The category of number in Latin: meanings of the plural with verbal nouns

Abstract

This paper deals with the category of number in Latin, specifically with the different meanings of the plural with verbal nouns. In the first section, I establish a reference framework on the concept of number, and in particular the so-called “number anomalies”. The second part of the paper addresses the functional complexity of the category of number itself, so it presents and exemplifies the four different meanings of plural forms with verbal nouns and explains them in light of the concepts of prototype and recategorization. The third section aims to identify the factors yielding a determined plural reading; in this way, I explain the connection between some meanings of the plural and the types of events that verbal nouns describe. Lastly, in the final section, I discuss the main results of this study.