Pluralmarking

Pluralmarking refers to the systems by which languages indicate a distinction between singular and plural for nouns and related words. It can be expressed on the noun itself, on determiners or adjectives, on verbs through agreement, or through separate numerals and classifiers. In some languages, plural is marked morphologically on the noun; in others, it is indicated syntactically or lexically, and in many languages it is not marked on the noun at all but inferred from context or numerals.

Common strategies include suffixation (for example, English nouns often take -s or -es to form plurals), internal vowel change or suppletion (as in man vs. men, foot vs. feet), and, in some languages, the use of plural markers positioned before the noun, such as certain plural markers in Tagalog. Other languages rely on word order, auxiliaries, or agreement markers on adjectives and verbs to signal plurality. Some languages have no obligatory plural marking on the noun; plurality may be expressed by context, numerals, or classifiers (as in Mandarin Chinese, where nouns are not morphologically plural but plural sense can be indicated with numerals or the personal pronoun ta/tamen, and where measure words help specify quantity).

Morphological versus analytic tendencies vary cross-linguistically. In analytic languages, plural is often expressed with separate words or clitics rather than noun inflection, while synthetic languages may attach multiple affixes or undergo stem changes. The scope of plural marking can differ for count nouns, mass nouns, and collective nouns, and languages may also encode dual or paucal numbers in addition to a general plural.