pluralische

Pluralische is a term used in linguistic typology and in some discussions of philosophical pluralism to denote a hypothetical grammatical category that encodes both plural reference and a unitary or collective reading of a group. In this sense, a pluralische marker signals that a predicate applies to the group as a whole, rather than to individual members or to each member distributively. The concept is primarily discussed in speculative and conlang literature, rather than in mainstream grammars.

Etymology and scope: The word blends plural with a Germanic suffix -ische, mirroring the formation of adjectives in German and related languages. It is typically described as a suffix, enclitic, or clitic-like element that can attach to nouns or numerals to indicate a plural body treated as a single referent. The term has been used mostly in theoretical discussions and in constructed languages to explore how plural and collective readings can interact.

Morphology and semantics: A pluralische form often coexists with other number and determiners and may affect agreement in the clause. Semantically, it contrasts with a distributive plural, where each member is treated separately. It can encode notions of cohesion, unit formation, or collective action, and raise questions about scope, reference, and line-of-sight between plural and collective readings.

Examples: In a hypothetical language, the root 'lup' means wolf. The pluralische form 'lupische' refers to a wolf pack as a single unit. Example sentence: 'Lupische hunts in the forest' meaning 'The pack of wolves hunts in the forest.' Another example: 'duo lupische' meaning 'two packs (two groups of wolves)'. Debates about pluralische address typology, cross-linguistic feasibility, and how it relates to existing plural or collective markers. See also: plurality, grammatical number, collectivities.