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The is also inserted to break up a rising tone in 4c and 4d, a structure which is rare in
tautomorphemic environments and thus also dispreferred. 1
Certain noun modifiers may also take the plural prefix. Descriptive adjectives take
the prefix when they modify animate nouns. For example, in the noun phrase
=C>H =C>H =C>H =C>H =C= =C= =C= =C= ‘large animals’, the adjective takes the plural prefix in modifying the
animate noun, but in the noun phrase C>H C>H C>H C>H =5 =5 =5 =5
‘large cups’, the same adjective is in its
default form since the noun is inanimate. Cloarec-Heiss (p. 50) notes that in Linda, an
ordinal number may also take a plural prefix, as in (5). This is likely the case in Mono as
well, but I could not verify this with my corpus of data.
(5) Ordinal number with plural prefix in Linda (Cloarec-Heiss, p. 50)
=> => => => 5 55 5
FA( FA( FA( FA(
PL-two DET flee:NF
‘The second ones fled.’
Besides the plural prefix = =, = = there are several lexical means for marking plural.
First, different verbs forms may be employed depending on whether a certain argument is
singular or plural. For example, the verb = = = = ‘give’ is employed if the direct object is
singular whereas the verb ‘give’ is employed if the direct object is plural:
(6) Lexical marking of plural in verbs: vs. = = = = ‘take’
a. LJ LJ LJ LJ ( ( ( ( > > > 5= 5= 5= 5= ( ( ( ( I(FA I(FA I(FA I(FA >=A >=A >=A >=A
three INF-give two SS remain one
‘Three minus two equals one.’
b. @K(K @K(K @K(K @K(K (= (= (= (= =A =A =A =A ( ( ( ( I(FA I(FA I(FA I(FA L== L== L== L==
five INF-give one SS remain four
‘Five minus one equals four.’
1
A similar allomorph occurs in the related language Linda. Cloarec-Heiss (1986: 209) suggests
that the is inserted in order to avoid confusion between the plural prefix and the initial vowel = of the
stem, which she considers a non-productive prefix. Thus, the use of = = = = would prevent the creation of a long
vowel as in the words ==>=( ==>=( ‘fathers’ and == ==K( == K( K( K( ‘uncles’ in (4a-b). This explanation seems motivated, but
Kamanda (1998: 332) points out that there are cases in Linda where the == == == == prefix (the form in Linda)
occurs with words in which the initial vowel of the stem is not =, e.g. M M M M ‘spouse’ vs. ==M ==M ==M ==M ‘spouses’.
Tisserant (1930: 27) on the other hand considers the use of == == == == to be a sign of respect.
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