Monikollisuus

Monikollisuus is the grammatical category that marks whether a noun, pronoun, determiner, or verb refers to one entity or more than one. It is contrasted with singularity and, in languages with more than two numbers, with dual, trial, or paucal forms. In many languages, including Finnish, plurality is expressed by morphological changes and agreement.

In Finnish, monikollisuus is central to noun and pronoun inflection. Plural forms are typically marked on nouns by suffixes, most commonly -t in the nominative plural, while other cases reflect the plural through different endings. For example, a singular noun such as koira (dog) becomes koirat (dogs) in the nominative plural; other case forms differ in endings, showing how number interacts with case. Adjectives and numerals agree with the noun in number. Finnish has no grammatical articles, and plurality is not indicated by articles.

Across languages, plurality can be expressed in various ways. Some languages have explicit dual or trial numbers; others rely on numerals and quantifiers or on verbal agreement with the subject. Some languages lack grammatical number altogether, treating all referents as countable without marking. Semantically, monikollisuus interacts with countability, mass nouns, and distributive interpretations.

In teaching and language description, understanding number is essential for agreement rules, article systems, and syntax. Monikollisuus thus functions as a core feature of how languages encode reference to multiple entities.