Associative plurals and their associates

Abstract

This paper presents an integrated approach to the morphosyntax of the three nominal plural markers of Hungarian: multiplicative -k, possessive -i, and associative plural -ék. It explicates the relationship between the associative and multiplicative plural markers, and between the associative plural and the anaphoric possession marker -é. Central in the analysis proposed is the hypothesis that the marker -é consistently plays the role of a predicational relator formally licensing the silence of one of the two terms in the predication relationship that it mediates. The syntax underlying the associative plural involves an asyndetic coordination relation in which the content of a silent plural pronoun is specified by a complex noun phrase headed by the silent noun group. The analysis has im-plications for the syntax of number and demonstratives and for the licensing of silent nouns and pronouns.