dualending

Dualending is a linguistic term used to describe the morphological ending or suffix that marks the dual number, indicating two of something. It is part of the broader grammatical number system that languages may employ, alongside singular and plural. The dual ending attaches to a word root to signal reference to exactly two items. Its exact form and position vary across languages; it may be a suffix on nouns, adjectives, and pronouns, and in some cases it also influences verb agreement to reflect a dual subject or object.

Languages with a distinct dual include ancient and classical varieties such as Sanskrit and Ancient Greek, which had separate noun, adjective, pronoun, and verb endings for dual forms. Many modern languages also retain dual forms in some contexts or dialects, including Slovenian and Sorani Kurdish, though the usage and conditioning can differ by gender, case, or tense. In Arabic, the dual exists alongside singular and plural and affects noun phrases, adjectives, and verb agreement in standard varieties; dialects may exhibit variation.

Across language families, the status of the dual is typologically variable. Some languages maintain a productive dual system with multiple endings across word classes; others have reduced or merged the dual with the plural, or lose it in everyday speech. The term dualending is used in grammars as a shorthand for the morpheme that marks this specific number, with realizations that are language-specific.

See also: grammatical number; dual; plural; morphology.