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Este artigo contribui para o debate sobre a codificação gramatical da distinção contável-massivo. Dois julgamentos de quantidade testaram adultos bilíngues em duas línguas que codificam a distinção contável-massivo de formas diferentes: Yudja e o português brasileiro. Em Yudja todos os nomes têm uma denotação contável. Isto é, todos os nomes (incluindo nomes nocionalmente massivos como água) podem ser diretamente combinados a numerais e a quantificadores contáveis. Por outro lado, no português brasileiro, nomes contáveis e massivos são gramaticalmente distintos. Por exemplo, somente nomes contáveis podem ser diretamente combinados a numerais. Em dois estudos experimentais com 20 falantes bilíngues da língua Yudja, nós investigamos se a performance dos falantes Yudja bilíngues em tarefas de julgamento de quantidade variavam de acordo com a língua na qual eles eram testados

This paper discusses how pluractionality is expressed in Macuxi (Cariban), a South American Indigenous language spoken in Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. Cross-linguistically, the multiplicity of an action can be expressed by means of specialized pluractional morphemes affixed on verbs, via adverbs, or by reduplication. Previous work on Macuxi claimed that the iterative suffix -pîtî indicates a multiplicity of actions, whereas verbal reduplication is mentioned but scarcely described, and is associated with the interpretation of multiple events. Based on data from context-based elicitation, we show that verbal reduplication is impacted by Aktionsart (activity and semelfactive verbs, which denote unbounded, atelic events, have a higher tendency to be reduplicated) and that reduplicated verbs are often associated with an intensity interpretation. On the other hand, the suffix -pîtî functions as a pluractional marker that encodes a multiplicity of events and is predictable via a Lasersohnian analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much work has been done on the description of the mass/count distinction in different geographical areas, Brazilian Indigenous languages are still highly underrepresented in the field. This paper presents the results of a project that involved researchers describing the mass/count distinction in 15 Brazilian Indigenous languages, based on a questionnaire we prepared in 2016 in order to explore the distribution of bare nouns, plurals, numerals, and quantifiers (see Appendix). Three main observations will be drawn. First, number marking and countability are independent. Second, counting is not restricted to natural atoms. Third, since there seems to be no systematic symmetry in the distribution of plurals, numerals, and quantifiers, we argue that the standard diagnostics for countable vs. non-countable nouns are highly language-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the count/mass distinction in Patxohã, a revitalized language spoken in Bahia and Minas Gerais, Brazil. We observe that only count nouns can be directly combined with numerals and that only count nouns can co-occur with plural determiners. Furthermore, only count nouns can be combined with size adjectives. As for quantifiers, we observe that at least one quantifier in the language (nitxi) can be combined with count and mass nouns, but trigger different interpretations depending on the noun it is combined with. We also discuss the use of container phrases in counting and measuring contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the countability of deverbal bare singular nouns in Brazilian Portuguese, such as chute 'kick' in Maria deu mais chute 'Maria did more kicking/Maria did more kicks'. More specifically, it investigates whether the aspectual information of a verb impacts the count (cardinal interpretation) or mass (volume/intensity interpretation) interpretation of a bare singular noun. Based on the results of a forced choice task replicating Barner, Wagner, and Snedeker (2008) for English, we show that deverbal bare singulars in Brazilian Portuguese allow count and mass interpretations, depending on the aspectual features of the verbs they are derived from. Punctual events were more likely than durative events to be associated with a cardinal/count response. These results corroborate previous analysis of bare singulars in Brazilian Portuguese, whereby these nouns allow both count and mass interpretations (Pires de Oliveira & Rothstein 2011b). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the acquisition of distributivity in Yudja (Tupi, Brazil) based on a study with children and adults. In this paper, we explore experimentally the hypothesis discussed in previous work (LIMA, 2008) that verbal reduplication is a pluractional marker (LASERSOHN, 2005) that also conveys distributivity. Two preference tasks were performed with 11 adults and 17 children. Adults' results show that the interpretation of ambiguous sentences is affected by the form of the noun phrase (conjoined nouns, pluralized nouns or bare nouns). Children's results suggest that they have an overall preference for a distributive interpretation of sentences regardless of the verb form and the NP type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possible interpretations of container phrases (such as 'cups of sugar') has been long debated in the formal semantics literature because container phrases can be associated with a variety of possible readings that go from individuation to measure. In this paper we explore the interpretation of container phrases in Yudja (Tupi stock, Brazil), a language where container phrases are optional in construction with numerals and are morphosyntactically identical to locative phrases. Based on experimental studies with Yudja children and adults we intend to show that these expressions are ambiguous in at least three ways (locative, individuation andmeasure) and that a locative readingmight emerge even in scenarios where the verb and the context favor a measure interpretation. Furthermore, this paper provides evidence that there is no hidden container phrase when numerals are combined with notionalmass nouns and that, supporting Partee & Borschev (2012), the results of the studies show that, indeed, the individuation reading is more "primitive", i.e. it precedes measuring in language acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much literature has explored the interpretation of the bare singular (BS) in Brazilian Portuguese. Pires de Oliveira & Rothstein (2011) claim that BS nouns are mass because they denote kinds and argue that this explains why only the BS in Brazilian Portuguese can have a non-cardinal interpretation. In this paper, based on an experimental task with Brazilian Portuguese adult speakers, we explore one of their predictions, namely that the 'volume interpretation' of the BS cannot be explained as a case of Grinding. Our results show that Grinding and Volume readings of a BS noun are not equivalent (in favor of their hypothesis). We also show that a volume interpretation of a noun is never preferred when a cardinal interpretation is available, but that this can be explained by other lexical and pragmatic factors. We conclude by suggesting that Rothstein's (in press) distinction between counting and measuring accounts for the fact that non-cardinal readings are not grinding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much work has explored the semantics of count and mass nouns from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. In this paper, we explore some of the recent advances in this field, drawing particularly from descriptions of understudied languages and experimental research. We will focus on two dimensions of the count/mass debate. First, we will explore the debate about what can be counted grammatically, that is, how we define atoms and what role extra‐linguistic factors may play in this process. Second, we give an overview of the current debate about counting and measuring, which experimental research suggests are distinct operations, as some scholars in the formal semantics literature have predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]