plurálu

Plurálu is a grammatical category that marks number, specifically indicating more than one referent. In languages that employ a distinct plurálu, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and determiners may inflect to reflect plurality, and verbs often agree with the subject in number. The term is used in linguistic descriptions to refer to the plural form itself as well as to the patterns by which plurality is realized.

The realization of plurálu varies widely across languages. It can be expressed by suffixing a plural marker to the noun (for example, cat → cats in English), by modifying the stem through an internal vowel change or other alternations (ablaut-type plurals), by prefixing or employing a separate word, or by a combination of these methods. In some languages, plurálu is not marked on the noun at all; plurality is conveyed by numerals, classifiers, or context.

In syntax, plurálu often governs agreement patterns. Adjectives, determiners, and verbs may require plural agreement when the subject or the noun phrase is plural. Some languages feature extensive gender or case interactions with plurálu, while others have relatively simple or no agreement on the noun itself.

Variation by language family is substantial. English typically marks plurálu with a suffix, though irregular plurals (man/men, child/children) illustrate non-productive plurálu changes. Spanish marks plurálu on nouns and adjectives with -s or -es, with noun–adjective agreement. Arabic uses a system of broken and sound plurals. In languages like Mandarin Chinese, plural interpretation is primarily syntactic or lexical rather than morphologically marked.

See also: singular, grammatical number, dual, paucal, count nouns.