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Number marking in Colloquial Singapore English
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- Authors
- Issue Date
- 2009
- Citation
- Journal of Cognitive Science, Vol.10 No.2, pp. 149-172
- Keywords
- Number Marking ; Singapore English ; Avoid Ambiguity ; Parameters ; Nominals ; Determiners ; Agreement
- Abstract
- Number marking in Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) has often been
described as sporadic or random. This description stems from the fact that
plural marking is largely optional in CSE, combined with a lack of precise
characterization of its optionality. We show that CSE number marking is not
random but systematic; plural marking is obligatory on a noun that occurs
with a number-neutral determiner in Determiner+Noun sequence, and optional
elsewhere. We propose a principle called Avoid Ambiguity Principle and
derive the optional but not-so-optional nature of CSE number marking from
an interaction between the principle and the structure of a nominal expression.
Unlike CSE, English displays obligatory number marking. We argue that this
is a result of the two languages differing in two respects – (i) English always
projects D, whereas CSE does so optionally; (ii) English D comes with unvalued
[αpl], whereas CSE D comes with valued [+/−pl]. These language-specific
parameters, coupled with the Avoid Ambiguity Principle, capture the differences
between the two languages. Under our analysis, English transformed to
CSE by a parameter resetting in category D when it came to Singapore.
- ISSN
- 1598-2327
- Language
- English
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