Többszámú

Többszámú is a grammatical adjective used in Hungarian linguistics to denote something associated with the plural number. It is formed from the elements több meaning “many” or “more” and számú meaning “numbered” or “having the number,” with the suffix -ú used to create adjectives that describe a property.

In standard Hungarian grammar, the primary term for the plural is többes szám, and többszámú appears mainly in scholarly descriptions rather than in everyday speech. The adjective is commonly found in typological or historical descriptions of languages with multiple grammatical numbers beyond a simple singular/plural distinction, or in commentary on plural forms of pronouns, nouns, or verbs within those descriptions.

Usage and examples tend to be technical and context-specific. For instance, többszámú főnév would refer to a noun construed as existing in a plural number within a given linguistic description. Similarly, többszámú névmás might describe a pronoun that has a plural form, and többszámú ragozás could denote inflection patterns associated with plurality in a particular language. These usages emphasize the plural-number aspect rather than everyday possessive or determiner functions.

Etymology is straightforward: többszámú combines több (many) with számú (numbered/number-bearing). The term should be understood as a descriptive label rather than a common category in ordinary Hungarian grammar, and it often appears in comparative or theoretical works on morphosyntax and numeral systems.

See also: többszám, többes szám, plurality in linguistics, numeral systems.