Grammatical Conditions for the Non-Realisation of the Pluralia Tantum Feature in Some Typically Plural Verbs in Bulgarian

This paper examines the conditions under which typically plural verbs are used in singular. Emphasis is placed on the features of the person-referring subject that trigger the depluralisation of the predicate. The observations and example excerpts are based on a large corpus of Bulgarian. The five most frequent verbs with the polyprefix complexes изпона-, изпо- and наиз- have been selected. The study concludes that the main type of subject requiring singular agreement with the predicate expresses semantic “collectivity” and is typically in the 3rd person, singular. However, there are also cases of figurative uses, as well as instances in the 1st person, singular.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Bulgarian Language
Published
2025-02-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.47810/bl.72.25.pr.06
Primary Topic
Discourse Analysis and Cultural Communication
Type
article
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article

Grammatical Conditions for the Non-Realisation of the Pluralia Tantum Feature in Some Typically Plural Verbs in Bulgarian

Petya Osenova
1 links
Journal of Bulgarian Language
Discourse Analysis and Cultural Communication
article

Grammatical Conditions for the Non-Realisation of the Pluralia Tantum Feature in Some Typically Plural Verbs in Bulgarian

Petya Osenova
article en

Abstract

This paper examines the conditions under which typically plural verbs are used in singular. Emphasis is placed on the features of the person-referring subject that trigger the depluralisation of the predicate. The observations and example excerpts are based on a large corpus of Bulgarian. The five most frequent verbs with the polyprefix complexes изпона-, изпо- and наиз- have been selected. The study concludes that the main type of subject requiring singular agreement with the predicate expresses semantic “collectivity” and is typically in the 3rd person, singular. However, there are also cases of figurative uses, as well as instances in the 1st person, singular.

Journal of Bulgarian LanguageVol. 72(PRIL)
Openalex Percentile: Top 94%
Discourse Analysis and Cultural Communication
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