Plurality

An interesting thought occurred to me today. I've noticed that in
languages that mark number on the verb, the number agrees with the number
of the subject/agent. But has anyone thought about marking the number of
the *object* on the verb instead? How possible is it to have the verb
agree with the subject on person, but agree with the *object* on number?

This occurred to me when thinking about how plural actions are viewed:
one could view it as one vs. many agents performing the same action, or as
one action affecting one vs. many objects. The person marking on the verb
could still agree with the agent (indicating who is doing the action) but
the number can agree with the objects (indicating how many things are
affected by the action).

Expecting an anadewism, :-)


T

--
"Give us money for our scam, and you will succeed!" "No thanks, I'm not a
bird. I don't suck seed."

Replies