Kłopoty z kategoryzacją polskich pluraliów tantum

Abstract

PROBLEMS WITH CATEGORISING POLISH PLURALIA TANTUM The author of the article discusses problems with the status of the nouns, in contemporary Polish, traditionally classified as pluralia tantum. These problems are mainly related to the Aristotelian model of categorization the essence of which is marking categorial boundaries. Linguistic facts reveal the inadequacy of this approach. An alternative approach is the prototype-based model of categorization, which can accommodate not only those nouns that lack the singular form but also nouns that are similar to them in some respects. This broad understanding of the pluralia tantum category allows one to show the peculiarities of its elements, their unequal status within the category, and the relationship of similarity between them.

Keywords

• kategoria językowa
• pluralia tantum
• singularia tantum
• rzeczowniki dwuliczbowe