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INTERDEPENDENCE IN NUMBER AND DEFINITENESS MARKING IN OMOTIC [Abstract ID: 0804-05]
In this presentation I will discuss the interesting way that number and definiteness/specificity interact in a number of Omotic languages. In some languages, for example Yem, morphological allomorphs of plural number are distributed according to the definite-indefinite value of nouns. In others, for example Gamo and Wolaitta, all plural-marked nouns are interpreted as definite, even when the latter category is not overtly marked. I will examine this phenomenon of category-dependence and discuss any correlation it might have with the formal way in which number is marked (affixation, reduplication or modification by an independent word) and/or the types of number distinctions that are made (singular - plural only, or this extend to the distinction of dual and paucal as well).