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Plural-Marking Strategies in Etulo 

 

Chikelu I. Ezenwafor-Afuecheta1  Inyani Adams2 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka1  Benue State University, 

Markurdi2 

ci.ezenwafor@unizik.edu.ng1  inyaniadams87@gmail.com2 

 

Abstract 

This paper discusses the plural marking system of Etulo (an Idomoid 

language of Niger Congo). It describes the number marking 

strategies employed for categories such as the noun, pronoun, 

demonstratives and the verb/copula. It is observed that Etulo lacks 

an inflectional plural. Etulo expresses nominal plurality via the use 

of the plural morpheme ‘èmí’, reduplication, quantifiers, and vowel 

substitution. Number marking in nouns may be obligatory or 

optional depending on the animacy feature of the noun. Most 

animate [-human] and inanimate nouns may, but need not be marked 

for number while most animate nouns [+human] are obligatorily 

marked for number. Etulo makes a dual distinction between the 

singular and plural in its pronominal paradigm. Pronominal number 

is marked by suppletion. For the verb category, some type of number 

marking and agreement is observed with specific verbs such as the 

copula dzɛ ̀ ‘be’ (SG), to ‘be’ (PL), gbɛ/kie ‘take’. Etulo 

demonstratives are marked for plurality using the morpheme ‘ńto ̄’. 
The data for this research are obtained via field work and are 

analysed using the descriptive approach. 

Keywords: Etulo, plurality, number agreement, pronominal number 

 

 

 

 

mailto:ci.ezenwafor@unizik.edu.ng1
mailto:inyaniadams87@gmail.com2


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1. Introduction 

Etulo is an Idomoid language spoken in Benue and Taraba states 

located in the North Central part of Nigeria. It shares striking 

similarities with other Idomoid languages (Idoma, Alago) within the 

Benue Congo subgroup of the Niger Congo language family. Etulo 

is a tone language with a predominant SVO word order. It is 

basically an isolating language with little agglutinative features. It is 

therefore, not unusual that the category of number is not 

inflectionally marked in Etulo. Number distinction in Etulo is 

observed in categories such as the noun, pronoun, verb/copula and 

demonstratives. They show a two way contrast between singular and 

plural. 

Across languages, a typological variation is observed with 

respect to number marking on nouns in terms of obligatoriness vs 

optionality of marking, the formal properties of plural marking, 

semantic distinctions on which classes of nouns get marked for 

plurality (see Naess 2018). Also, languages vary in terms of the 

number of values expressed by lexical categories (noun/pronoun). 

For instance, in English and some other European languages, a dual 

distinction is made between singular and plural while in languages 

like Karko (a Nubian language), number values attested by nouns 

include: singular, plural, singulative, pluralative, collective and 

associative (see Jakobi & Dimmendaal 2019). 

This paper gives a description of the strategies adopted in 

marking number number distinctions in Etulo. It also discusses the 

relatively rare instances of number agreement especially between 

the Etulo copula and the NP subject. The rest of the paper is 

structured as follows: Section 2 gives a review of related literature 

on plurality and number marking. Section 3 discusses nominal 

plurality, pronominal number, pluralisation of demonstratives, 



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verbal number agreement. Section 4 gives the summary of findings 

and conclusion. 

The data for this research are obtained (via interview) from 

3 native speakers of Etulo using a structured questionnaire. A 

descriptive approach is adopted in the analysis of the language data. 

The Etulo data are represented using the International Phonetic 

Alphabets (IPA) and the tones are fully marked.  

2. Plural Marking across Languages 

The number category is assumed to be language universal although 

there is considerable variation across languages on the means of 

expressing it. The basic evidence for the category of number is 

found in the distinction between singular and plural in relation to 

nouns and other categories. Crystal (2003) notes that number is a 

grammatical category that covers word classes displaying such 

contrasts as singular, plural, dual, trial or apical (few). Plurality 

applies to not only nouns, but also to other categories such as the 

pronoun, determiner/demonstratives, and verbs when they encode 

the number value of more than one. 

For the noun, Dryer (2013) identifies two ways of indicating 

plurality. The first involves changing the morphological form of the 

noun via affixation, stem change, partial or full reduplication of the 

stem and tone. The second involves coding of plurality by means of 

a morpheme that occurs somewhere else in the noun phrase. This 

morpheme could be a plural word or clitic. In Haiwailan (Elbbert & 

Pukui 1979), nominal plurality is coded by the plural word mau 

which has the same function as a plural affix but is a separate word 

modifying the noun as in the example below: 

 

1) elua  a’u   mau  i’a 

 two   my    PL  fish 



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 ‘My two fish’ 

 

In languages such as English and other European languages, 

plurality is marked by an affix. In English for instance, a plural 

suffix is used in coding nominal plurality as in the following 

examples: 

 

2) The girl (singular: one girl) 

 The girls (plural: two girls)  

For the pronoun, number distinction can vary in terms of the values 

encoded. Languages such as Igbo, a Niger-Congo language, make a 

two way distinction (SG/PL) for personal pronouns while other 

languages like Bouma Fijian (Austronesian, Oceanic; Dixon 1988) 

distinguish four numbers for the pronoun: singular, dual (2 

participants), paucal (a small number of participants) and plural (a 

larger number of participants). Dalrymple (2012) also notes that 

number distinction can vary across the pronominal paradigm. For 

instance, pronouns in Biak (Austronesian language) make a four 

way distinction in the 3rd person but a 3 way distinction in the 1st 

and 2nd person. 

For the verb category, languages distinguish between verbal 

number and verbal agreement. Verbal number or pluractionality 

refers to the number of events in a complex event description while 

verbal agreement indicates concord between the verb and the noun 

on the basis of number. Karko (a Nilo Saharan language) 

distinguishes between verbal number and verbal agreement (see 

Jakobi &Dimmendaal 2019). Verbal number in Karko is realised by 

singular or plural stems while verbal agreement is realised as 

suffixes on the verb. Veselinova (2006) illustrates the notion of 

verbal number with data from Mpun (Chadic; Frajzygier 1993). The 



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Mupun verb meaning ‘kill’ has two forms; one for a single event 

and the other for multiple killing events. Examples from Mupun: 

 

3. a)  n-tu               joos 

  1SG-kill-SG    rat 

  ‘I killed a rat’ 

 

 b) n-tue              joos       (mo) 

  1SG-kill.PL     rat          PL 

  ‘I killed rats’ 

Demonstratives typically encode the relative distance of an entity 

being referred to. They could be marked for number (SG/PL) and in 

many languages, demonstratives are known to agree in number with 

the nouns that they modify as in the English examples (4) and (5). 

In terms of number, a two way contrast is made for both proximal 

and distal demonstratives in English and some other languages. 

Examples: 

4) a. this girl  (proximal-SG) 

 b. these girls (proximal-PL) 

 

5) a. that girl (distal-SG) 

 b. those girls (distal-PL)  

In general, Dryer (2013) observes languages differ in the extent to 

which indication of plurality is required with semantically plural 

referents, even when a morphological form is available. Similarly, 

Haspelmmath (2013) states that the occurrence of plural markers 

vary along two dimensions: animacy and obligatoriness. In the 

animacy dimension, a distinction is made between animate 

(especially humans) and inanimate nouns. In the obligatoriness 

dimension, the contrast is between non-occurrence, optional 

occurrence and obligatory occurrence of the plural marker. The 



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common generalisation made from cross-linguistic studies on 

number and plural-marking is that human nouns are more likely to 

have plural marking than non-human nouns. 

In many Wes African languages such as Yoruba, Igbo, 

Alago, and Emai, plurality is encoded by a combination of different 

strategies. Also, the coding of plurality in these Niger-Congo 

languages is usually non inflectional and non-obligatory in some 

cases. 

 

3. Plurality and Number Agreement in Etulo 

In this section, we discuss the strategies for marking nominal 

plurality, the number values of the pronominal paradigm, 

demonstratives and the copula/verb. Also discussed are the number 

agreement features attested in Etulo. 

 

3.1 Nominal Plurality 

With respect to the noun category, Etulo makes a dual distinction 

between singular and plural. Plural marking on nouns is encoded via 

a number of strategies which include: vowel substitution (stem 

change), reduplication, plural morpheme èmí and quantifiers. 

Number marking may be optional or obligatory depending on the 

noun. 

Many animate nouns with the feature [+human] are obligatorily 

marked for number via the process of vowel substitution. The word 

initial vowel of the singular noun which is typically /o/ is substituted 

by the vowel /e/ in the plural form (see 7-..). Animate nouns with 

the feature [-human] and inanimate nouns are rarely marked for 

plurality using the vowel substitution strategy. Except for the noun 

úkɛ̂ ‘basket’ which has its plural form as ákɛ̂ ‘baskets’, we do not 

find any other instance of vowel substitution with inanimate nouns. 

In contrast with examples (7) - (17) which involves the /o/→/e/ 



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substitution, example (18) involves the /u/→ /a/ vowel substitution 

at the word initial position. Examples: 

Table 1: Vowel substitution 

 Singular Plural 

7) óbâ                   ‘husband’ ébâ                           ‘husbands’ 

8) ònwɛ ̀                  ‘child’ ènwɛ̀                        ‘children’ 

9) òŋgɪ ̀â                 ‘woman’ èŋgɪ̀a ̂                         ‘women’ 

10) òŋgìùlɔ̂               ‘man’ èŋgìùlɔ̂                        ‘men’ 

11) òwà                  ‘wife’ èwà                            ‘wives’ 

12) òmgbɛ́              ‘little child’ èmgbɛ ́                    ‘little 

children’ 

13) òwàkwádɛ̄         ‘widow’ èwàkwádɛ̄                ‘widows’ 

14) ònwɛ ̀ òŋgɪ ̀â         ‘girl’ ènwɛ̀ èŋgɪ̀a ̂                 ‘girls’ 

15) ònwɛ ̀ òŋgìùlɔ̂      ‘boy’ ènwɛ̀ èŋgìùlɔ̂              ‘boys’  

16) ótsɛ́ ónwɛ ̀          ‘father’ étsɛ ́ énwɛ ̀                ‘fathers’ 

17) ónɔ́ ónwɛ ̀         ‘mother’ énɔ ́ énwɛ ̀                 ‘mothers’ 

18) úkɛ̂                    ‘basket’ ákɛ̂                          ‘baskets’ 

There are certain contexts in which plurality is marked in Etulo by 

means of reduplication. The noun stem is fully reduplicated to mark 

entities that are more than one. However, for inanimate nouns, plural 

marking using the reduplication strategy is optional. Below are some 

examples: 

19) a. òʃɛ́ ‘grass’  òʃɛ́ óʃɛ ́ ‘grasses’ 

 b. ígbé ‘bag’  ígbé ígbé ‘bags’ 

 c. ḿgwɔ̂ ‘mountain’ ḿgwɔ́ ḿgwɔ̂ ‘mountains’ 
 d. àbù ‘shirt’  àbù àbù ‘shirts’ 

They are further illustrated in the following sentences: 



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20) a. ánɪ̂      gíá        àbù   àbù   tá 

                        1SG buy-PST  shirt  shirt only 

  ‘I bought only shirts’ 

 

 b. òkwò  ḿgbi ̄  íɳànì   lì    òʃɛ́  óʃɛ ́ 

  farm    of       PN     is  bush bush 

  ‘Inyani’s farm is full of bushes’ 

 

Another means of marking nominal plurality is by the use of the 

plural morpheme èmí.  This strategy is restrictive. The plural 

morpheme only occurs with animate nouns, especially in possessive 

constructions as shown in (21-25). It is incompatible with inanimate 

nouns except perhaps, in the context of Etulo folktales where 

inanimate entities could be personified. The following examples are 

illustrative: 

 

Table 2: The plural morpheme èmí  

 Singular Plural 

21) ónɔ́ ánɪ̂                 ‘my  

mother’ 

èmí ónɔ́ ánɪ̂                ‘my 

mothers’ 

22) òkà àdi ̂                 ‘Adi’s 

friend’ 

èmí òkà àdi ̂                ‘Adi’s 

friends’ 

23) ŋ̀gɪ ́sɛ̀                     ‘person’ èmí ŋ̀gɪ ́sɛ̀                      ‘people’ 

24) m̀dà ḿgbí áni ̂        ‘my cow’ èmí m̀dà ḿgbí áni ̂        ‘my 

cows’ 

25) m̀tsɛ ̀                     ‘witchcraft’ èmí ḿtsɛ̂                       ‘witches’ 

 

The co-occurrence of èmí with inanimate nouns results in 

ungrammaticality. In (26) for instance, an ungrammatical 



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construction results from the co-occurrence of the plural morpheme 

with the inanimate noun àfɛ ̀ ‘book’. To indicate plurality in (26), 

quantifiers may be used instead by specifying the number of books 

using a numeral. 

 

26) *èmí   àfɛ̀   ḿgbí  ánɪ̂ 
    PL   book POSS  1SG 

   ‘My books’ 

The plural morpheme also co-occurs with other quantifiers such as 

the numerals in encoding plurality as illustrated in (27a-b). 

27) a. èmí    ónɔ́    ánɪ̂    èdá 

  PL    mother  my   five 

  ‘My five mothers’ 

 

 b. èmí    òkà   àdí  éfà 

  PL    friend  PN   two 

  ‘Adi’s two friends’  

 

The use of quantifiers is another means of marking plurality. Etulo 

uses the quantifiers, kpákpá and kwùbà ‘many’ to express nominal 

plurality. Both quantifiers are compatible with animate and 

inanimate nouns as shown in (28 -29). 

 

28) àdì    nwɔ ́    m̀dà  kpákpá 

 PN  kill-PST  cow   many 

 ‘Adi killed many cows’ 

 

29) ánɪ̂      gɪ ́á       àfɛ̀     kwùbà 

 1SG buy-PST  book   many 

 ‘I bought many books’ 

 



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In addition, Etulo numerals function as quantifiers in encoding 

nominal plurality as shown in the example below: 

 

31) 28) ánɪ̂        gɪ ́á      àfɛ̀    ètá 

  1SG  buy-PST book three 

  ‘I bought three books’ 

 

3.1.1 Optional vs Obligatory Plural Marking in Etulo 

 As noted earlier, plural marking in Etulo is obligatory with animate 

[+human] nouns. For instance, indicating plurality for the noun 

oŋgia ‘woman’ compulsorily requires the /o/→/e/ vowel 

substitution. In contrast, plural marking is optional for inanimate 

and animate [-human] nouns. This is consistent with Dryer (2013); 

that languages differ in the extent to which indication for plurality 

is required with semantically plural referents, even when a 

morphological form is available. In relation to Etulo, it is observed 

that although strategies are available for the coding of plurality with 

inanimate and animate [-human] nouns, their use is usually not 

obligatory unlike some other languages like English. In sentence 

(32) for instance, the inanimate noun àfɛ̀ ‘book’ is subject to two 

interpretations: singular and plural readings by default. Formal 

marking of plurality is only applicable when there is the need for 

specificity. However, this is not the case for animate [+ human] 

nouns. In sentence (33a), the noun òŋgìa ̂ ‘woman’ receives one 

interpretation which is a singular reading while in (33a), the noun 

èŋgìâ ‘women’ receives one interpretation which is a plural reading. 

Examples: 

32) Adi     gɪ a        afɛ  

    PN    buy-PST book(s) 

 ‘Adi bought a book/Adi bought books’ 

 



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33) a. anɪ   di     òŋgìâ   mì   ìdu ̂ 
  1SG see  woman  in market 

  ‘I saw a woman in the market’ 

 

 b. anɪ   di     èŋgìâ    mì   ìdu ̂ 
  1SG see  women  in  market 

  ‘I saw women in the market’ 

 

3.2 Pronominal Number 

In this section, the pluralisation of personal pronouns and 

demonstratives is discussed. 

3.2.1 Pluralisation of Personal Pronouns 

The number values of the Etulo personal pronouns comprise the 

singular and plural. Besides these two number values, no further 

distinction is made with respect to number or gender. The pronouns 

are not inflectionally marked for number.  Their pluralisation is 

coded by means of suppletion as shown in table 3. The singular 

personal pronouns are wholly replaced by other forms in their 

pluralisation. The 3rd person plural pronoun is realised by three 

forms conditioned by case. For the nominative case (subject), the 

plural forms á/ámá ‘they’ are used while for the accusative case, the 

form ma ́ ‘them’ is used. 

 

Table 3: Personal pronouns 

 Singular Pronoun Plural Pronoun 

1st 

person 
ánɪ̂ ‘I’ éji ̂                 ‘We’ 

2nd 

person 
ábu ̂         ‘You’ émâ               ‘You’ 

3rd 

person 

ó             ‘He/She/It á/ámá/má     ‘They/Them’ 



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3.2.2 Demonstratives 

Etulo distinguishes between distal and proximal demonstratives. 

Proximal demonstratives point to entities that are close in relation to 

the speaker, while distal demonstratives point to entities that are far 

off in relation to the speaker. Two number values are assigned to 

Etulo demonstrative: singular and plural.  The demonstratives agree 

in number with the nouns that they modify. They also function as 

nominal plural markers as shown in the examples below: 

 

34) a. òkwɔ̀ nɛ̂ ‘this farm’  òkwɔ̀ ńtónɛ̂  

 ‘these farms’ 

b. òkwɔ̀ nɛ ́nɪ̌ ‘this farm’  òkwɔ̀ ńtónɛ ́nɪ̌ 
 ‘these farms’ 

 

35) a. m̀dà nâ   ‘that cow’  m̀dà ńtónâ 

 ‘those cows’ 

 b. m̀dà nánɪ̌ ‘that cow’  m̀dà ńtónánɪ̌ 
 ‘those cows’ 

 

The demonstrative determiners in (34a) and (35a) are used 

interchangeably with the ones in (34b) and (35b). Etulo 

demonstratives also function as pronouns. As a pronoun, the 

proximal demonstrative is realised as nɛ nɛ  ‘this’ (see 36a) while 

the distal demonstrative is realised as nana ‘that’. They share the 

same plural forms as their adjectival counterparts. 

36) a. Nɛ ́nɛ́  lì   ḿgbɛ́̃n 

  this    is  POSS:1SG 

  ‘This is mine’ 

 

 b. Ńtonɛ̂  lì     ḿgbɛ́̃n 

  these  are  POSS:1SG 



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  ‘These are mine’ 

 

37) a. Náná lì ḿgbɛ ̃́n 

  that    is  POSS:1SG 

  ‘That is mine’ 

 

 b. Ńtónâ  lì     ḿgbɛ́̃n 

  those  are  POSS:1SG 

  ‘Those are mine’ 

 

Table 4 Etulo demonstratives 

Type Singular Plural 

Proximal demonstrative 

(adjective) 

nɛ /nɛ nɪ  ntonɛ /ntonɛ nɪ  

Distal demonstrative 

(adjective) 

na/nanɪ  ntona/ntonanɪ  

Proximal demonstrative 

pronoun 

nɛ nɛ  ntonɛ  

Distal demonstrative pronoun nana ntona 

  

3.3 Verbal Number Agreement 
Typically, Etulo verbs do not express number agreement with an NP 

argument except for few verbs such as the copula dzɛ̀/tó ‘be’ and the 

verbs ḱé ‘take’and gbé ‘pack’. In this section however, we focus on 

number agreement between the copula and the NP argument.  

 Number can be co-specified by the noun and verb, whereby, 

a singular NP subject requires a singular verb, and a plural NP 

subject requires a plural verb. As shown in examples (38)-(39), the 

Etulo locative copula has two forms: the singular form dzɛ ̀ ‘be’ 



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occurs in agreement with singular NP subjects such as òŋgɪ ̀â 

‘woman’, while the plural form tó ‘be’ co-occurs with plural NP 

subjects such as èŋgɪ ̀â ‘women’.  

Examples: 

38) òŋgɪ ̀á     mà      dzɛ̀       ìlégo ̄sì 

woman  the  COP:SG     Lagos 

‘The woman is in Lagos’ 

 

39) èŋgɪ̀á      ma ̄      tó      ìlégo ̄sì 

women  the  COP:PL  Lagos 

‘The women are in Lagos’ 

Etulo constructions that violate the number agreement between the 

copula and the NP subject argument are considered ungrammatical 

as illustrated in (40) below. 

40) *ánɪ̂      tó       ìlégo ̄sì 

1SG   COP:PL    Lagos 

‘I am in Lagos’ 

 

4. Conclusion 

This paper has examined the plurality in Etulo with emphasis on the 

number values encoded in nominals, personal pronouns, and 

demonstratives. It also discussed the Etulo verbal number agreement 

features with respect to the copula dzɛ ̀/tó ‘be’. It is observed that 

Etulo combines multiple strategies in the marking of plurality. These 

strategies include: vowel substitution, reduplication, use of plural 

morpheme, quantifiers, demonstrative determiners and suppletion. 

For all the categories studied, a two way number distinction between 

singular and plural is made. It is shown with supporting examples 

that plural marking is obligatory for animate [+human] nouns but 

optional for inanimate and animate [-human] nouns. 

 



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