Rethinking the use of collective-singulative pairs in contemporary Welsh

This article offers new insights on the ongoing debate surrounding number categories in Welsh, namely whether the collective-singulative distinction can be regarded as a full number category in its own right, separate from the more common singular-plural category. Based on new data obtained from online questionnaires, it will be argued for the first time that some “morphological collectives” are in fact being used in a singular manner in contemporary varieties of Welsh. The potential relevance of this emerging development to the variation patterns of Welsh diminutives will therefore be probed. Moreover, the implications of this study’s findings for some previous research on morphological typology will be explored, as well as their possible pertinence to studies of the acquisition of Welsh. Keywords: Collective-singulative pairs Diminutives Contemporary Welsh Natural Morphology Morphological variation