THE CATEGORY OF COUNTABILITY IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE

This paper considers the category of countability as a category established on the lexical meaning of nouns. The lexical meaning of nouns can be dually structured, in a unit and mass forms, relative to the opposition one ≠ many. The category of countability has its content and expression. The conten...

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Main Author: Marija Znika
Format: Article
Language:Bulgarian
Published: University of Rijeka. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences 2005-01-01
Series:Fluminensia: Journal for Philological Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/7129
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author Marija Znika
author_facet Marija Znika
author_sort Marija Znika
collection DOAJ
description This paper considers the category of countability as a category established on the lexical meaning of nouns. The lexical meaning of nouns can be dually structured, in a unit and mass forms, relative to the opposition one ≠ many. The category of countability has its content and expression. The content of the category of countability consists of the feature [± countable], and its marker [+ countable] and [- countable]. A noun is countable if its content can be conceived as a unit opposed to mass (table, apple). A noun is uncoutable if its content cannot be perceived as a unit that could be opposed to mass (water, sugar). The expression of the category of countability depends on its content. In the Croatian language the category of countability has its expression in the grammatical category of number and its grammems: singular and plural. These two grammems are formally, and frequently accentually, distinctive from the majority of nouns. The analysis focuses on the meaning of nouns, while their expression is considered as a possible indicator of semantic relationships the category of countability is based on. The paper analyses pluralia tantum and singularia tantum, and their different status countability-wise. It points out the possibility of semantic recategorization of nouns and thus demonstrates a dynamic quality of the category of countability. It also analyses the process of appelativisation (eponomisation) of personal names, and the process of appelative deappelativisation. It shows the relationship between the category of countability and the category of definiteness, when definiteness is expressed by an adjectival aspect.
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spelling doaj.art-dbe6f171fcfe405c9c53baed32b0fe842022-12-21T19:50:25ZbulUniversity of Rijeka. Faculty of Humanities and Social SciencesFluminensia: Journal for Philological Research0353-46421848-96802005-01-011713952THE CATEGORY OF COUNTABILITY IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGEMarija ZnikaThis paper considers the category of countability as a category established on the lexical meaning of nouns. The lexical meaning of nouns can be dually structured, in a unit and mass forms, relative to the opposition one ≠ many. The category of countability has its content and expression. The content of the category of countability consists of the feature [± countable], and its marker [+ countable] and [- countable]. A noun is countable if its content can be conceived as a unit opposed to mass (table, apple). A noun is uncoutable if its content cannot be perceived as a unit that could be opposed to mass (water, sugar). The expression of the category of countability depends on its content. In the Croatian language the category of countability has its expression in the grammatical category of number and its grammems: singular and plural. These two grammems are formally, and frequently accentually, distinctive from the majority of nouns. The analysis focuses on the meaning of nouns, while their expression is considered as a possible indicator of semantic relationships the category of countability is based on. The paper analyses pluralia tantum and singularia tantum, and their different status countability-wise. It points out the possibility of semantic recategorization of nouns and thus demonstrates a dynamic quality of the category of countability. It also analyses the process of appelativisation (eponomisation) of personal names, and the process of appelative deappelativisation. It shows the relationship between the category of countability and the category of definiteness, when definiteness is expressed by an adjectival aspect.http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/7129category of countabilityCroatian languagenounappelativisationdeappelativisation
spellingShingle Marija Znika
THE CATEGORY OF COUNTABILITY IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE
Fluminensia: Journal for Philological Research
category of countability
Croatian language
noun
appelativisation
deappelativisation
title THE CATEGORY OF COUNTABILITY IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE
title_full THE CATEGORY OF COUNTABILITY IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE
title_fullStr THE CATEGORY OF COUNTABILITY IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE
title_full_unstemmed THE CATEGORY OF COUNTABILITY IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE
title_short THE CATEGORY OF COUNTABILITY IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE
title_sort category of countability in the croatian language
topic category of countability
Croatian language
noun
appelativisation
deappelativisation
url http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/7129
work_keys_str_mv AT marijaznika thecategoryofcountabilityinthecroatianlanguage
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