Count noun

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In linguistics, a count noun (also countable noun) is a noun that occurs in grammatical constructions which present its referents as individually countable units. Count nouns are commonly contrasted with mass nouns. The distinction is grammatical rather than simply a matter of whether the things referred to can be counted. For example, the English count noun chair and mass noun furniture can refer to the same objects but differ in their grammatical behavior.

In English, typical count nouns have singular and plural forms (chair, chairs), combine directly with cardinal numerals (three chairs), and occur with determiners such as each, every, many, and several. Typical mass nouns, such as furniture and water, do not ordinarily have plural forms or occur with these determiners, although they combine with other quantifying expressions, such as some, much, and all. These patterns are useful diagnostics in English, but they are not universal requirements for count nouns. Languages differ in how they grammatically distinguish counting from other kinds of quantification, and countability can vary across the uses of a noun.

Grammatical distinction

The count–mass distinction is grammatical and is not determined simply by the nature of the objects or phenomena to which nouns refer. For example, "seven chairs" and "some furniture" could refer to exactly the same objects, but the first expression specifies the number of individual objects, while the second does not. The choice can therefore also serve a semantic purpose. Abstract nouns can likewise have count uses, as in "three hopes", or mass uses, as in "some hope".

The following examples illustrate typical differences between the English count noun chair and the mass noun furniture. These are patterns of grammatical distribution rather than exceptionless properties of nouns in all languages.

Some determiners can be used with both mass and count nouns, including "all", "no", and "some". Others distinguish between typical count and mass uses: "few", "many", "those", and cardinal numerals such as "one" normally combine with count nouns, while "little" and "much" normally combine with mass nouns.

According to a controversial prescription, "fewer" and "fewest" are reserved for count nouns and "less" and "least" for mass nouns (see Fewer vs. less), but "less" has long been used with count nouns as well. "More" serves as the comparative of both "many" and "much". The prescription concerning "less" and "fewer" dates to 1770, although the criticized usage dates to Old English.

In English, count nouns can be used to specify units for quantifying mass nouns. For example, "There's some furniture in the room" can be expressed as "There are some pieces of furniture in the room"; similarly, "Let's have some fun" can be expressed as "Let's have a bit of fun". The count nouns piece and bit specify units, although such constructions are not necessarily grammatically equivalent to classifier constructions in other languages.

Many English nouns also have both count and mass uses. For example:

• "I'll have a cup of coffee." (cup is a count noun specifying a unit; coffee has a mass use)
• "I'll have two coffees." (count use of coffee, ordinarily referring to servings)
• "I'll have coffee." (mass use of coffee)
• "I'll have some coffee." (mass use with a determiner)
• "I'll have too much coffee." (mass use with a quantity expression)

Such alternations show that countability is not always a fixed property of a noun independently of its use or meaning.

Theory

Formal-semantic accounts of the count–mass distinction have drawn on notions such as cumulativity, quantization, and atomicity, particularly in work by Godehard Link and Manfred Krifka. The extent to which these properties characterize grammatical countability remains debated. For example, cumulativity is a property of plural count expressions as well as mass expressions, while some mass nouns refer to collections of discrete objects.

Plural logic has also been applied to the semantics of mass nouns, including in an analysis by Nicolas (2008) that treats mass expressions as capable of referring to several entities at once.

Linguistic differences

Languages differ in how they grammatically distinguish countable units from other quantities. The English patterns of singular and plural marking, direct combination with numerals, and selection of particular determiners are not universal. In some languages, numerals require classifiers, while in others, nouns following numerals do not take plural marking. The relevant diagnostics for countability must therefore be established separately for each language.

In Mandarin Chinese, numerals ordinarily occur with a classifier or measure word between the numeral and the noun (see Chinese classifier). Mandarin nouns generally do not inflect for a singular–plural distinction. This has led to different analyses of the count–mass distinction: some treat Mandarin nouns as grammatically mass-like, while others identify distinctions between count and mass interpretations in the classifier system. The absence of English-style count syntax therefore does not establish that all Mandarin nouns are mass nouns.

The following examples illustrate classifiers with nouns whose English counterparts are typically count nouns:

• 那个人吃完了 / 那個人吃完了 (nà gè rén chī wán le) – "That person has finished eating" (gè is a classifier occurring between the demonstrative and the noun).
• 那三个人吃完了 / 那三個人吃完了 (nà sān gè rén chī wán le) – "Those three people have finished eating" (gè occurs between the numeral and the noun).
• 她有七本书 / 她有七本書 (tā yǒu qī běn shū) – "She has seven books" (běn is a classifier used with books).

The choice of classifier depends partly on the noun and the kind of unit involved. For example, gè is a general classifier, while běn is associated with bound volumes. Mandarin also uses measure expressions with substances such as milk and rice, comparable in meaning to English expressions such as "three glasses of milk" or "two spoonfuls of rice". However, the grammatical distinction between classifiers and measure expressions is not identical across the two languages.

Turkish illustrates a different relationship between countability and grammatical number. Turkish distinguishes singular and plural noun forms, but in ordinary counting constructions a noun following a numeral remains unmarked for plural. For example, üç kitap ("three books") contains the unmarked noun kitap, rather than the plural kitaplar. Turkish also permits the classifier-like element tane between a numeral and a count noun, although its presence can affect interpretation and it is not interchangeable with its absence in every context.

Turkish nevertheless exhibits a grammatical count–mass distinction. Count and mass nouns differ in their compatibility with numerals and quantity expressions. Mass nouns can also take plural marking, but this may convey special interpretations, including abundance or scattered quantities, rather than ordinary counting of individual units.

The following examples illustrate Turkish counting and measurement constructions:

• Üç kitap – "three books" (without tane)
• Üç tane kitap – "three books" (with tane)
• Beş bardak süt – "five glasses of milk"
• İki kaşık dolusu pirinç – "two spoonfuls of rice"

Thus, although both English and Turkish permit direct combination of numerals with many count nouns, they differ in number marking and in the availability of classifier-like expressions. Mandarin differs from both in requiring classifiers in ordinary numeral constructions. These differences illustrate that countability cannot be defined universally by any single pattern of plural marking or numeral combination.

See also

References