endive and kale cannot be so used.) Grain is used for all sorts of things which come in minute particles as in grain of wheat, grain of corn, grain of rice, grain of barley, grain of sugar, grain of sand, grain of pepper, grain of salt, etc. It is also used figuratively as in grain of truth, grain of sense. Strand is used with various things of thread-like shape as in strand of hair, strand of wool, strand of silk, strand of cotton, strand of wire, strand of rope. Sometimes counters make strange bed-fellows as in case of round: round af applause, round of ammunition, round of golf, round of pinochle. (Of course, the unifying idea here is the participation of several individuals either consecutively or simultaneously.) Other English words which are used as counters are cake (with soap, yeast, ice, etc.), sheet (with paper, iron, tint etc.), lump (with sugar, coal, etc.), loaf (with bread, cheese, etc.), flash (with light, lightning, insight, etc.), cloud (with dust, smoke, gas, etc.). Some English counters enter into the formation of compound nouns of which the first element is the mass-noun and the second element is the counter: thunderbolt, thunderclap, lightning flash, news item, business 6 For abundant examples see O. Jespersen, A Modem English Grammar, Vol. II (Heidelberg. 1927), §§ 5.33-5.36.

Counters deal, rainfall, ¡lake.1

snowfall,

hailstone,

sugar

53 loaf,

snowßake,

soap

flake,

corn

So far nothing has been said about Spanish counters. Spanish uses counters with mass-nouns just as English does: cabo de cuerda, grano de sal, pan de azúcar, repollo de col, terrón de azúcar, libreta de pan, pieza de artillería, pastilla de jabón, racha de viento, ráfaga de luz, acto de injusticia, golpe de cólera, etc. These Spanish counters present the same characteristics as English counters. They are used only with mass-nouns, and they are indispensable only when the context indicates a very high degree of individualization. T h e classifying function is seen in the use of repollo only for vegetables of a certain shape, grano for things which come in small particles, ráfaga for light or air, etc. W e see the pronominal use in 'cuál pieza de a r t i l l e r í a ? ' — e s t a pieza'; 'cuál pastilla de jabón?'—esta pastilla.' However, counters play a much less important role in Spanish than they do in English because Spanish has a much greater preference for countables. As we have seen, Spanish prefers to concretize abstract nouns rather than use a counter as in dos necedades 'two pieces of nonsense,' un negocio 'a business deal,' una pulmonía 'an attack of pneumonia.' This tendency, as our examples show, extends to concrete nouns as well. The Spanish equivalents of piece, pedazo and pieza, which are the counters of least connotation, are much less frequently used in Spanish with concrete nouns, and they are never used with abstract noun. Even acto as in acto de injusticia or golpe as in golpe de cólera are rather infrequent in Spanish with abstract nouns. There are many cases where English must have recourse to the use of a mass-noun accompanied by a counter in order to translate a Spanish countable: serie de truenos : series of thunderclaps (or claps of thunder) Hacia el estrépito de una serie de truenos al chocar contra las rocas. I N Q 215 un mueble : a piece of furniture Apenas se ha tocado a un mueble. H E R 213 una apendicitis : an attack of appendicitis Y a sabes que me operaron. U n a apendicitis. L E O 209 7 This type of compound noun is rather common in German. Compare Atem and Atemzug, Glück and Glücksfall, Regen and Regenfall, Tod and Todesfall, Unglück and Unglücksfall, Schmuck and Schmucksache, Dank and Danksagung, Kraut and Krauthaupt, Rat and Ratschlag, Lob and Lobspruch, Gunst and Gunstbezeigung, Friede and Friendensschluss. The simple nouns are all mass-nouns; the compounds are all countables with a counter as the second element of the compound.

54

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns

¡abonas : cakes (or bars) of soap No te olvides de comprar media docena de jabones. I N F 4 una buena lechuga : a good head of lettuce . . . las hojas frescas de una buena lechuga. INC 73 dos o tres tostadas : two or three pieces of toast Acostumbro desayunarme con dos o tres tostadas. INF 4 un chisme : a piece of gossip Eso no es nada más que un chisme. I N F 4 una pulmonía : an attack of pneumonia ¡Quieres que coja una pulmonía, por lo visto! HER 295 una gran suerte : a great piece of luck Ha sido una gran suerte o una gran desgracia. HER 258 un No consejo : one of consejo. advice I N F 3 me dió máspiece que un dos escarolas : two heads of endive Déme dos escarolas para hacer ensalada. INF 4 un negocio : a business deal Voy a proponerle un negocio, pero antes quiero presentarme. VID 86 los tres dulces : the three pieces of candy El chico se comió los tres dulces. I N F 3 una gran polvareda : a great cloud of dust Al pasar levantaron una gran polvareda. INF 4 una apoplejía : an attack of apoplexy No faltó mucho para caer al suelo victima de una apoplejía. NOV 235 In the foregoing examples all the Spanish nouns are used as countables. The English equivalents, however, are all nouns which can function only as mass-nouns. Thus, in every case English is obliged to translate the Spanish countable with the help of a counter. It is significant that not a single example has been found of the reverse situation, i. e., an English countable which must be translated by a Spanish mass-noun accompanied by a counter. Sometimes Spanish uses a mass-noun for which there is no equivalent mass-noun in English: oleaje : waves el ruido del oleaje le sonaba a frotamientos de papel de lija. VID 31 ramaje : branches Estos árboles tienen muy poco ramaje. INF 4 But in such cases Spanish does not have to have recourse to the use of a counter to translate the English countable. There is always a countable with the same meaning which can be used for individualizing: ola for oleaje, rama for ramaje.

V. TYPES OF DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN SPANISH AND ENGLISH WITH RESPECT TO LEXICAL NUMBER The lexical number of a noun may be of any one of three different classes. It may be: (1) Exclusively a mass-noun: Span, harina, plata, maquinaria, paciencia, cordura, obediencia. Eng. wood, grass, water, shrubbery, applause, fun, haste, anger. (2) Exclusively a countable: Span, jardín, silla, diente, caballo, herida, chisme, mugido. Eng. bridge, lake, pen, horse, problem, event, lie, laugh, day. (3) Both a mass-noun and a countable: Span, papel (mucho papel, dos papeles), pan (bastante pan, dos panes), luz (poca luz, tres luces), ruido (mucho ruido, dos ruidos), jábon (mucho jábon, cinco jabones), injusticia (tanta injusticia, dos injusticias). Eng. fire (more fire, two fires), cloth (much cloth, two cloths), hair (enough hair, a short hair), crime (more crime, three crimes), mystery (so much mystery, two mysteries). Thus, the relationship between the lexical number of a Spanish noun and the lexical number of its English equivalent may be of any one of nine different types, in three of which there is agreement and in six of which there is disagreement: Class I Class II Class III Class IV Class V Class VI Class VII Class VIII Class I X

SPANISH Mass-noun Countable Mass-noun and countable Countable Mass-noun Mass-noun and countable Countable Mass-noun and countable Mass-noun

versus versus versus versus versus versus versus versus versus

ENGLISH Mass-noun Countable Mass-noun and countable Mass-noun Countable Countable Mass-noun and countable Mass-noun Mass-noun and countable

Most of the nouns in the two languages fall into the first three classes and, in general, present no difficulty with respect to lexical number. In 55

56

Lexical Number In Spanish Nouns

Classes IV to IX we find the names of things which lend themselves equally well to expression as mass-nouns or as countables because, on the one hand they can be conceived of as a mass, losing sight of the constituent units, and on the other hand the unit is clearly enough defined to be conceived of as an individual. I t is in this broad intermediate zone that cases of disagreement in lexical number are to be found. In Classes IV and V we have an absolute difference in lexical number. What is conceived of exclusively as a mass in one language is conceived of exclusively as an individual in the other. The type of disagreement represented by Class IV (Span. Co. vs. Eng. Ma.) is much more frequent than the type of disagreement represented by Class V (Span. Ma. vs. Eng Co.). This disparity shows a greater preference for countables in Spanish. In Class IV the Spanish singular is normally translated by the English singular accompanied by the appropriate counter, e. g., un chisme : a piece of gossip; un puro disparate : a piece of utter nonsense; un jaboncillo : a bar (or cake) oj toilet soap; una tostada : a piece oj toast; una noticia : a piece oj news or news item; un relámpago : a jlash of lightning or a lightning flash; un trueno : a clap of thunder or a thunderclap. The Spanish plural is translated by the English singular either with a counter or without a counter depending upon the degree of individualization indicated by the context (see p. 50). If the context indicates little individualization, the English singular is used without a counter, e. g., nos divertía con sus bufonadas : he amused us with his clowning; una caja de dulces : a box of candy; impresos : printed matter (on envelopes): vender joyas : to seU jewelry, un montón de trastos : a heap of junk\ escuchó las noticias : he listened to the news; especialista en zurcidos : specialist in darning. However, if the context indicates a high degree of individualization, the Spanish plural is translated by the English singular accompanied by a plural counter, e. g., dos excelentes consejos : two excellent pieces of advice; dos disparates increíbles : two incredible pieces of nonsense ; varios chismes : several pieces of gossip; media docena de jaboncillos : half a dozen bars of toilet soap; dos muebles más : two more pieces oj furniture; dos relámpagos : two flashes of lightning. Examples for Class IV (Span. Co. vs. Eng. Ma.): bufonada : clowning Un payaso que nos divertía con sus bufondas. NOV 56 Bufonearse: Burlarse, decir bufonadas. VOX Ha hecho dos o tres bufonadas que divertieron mucho a los niños. INF 4

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consejo : advice Los consejos de don Ciríaco hicieron que no acudiese con frecuencia a casa de Hortensia. INQ 102 Este fué un consejo que no debía seguir. I N F 3 Juan me dió excelentes consejos. I N F 4 (Cf. Eng. counsel which can, be used either as a mass-noun or as a countable and therefore belongs in Class VII with respect to Span. consejo.) chisme : gossip Chismografía: Relación de los chismes y cuentos que corren. VOX y fué la servidumbre, naturalmente, la primera en oír los chismes del pueblo. MAS 104 Esto no es cierto, se trata más bien de un chisme. I N F 4 disparate : nonsense, foolishness que se haya vuelto estúpido o pronto a hacer disparates. EST 202 si se burlaban de él, tenía derecho para hacer algún disparate. INQ 95 Ha dicho dos disparates increíbles. I N F 3 Lo que él dijo fué un puro disparate. I N F 4 dulce : candy Los dulces hacen engordar. I N F 3 Me regaló una caja de dulces muy buenos. I N F 4 Quedan sólo tres o cuatro dulces en la caja. I N F 5 Tome usted un dulce. I N F 3 (Eng. candy occurs dialectically as a countable. Cf. sweets which is used exclusively as a countable.) helado : ice cream Heladora: Máquina para hacer helados. VOX ¿Venden helados en esta tienda? I N F 5 Se ha comido dos helados de fresa. I N F 4 huevas : roe Raba: Cebo que emplean los pescadores hecho con huevas de bacalao. VOX He comido unas huevas de pescado fritas. I N F 4 Esta sopa se hace con huevas de pescado. I N F 5 Las huevas de cangrejo son muy sabrosas. I N F S impreso : printed matter En los sobres hay que escribir: "impresos." I N F 1 En este paquete no hay más que impresos. I N F 1 ¿Cuánto es el franqueo por el envío de los impresos? I N F 4 informe : ¡nformation por mis informes debía ser un tipo muy parecido a mí. INQ 20 Los informes que recibí sobre mi secretaria son excelentes. I N F 4 Este es un informe que me será muy útil. I N F 3 jaboncillo : (toilet) soap He comprado media docena de jaboncillos. I N F 4 Pon estos dos jaboncillos en el cuarto de baño. I N F 4

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(The diminutive in jaboncillo excludes the possibility of use as a mass-noun because size is not normally applicable to mass-nouns. See p. 22. Cf. jabón which is used both as a mass-noun and as a countable and therefore belongs in Class VIII with respect to Eng. soap.) joya : jewelry Joyero: El que tiene por oficio hacer o vender joyas. VOX Hay que pagar derechos de aduanas por las joyas. INF 1 Esta tienda vende joyas muy caras. INF 1 (Cf. Eng. jewel which is used exclusively as a countable. Span, alhaja and dije are also used exclusively as countables, but bisutería is used as a mass-noun.) macarrón : macaroni Macarrón: macarrones a la italiana. VOX Los macarrones están muy sabrosos. INF 4 ¿Le gustan a usted los macarrones? INF 3 (It is interesting to note that this Italian loan word has retained its original lexical number in Spanish but has become a mass-noun in English. Cf. the Italian countable spaghetti which has also become a mass-noun in English. This conforms with the English preference for mass-nouns.) mueble : furniture Apenas se ha tocado a un mueble. HER 213 Tengo que comprar los muebles de la casa. INF 4 Este cuarto necesita dos muebles más. INF 4 (Cf. Span, moblaje and mobilario which are used as mass-nouns.) mugido : lowing Mugir: Dar mugidos las reses vacunas. VOX ¡Qué mugidos dé terneros! NOV 100 Los mugidos continuos que venían del establo me despertaron. INF 1 noticia : news Noticiero: El que tiene por oficio dar noticias, y esp. redactor de noticias en los periódicos. VOX Recalde escuchó las noticias. INQ 120 Esta sí que fué una gran noticia. INF 4 (Cf. notición, novedad, nueva, all of which are countables.) relámpago : lightning Relampaguear: Haber relámpagos. VOX Dos relámpagos cruzaron el cielo. INF 1 a la luz de un relámpago la puede perder. CRI 122 tostada : toast Se han quemado las tostadas. INF 5 Acostumbro desayunarme con dos o tres tostadas. INF 4 Déme una tostada con mucha mantequilla. INF 1

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trasto : junk Trastería: Muchedumbre o montón de trastos viejos. VOX En la buhardilla no había más que dos o tres trastos. I N F 1 Esta no es una silla, es un trasto. I N F 4 trueno : thunder Tronada: Tempestad de truenos. VOX Oí dos terribles truenos. I N F 4 produciendo un ruido violento como el de un trueno. I N Q 68 zurcido : darning María es especialista en zurcidos. I N F 1 Este pantalón está lleno de zurcidos. I N F 1 Este calcetín tiene dos zurcidos. I N F 5 Class V, which is the reverse of Class IV, yields only a few examples. It is significant that the few Spanish mass-nouns in Class V (hojarasca, oleaje, ramaje) are all derivatives of countables (hoja, ola, rama), and the countables are the more commonly used words. Thus, in none of the examples of Class V is it necessary to translate the English countable by using a counter with the Spanish mass-noun. Here the Spanish singular is simply translated by an English plural. Examples for Class V (Span. Ma. vs. Eng. Co.): hojarasca : (fallen) leaf Las calles están llenas de hojarasca. I N F 3 Era muy agradable andar sobre la hojarasca. I N F 4 Hay mucha hojarasca en las calles. I N F S oleaje : wave El ruido del oleaje le sonaba a frotamientos de papel de lija. VID 31 El oleaje era demasiado fuerte para pescar. I N F 4 La barca se movió mucho a causa del oleaje. I N F 4 ramaje : branch Estos árboles tienen muy poco ramaje. I N F 4 El ramaje nos impedía ver el horizonte. I N F 4 From Class VI to Class IX the disagreement in lexical number is not an absolute one. In these classes we have nouns which function in both ways in one language while their equivalents in the other language function in only one way, either exclusively as mass-nouns or exclusively as countables. In Class VI and Class VII what is conceived of both as a mass and as an individual in one language is conceived of exclusively as an individual in the other language. This type of disagreement is not very common. Neither' of these two classes yields many examples. Examples with counters could be obtained for only two of the Spanish nouns in Class VI: un golpe de tos and unos granos de esa uva.

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Nouns

Examples for Class VI (Span. Ma. and Co. vs. Eng. Co.): cacahuete : peanut

Mass-noun: Cómprame una libra de cacahuete. INF 3 Ha venido un barco con quinientos barriles de cacahuete. I N F 1 Countable: Me gustan muchísimo los cacahuetes. I N F 4 Déme usted dos cacahuetes. I N F 2 El niño se comió unos cacahuetes. I N F 3 (The tendency to use cacahuete as a mass-noun is greater if the context indicates a fairly large quantity.) pluma : feather

Mass-noun: Plumoso: Que tiene pluma o mucha pluma. VOX Los pájaros mudaron la pluma. I N F 2 La pluma de aquellos pájaros era verde y azul. I N F 1 Countable: Plumero: Mazo de plumas . . . VOX El pájaro, al volar, dejó dos plumas en el suelo. I N F 4 polilla : moth

Mass-noun: ¡Jesús santo, y qué amor a la tradición, aunque haya que quitarle la polilla. CRI 24 Hay que comprar bolas de alcanfor para la polilla. I N F 1 La polilla me deshizo varías prendas. I N F 4 Countable: Las polillas me han estropeado la ropa. I N F 4 Maté dos polillas. I N F 1 Este gabán está lleno de polillas. INF 4 rato : while

Mass-noun: Durante mucho rato estuvo mirando las estrellas. INC 60 La Urde tenía luz para mucho rato. INC 76 Tuve que esperar mucho rato. I N F 5 Countable: Rato: Hace un rato que lo espero. VOX Vendrá dentro de un rato. I N F 1 Su iniciativa le costó llevar la motocicleta del ronzal durante un largo rato. INC 121 tos : cough

Mass-noun: Tosigoso: Que padece tos y opresión de pecho. VOX después de un golpe de tos. NOV 242 Tiene mucha tos. I N F 2

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Countable: Ni un grito, ni una palabra, ni una tos. NOV 244 Con sus toses me avisó que llegaba. I N F 1 (Cf. Eng. coughing which is used exclusively as a mass-noun.) uva : grape

Mass-noun: Uvada: Abundancia de uva. VOX España ha exportado mil toneladas de uva. INF 3 Dáme unos granos de esa uva. I N F 4 Countable: Déme usted un racimo de uvas. I N F 3 Me gustan muchísimo las uvas. I N F 5 (The tendency to use uva as a mass-noun is greater if the context indicates a large quantity. Cf. cacahuete.) Examples for Class VII (Span. Co. vs. Eng. Ma. and Co.): anuncio : advertisement

Los anuncios producen resultados beneficiosos. I N F 3 No me gusta esta revista porque tiene demasiados anuncios. INF 5 He puesto dos anuncios en el periódico. I N F 1 (Note that the English abbreviated form ad is used only for the countable meaning of advertisement.) cana : gray hair

Cana: las canas del abuelo. VOX Hemos visto crecer en nuestros sienes esa primera cana. INC 184 El quiso entonces echar una cana al aire. INF 1 Tiene muchas canas. I N F 1 (Cf. pelo and cabello which are used both as mass-nouns and as countables.) consejo : counsel

(See consejo in Class IV.) pez : fish

Pescar: Coger (peces) con redes, cañas u otros instrumentos. VOX Pez: Cualquier animal de la clase de los peces. VOX Juan pescó un pez enorme. I N F 1 Hemos pescado sólo tres peces. I N F 3 (Cf. pescado which functions both as a mass-noun and as a countable like the English word fish. The use of fish as a mass-noun as in muck fish is not to be confused with the use of fish as a countable with unchanged plural as in many fish.) venda : bandage

Vendar: Atar o cubrir con una o varias vendas. . . . VOX Hay algunas vendas en el botiquín. I N F 4 Tráigame usted una venda pequeña. I N F 5

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In Class VIII and Class IX what is conceived of both as a mass and as an individual in one language is conceived of exclusively as a mass in the other language. Between these two classes there is extreme disparity. Class VIII (Span. Ma. and Co. vs. Eng. Ma.) yields numerous examples while not a single example has been found for Class I X (Span. Ma. vs. Eng. Ma. and Co.). Here the greater preference for countables in Spanish is revealed very definitely. Some types of Spanish nouns which belong in Class VIII (with respect to their English equivalents) have already been discussed, and examples have already been given. These include the extremely numerous Spanish abstract nouns which are used in a concrete sense to denote acts or instances of the abstraction (see pp. 32-40). Some of these, e.g., cobardía, necedad, negocio, pulmonía, apoplejía, are thoroughly concretized and can be used as countables in the singular as well as with a high degree of individualization in the plural. Others, e. g., fuerzar ira, ocio, prisa, nostalgia, are only partially concretized and are used as concrete nouns (countables) only in the plural provided the context does not indicate a high degree of individualization. In the nouns of Class VIII the disagreement in lexical number is only partial. When the Spanish nouns of this class are used as mass-nouns, there is no difficulty in translating into English since all of the English nouns are used exclusively as mass-nouns. Differences arise only when the Spanish nouns are used as countables, and here the differences are similar ta those of Class IV (Span. Co. vs. Eng. Ma.). Those Spanish nouns which have a sufficiently high degree of individualization to be used as countables in the singular are translated by the English mass-noun accompanied by an appropriate counter, e. g., un negocio : a business deal (matter, transaction); una tontería : a piece nonsense; una diablura : a piece of (or bit o f ) devilishness; una apendicitis : an attack of (or case o f ) appendicitis; una fiebre tifoidea : an attack of (or case of) typhoid fever; un ajo : a clove of garlic, un apio : a celery plant; una hiedra : an ivy vine; un encaje : a piece of lace; un jabón : a cake of soap; una lechuga : a head of lettuce; un pan : a loaf of bread. All the Spanish plurals of Class VIII are translated by English singulars either with a counter or without a counter depending upon the degree of individualization indicated by the context. Those Spanish plurals which are capable of very little individualization (abstract nouns like ocios, iniciativas, prisas, nerviosidades, impaciencias, etc.) are simply translated by English singulars; counters are, of course, never required

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with these. Likewise, counters are not required in English to translate any other plurals of this class if the context indicates little individualization, e. g., decir tonterías : to talk nonsense; sus progresos fueron notables : His progress was noteworthy; en sus ocios : in his leisure time; los negocios de la vida : the business of life; paquetes de viejos encajes : packages of old lace; vender ajos : to sell garlic; cubierto de hiedras : (ovcred with ivy; no puedo con estos calores : I can't stand this heat. If the context indicates a high degree of individualization, the English mass-nouni is accompanied by a plural counter, e. g., varias necedades : several pieces of foolishness; dos pidmonias : two attacks of (or cases o f ) pneumonia; cuatro ajos : four cloves of garlic; tres encajes : three pieces of lace; seis lechugas : six heads of lettuce; tres panes : three /oaves of bread. Some of the Spanish nouns of this class can individualize either with a counter (mass meaning) or without a counter (countable meaning), e.g., un golpe de risa or una risa; un ataque de pulmonía or una pulmonía; un acto de cobardía or una cobardía; un diente de ajo or un ajo; dos plantas de apio or dos apios; una pastilla de jabón or un jabón; tres piezas de encaje or tres encajes; dos barras de pan or dos panes. In English, of course, individualization is possible only with counters. There is sometimes hesitation with respect to the degree of individualization which is possible in some of the Spanish nouns of this class. For example, only one of the five informants offered examples of calor and irio used as countables accompanied by numbers: El mes pasado tuvimos dos calores insoportables. Este mes tuvimos dos fríos muy grandes. I N F 3

INF 3

All of the other informants required the counters ola or oleaje with calor and frío used as mass-nouns in contexts indicating such a high degree of individualization. However, examples with unos were acceptable to all of the informants: El verano pasado hicieron unos calores insoportables. Hacían unos fríos inaguantables. Numerous examples have already been given of abstract nouns in Class VIII (pp. 34-40). T h e following are largely examples of concrete nouns. Additional examples for Class V I I I (Span. Ma. and Co. vs. Eng. M a . ) :

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algodón : callen Mass-noun: Pon una capa espesa de algodón. INF 4 Tuve que ponerle unos trozos de algodón en los oídos. INF 5 Countable: Algodón: Estar uno criado entre algodones. VOX Tuve que ponerme unos algodones en los oídos. INF 5 Ponle dos algodones en la nariz. INF 4 ajo : garlic

Mass-noun: Me gusta ajo en todo lo que como. INF 1 ¿Le gusta a usted la sopa de ajo? INF 2 En este guiso hay que poner dos o tres dientes de ajo. INF 5 Countable: Ajada: Salsa de pan desleído en agua, ajos machacados y sal. VOX Ajero: Persona que tiene por oficio vender ajos. VOX Hay que poner dos o tres ajos en este guiso. INF 2 un vejete de semblante fosco v estatura ruin pero más tieso que un ajo. LEO 52 apio : celery

Mass-noun: Hay que comprar tres manojos de apio. INF 5 Estas dos plantas de apio no han agarrado. INF 5 Countable: Eres más verde que un apio. LEO 210 Estos dos apios no han agarrado. INF 5 He comprado dos hermosos apios. INF 4 calor : heat

Mass-noun: Calorífico: Que produce o distribuye calor. VOX Hemos tenido dos oleadas de calor. I N F 2 Countable: El verano pasado hicieron unos calores insoportables. INF 3 No puedo con estos calores. INF 1 Los calores del año pasado fueron terribles. INF 5 encaje : lace

Mass-noun: Esta combinación tiene encaje muy fino. INF 2 Llevaba un traje de encaje blanco. INF 1 He comprado tres piezas de encaje. INF 5 Countable: de color de rosa, corto y escotado con encajes. MAS 185 paquetes de cintas y viejos encajes. MAJ 258 He comprado tres encajes. INF 5

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frío : cold

Mass-noun: Hizo mucho frío la semana pasada. I N F 4 El mes pasado hizo una ola de frío inaguantable. I N F 5 Couniable: cantaba con su voz ronca de marino, formada por los fríos, las nieblas. INQ 58 Estos fríos me matan. I N F 1 ¡Qué fríos tuvimos el invierno pasado! INF 3 gasa : gauze

Mass-noun: El cestillo está lleno de gasa. I N F 4 Era una herida muy profunda, y tuve que meterle un metro de gasa. INF 5 Countable: Le quitaron las gasas de la herida. I N F 4 Hay algunas gasas en el botiquín. I N F 5 Entregúeme esas dos gasas. INF 4 hiedra : ¡vy

Mass-noun: Era una choza con las paredes v el tejado cubiertos por completo de hiedra. INQ 290 Estas dos plantas de hiedra no han agarrado. I N F 5 La casa estaba cubierta de hiedra. I N F 3 Countable: una torre cuadrada de piedra gris, cubierta de hiedras. INQ 285 un viejo árbol por cuyo seno verde tuerce el paso una hiedra. CON 173 jabón : soap

Mass-noun: Jaboncillo: Pastilla de jabón aromatizado. VOX Hay que comprar unas pastillas de jabón. I N F 5 Countable: No te olvides de comprar media docena de jabones. I N F 4 Jabón: Dar un jabón, reprender ásperamente. VOX lechuga : lettuce

Mass-noun: Hice una ensalada con lechuga y tomate. INF 5 He plantado varias plantas de lechuga. I N F 5 Countable: Compré seis lechugas. I N F 5 engullía las lechugas y los guisantes. NOV 247 las hojas de una buena lechuga. INC 73 madera : wood

Mass-noun: Maderería: Establecimiento donde se vende madera. VOX Es una mesa de madera muy fuerte. I N F 5

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Countable: Y esta otra (puerta) con las maderas albeadas. CON 173 Se acercó a la parte del Marseille que rozaba las maderas del muelle. VID 253 Se han roto dos maderas. I N F 1 Falta una maulera en el estante. I N F 1 (Cf. madero which is used exclusively as a countable.) pan : bread

Mass-noun: Panadero: Persona que tiene por oficio hacer o vender pan. VOX Hay que comprar tres barras de pan. I N F 5 Countable: ofrendas de pollos, de panes o de mantecas que los aldeanos solían hacer a los santos. NOV 34 abrir un agujero a un gran pan de cuatro libras. NOV 64 ¿Me da usted tres panes? I N F S (Note the countable use of manteca in NOV. 34.) risa : laughter

Mass-noun: hacía esfuerzos desesperados para reprimir la risa. NOV 37 De repente oímos un golpe de risa. I N F 5 En esa casa no hay más que risa y canto. I N F S Countable: fué una risa alegre, desenfrenada, que se prolongó largo rato. MAJ 125 la necesidad de animar con sus palabras y risas el conventual silencio del estudio. MAJ 126 (Cf. Eng. laugh which is used exclusively as a countable. Span. carcajada, risada, risotada are also used excusively as countables.) trabajo : work

Mass-noun: Los días de trabajo no tengo tiempo para ir de compras. I N F 5 Hoy tengo mucho trabajo. I N F 4 Countable: Los muchos trabajos no le permitían ser puntual. INQ 88 De buena gana tomaba una criada para evitarte estos trabajos. VID 61 Me quedan dos o tres trabajos que hacer. I N F 5 (Cf. Eng. job which is used exclusively as a countable.) One type of disagreement in lexical number is not taken into account by our table of possible relationships. This type of disagreement mayoccur in Class I I I (Span. Ma. and Co. vs. Eng. Ma. and Co.) where there is apparent agreement. In most nouns which fall into this class we are generally free to use either manner of expression in the same way in both languages depending upon whether we want to regard the thing

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as a mass or as an individual: hay demasiado ruido : there is too much noise or oí algunos ruidos : I heard some noises; lleno de papel : full of paper or lleno de papeles : full of papers; la injusticia de los hombres : the injustice oj men or cometió injusticias : he committed injustices. This freedom to move from one category to the other in the same way in both languages is not shared by all nouns which fall into Class III. Sometimes the countable range and the mass range of such nouns are rather definitely fixed, and they may be fixed differently in the two languages. This rather subtle kind of disagreement in lexical number may be illustrated by a comparison of Span, pelo and cabello and Eng. hair in the sense of hair of the head.' All three words function as mass-nouns and as countables, but each one has its own peculiar ranges for the two functions. First we shall compare pelo and hair. The following examples illustrate the range of pelo as a mass-noun: Tiene el pelo gris, claro, largo, peinado hacia atrás. CON 121 María tiene el pelo rubio. I N F 2 Se estará rizando el pelo probablemente. INC 141 Me hice cortar el pelo. I N F 1 Peluquero: El que tiene por oficio peinar, cortar el pelo. VOX La raya le partía el pelo en dos. I N F 1 In none of the above examples could the countable form pelos be used. Likewise, all of the above contexts would require hair to be used as a mass-noun in English. Thus far the two words agree. However, given a certain degree of individualization (which would be rather difficult to define), the countable use of pelo is possible: Cabello: Cada uno de los pelos que nacen en la cabeza v conjunto de todos ellos. VOX Se arrancó dos pelos de la cabeza. I N F 1 mujeres en matinée, con todos los pelos sueltos, desmelenadas, con peinetas de oro. INC 123 Hoy tengo unos pelos imposibles. I N F 2 ¡Que pelos llevas! I N F 1 abarcando su cabeza tierna, de pelos finos y ensortijados, con una de sus manazas. MAJ 30 In the first two examples cada uno and dos indicate a very high degree of individualization. In the next three examples the notion of dishevelled hair, that is, sticking out in all directions, provides enough individualization for the countable use of pelo. In the last example the notion of curls seems to provide the necessary degree of individualization. If we attempt to use the English countable form hairs in the above contexts, however,

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we ñnd that it is possible only in the ñrst two examples because only these two examples imply a sufficiently high degree of individualization. The degree of individualization in the other contexts is high enough to permit the countable use of pelo but not the countable use of hair. Thus, although both pelo and hair are used as mass-nouns and as countables (Class I I I ) , the countable range of pelo is obviously broader than the countable range of hair. Span, cabello, which is a more literary word and is also distinguished from pelo by considerations of level of usage, has a countable range which is different from both that of pelo and that of hair. A few examples will illustrate this: Used as a mass-noun: Encrespador: Instrumento para encrespar y rizar el cabello. VOX Peinar: desenredar, limpiar o componer (el cabello a una pers.) VOX Su cabello, recogido en la nuca, laso y mustio. MAS 30 Tiene el cabello negro. I N F 4 Melena: Cabello largo, colgante y suelto. VOX Used as a countable: Greña: andar a la greña, reñir dos o más personas tirándose de los cabellos. VOX de modo que deja la frente y los cabellos junto a los labios de Adrián. MAS 37 Rubio: Die. del hombre y de la mujer cuyos cabellos son rubios. VOX Tiene los cabellos negros. I N F 4 Raya: Señal que resulta en la cabeza de dividir los cabellos con el peine. VOX All of the above contexts in which cabello is used as a mass-noun would also permit the use of pelo and hair as mass-nouns. Here all three words agree. However, if we examine the contexts in which cabello is used as a countable, we ñnd that its range as a countable is broader than that of pelo and much broader than that of hair. In the first context enough individualization is implied by the notion of dishevelled hair to permit the use of pelo as a countable but not enough to permit hair to be used as a countable. In all of the other contexts we find cabello used as a countable with no notion of individualization; at all. Consequently, in these contexts neither pelo nor hair could be used as countables because both of these words require some degree of individualization to be used as countables. Thus, although all three words are used as mass-nouns and as countables, they all disagree with each other with respect to range. Cabello has the broadest countable range, and hair has the most limited countable range.

VI. CONCLUSION From our comparative study of lexical number as it functions in Spanish and English some definite conclusions may be drawn which should contribute to our understanding of the genius of both languages. The comparative basis on which the study was made necessarily complicated many matters which would have been a great deal simpler if the study had been limited to lexical number in Spanish alone without any reference to English. However, the virtue of the comparative method lies in the fact that in a matter like the determination of lexical number, which is often completely arbitrary from a logical point of view, it would be difficult to speak of any tendencies without having some point of reference. The comparative method served to bring certain features of both languages into bolder relief. The examples given under the various classes in Chap. V and the examples of concretized abstract nouns given in Chap. I l l are nothing more than samplings of the various types of disagreement between Spanish and English with respect to lexical number. However, since these classes were set up before examples were sought for systematically, some statistical significance can be claimed for these findings. The distribution of examples reveals a much greater preference for countables and a consequent more limited use of counters in Spanish. The classes which yield the most numerous examples are Class IV (Span. Co. vs. Eng. Ma.) and Class VIII (Span. Ma. and Co. vs. Eng. Ma.). In both of these classes we have a Spanish countable opposite an English mass-noun. The frequency of the type of disagreement represented by Class IV is especially significant because in this class the disagreement in lexical number is an absolute one: what is conceived of exclusively as an individual in Spanish is conceived of exclusively as a mass in English. In Class VIII the disagreement is partial: what is conceived of both as a mass and as an individual in Spanish is conceived of exclusively as a mass in English, but again the disagreement is the same as that of Class IV, i. e., a Spanish countable opposite an English mass-noun. In Class VIII, in addition to many concrete nouns, we have the very numerous Spanish concretized abstract nouns whose English equivalents cannot be concretized. Keniston's findings show that the tendency to concretize abstract nouns in Spanish has increased enormously since the sixteenth century. The use of the plural of an abstract noun to denote acts or instances of the abstraction has a range and frequency of 3-3 in the sixteenth cen69

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tury. In contemporary Spanish the same usage has increased to a range and frequency of 22-43 (see p. 32). It is significant that Class V (Span. Ma. vs. Eng. Co.), which is the reverse of Class IV, yields only a few examples, and Class IX (Span. Ma. vs. Eng. Ma. and Co.), which is the reverse of Class VIII, has not a single example. Neither Class VI (Span. Ma. and Co. vs. Eng. Co.) nor Class VII (Span. Co. vs. Eng. Ma. and Co.) has yielded sufficient examples to speak of any tendency either way. Thus, in the great majority of cases of disagreement in lexical number between Spanish and English we find a countable in Spanish and a mass-noun in English. Our comparison also reveals that the distinction between mass-noun and countable is much less sharply defined in Spanish than in English, and that consequently the passage from one category to the other is made much more easily in Spanish than in English. Several differences in the function of lexical number in the two languages illustrate this. (1) In Spanish there are fewer formal, features which distinguish massnouns from countables, six in Spanish and nine in English. (2) In Spanish the same indefinite adjective of quantity is used to express mass quantity as well as numerical quantity. Mucho, poco, tanto, cuanto, mis, menos, bastante are all used in the singular with mass-nouns to express mass or continuous quantity as well as in the plural with countables to express numerical or discontinuous quantity: mucho dinero, muchas cosas; poco tiempo, pocas horas; tanta agua, tantas gotas, etc. In most of the English adjectives of quantity mass quantity is differentiated from numerical quantity by the use of different words: much work, many tasks; little bread, jew buns; less noise, fewer men, etc. Only more and enough are used indifferently with mass-nouns as well as with countables. Formerly the distinction was made even in these two: more and enough with massnouns and mo and enow with countables. In one case, however, Spanish distinguishes mass quantity from size where English does not. English uses little for both poco (mass quantity) and pequeño (size). (3) Spanish effects the passage from countable to mass-noun much more easily than English. This is seen in the two special uses of adjectives of quantity with singular countables to express numerical quantity as in tanto beso 'so many kisses' and to express size as in mucho bigote 'a large moustache.' Of these two devices only the second is possible in English (enough house, more car), but in English this construction is colloquial, much less frequent, andj almost always jocular. (4) The passage from mass-noun to countable is also more easily effected in Spanish than in English. This is

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seen in the much greater freedom with which abstract nouns are concretized in Spanish (Class VIII). The comparative method we have used also has its practical application in bilingual lexicography where the problem of disagreement in lexical number arises frequently. Bilingual dictionaries do not always deal adequately or consistently with this problem and often disregard it altogether. Often the same type of disagreement is treated in a variety of different ways. For example, if we examine Cuyás for the treatment of Spanish countables which are translated by English mass-nouns (Class IV) we find such treatments as the following: noticia : news

"'noticia, /. news (in this sense, gen. in the />/.); notice, knowledge, information. . . ." chisme : gossip

"chisme, m. tale of a gossip monger; gossip. . . ." mueble : furniture

"mueble. I. a. movable. II. m. piece of furniture. — pi. chattels, furniture, household goods." All three words present exactly the same type of disagreement, yet in the first example the problem is treated by giving the English mass-noun and a not too enlightening explanation concerning the use of the plural of (he Spanish word. In the second example the same problem is treated by giving a definition and the English mass-noun. In the third example the Spanish singular is translated by the English mass-noun accompanied by a counter, and the Spanish plural is translated by the English mass-noun without a counter. Of these the best treatment is that of mueble. The same treatment would have been much more appropriate for noticia and chisme as well. If we look at the same words in the English-Spanish side, we find the following treatments: news : noticia

"news, s. noticia; noticias (siempre en singular: the news is this, las noticias son éstas) ; cosa nueva, noticia fresca. . . ." gossip : chisme

"gossip. I. s. chismografía, chismería, murmuración, hablilla. . . ." furniture : mueble

"furniture, s. mobilario; muebles; equipo; adornos, accesorios. . .

In the first example both the singular and the plural of the Spanish word are given with an explanation concerning the number of the English word, and an example. In the second example the Spanish countable

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ckisme, which is the best translation for gossip, is avoided altogether, and less exact and less frequent Spanish equivalents which may be used as mass-nouns are given. Here we see a conscious attempt to translate the lexical number of the English word at the expense of selecting the most appropriate Spanish equivalent. In the third example Spanish singulars and plurals are given without any explanation. In these treatments there is obviously no plan and no consistency, but at least there is an awareness of the problem, and some attempt is made to deal with it. In many other words (especially less common words) which present exactly the same kind of disagreement, the problem is disregarded entirely. A more methodical and logically consistent treatment of this problem in bilingual dictionaries is possible and highly desirable. The usefulness of a bilingual dictionary would be greatly increased by the inclusion ii» the introducton of a brief treatment of lexical number together with a classification of the different types of disagreement. The user could then be referred to the proper section of this treatment under each entry which requires clarification with respect to lexical number. It would also be practical and desirable to mark the lexical number of nouns which offer difficulty in this respect just as we mark verbs transitive and intransitive.

I N D E X OF WORDS (Note.—All words are listed in the English alphabetical order. The language or dialect is indicated unless the word is Modern Spanish or Modern English.) abundance 34 abundancia 34 abuse 21 abuso 21 aceituna IS acidez 36 acidity 36 act 52 ado, S3, 63 ad 61 admiration 6, 21 advertisement 61 advice 20, 25. 30, 49, 50. 51, 54, 57 acs (Lat.) 13 affair 21 agua 1, 14, 22. 23, 26, 40, 42, 44 ahijada 46 air 6, 21. 25, 26 aire 22, 26, 40, 42 ajo 62, 63, 64 algodón 64 alguno 22 alhaja 58 all 21 almendra 15 almíbar 44 amabilidad 43 anger 8, 34, 55 angina 36 anís 15 anuncio 61 apendicitis 36, 37, 53, 62 apio 62, 63, 64 aplauso 34 apoplejía 36, 37, 54, 62 apoplexy 36, 54 apoyo 34 appendicitis 36, 53 applause 21, 34, 55 apple 21 árbol 14, 22 arena 1, 15, 40, 42 argent (Fr.) 13 army 1, 25 arrope 44 0TT02 1 arveja 15 asistencia 34

assiettce (Fr.) 10 assistance 34 ataque 63 Atem (Gcr.) 53 Atemsug (Ger.) 53 atmósfera 40, 42 attack 52, 54, 62 audacia 33 audacity 33 aurum (Lat.) 12, 13 automobile 19 automóvil 46 ave ¡ana 15 avena 15 azogue 14 azúcar 19, 23, 44 baggage 18, 27, 28 bandage 61 bar 56 bargaining 35 barra 63 bastante 22, 45, 46, 70 beauty 31 beer 44 hello (Neapolitan) 16 beso 29, 45 bicycle!te (Fr.) 12 bio 19, 26 bigote 23, 46 bisutería 58 bit 51, 52, 62 blancheur ( F r . ) 29 Blut (Ger.) 9 boeuf (Fr.) 12 bois (Fr.) 12 belt 51 bone 8 book 18, 20 bos (Lat.) 11. 12 boy 22 boyada 25 branch 54, 59 brazo 45 bread 5, 62, 63, 66 bridge 55 bronce 44 buey 25 73

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buffoonery 30 bufonada 30, 56 burrada 29 business 35, 54, 63 business deal 52, 53 butter 6 caballo 22, 55 /