plurálisa

Plurálisa is a term used in linguistics to describe the process by which nouns are marked to indicate plurality. The term is a neologism, employed to discuss the variety of plural formation strategies found across languages.

Plurálisa encompasses methods such as suffixation (for example, English nouns taking -s or -es), internal vowel changes (as in goose versus geese), and zero plural, where a noun remains unchanged in form but is interpreted as plural in the right context. Some languages use the noun itself with fixed plural endings, while others rely on numerals, classifiers, or determiners to convey plurality.

Typologically, languages differ in whether plural marking is obligatory, optional, or context-dependent. Some systems distinguish dual, plural, and collective numbers, while others cross-cut quantity through agreement on verbs or adjectives rather than the noun itself.

Semantics also include special categories such as pluralia tantum, nouns that require a plural form even when referring to a single object (for example scissors or trousers in English), and mass nouns whose plurality is indicated by context rather than morphology.

In language acquisition and processing, plurálisa highlights how learners memorize irregular plurals, generalize rules, and rely on exposure. Plural-marking can influence word recognition, precision of reference, and cross-linguistic transfer in bilinguals.

In computational linguistics, implementing plurálisa-aware tools involves pluralization and lemmatization rules, irregular dictionaries, and language-specific morphology. Challenges include irregular plurals, stem changes, and languages with non-concatenative plural systems.

Related topics include plural, pluralia tantum, count and mass nouns, and inflection.