Plural Nouns

Pluralization is used to denote two or more of a particular noun. Unlike verbs, nouns in Mi'gmaq do not distinguish between dual or plural forms. Like the familiar English method of pluralizing nouns by adding [-s], nouns are pluralized by suffixation in Mi'gmaq; the form of this suffixation is dependent on the gender (animate/inanimate) of the noun, as well as the final segments of the noun in question.

Animate

There are many possible forms for the animate plural suffix, as demonstrated by the following table:

Singular form	Plural form	Morpheme	Gloss
miti's	miti'sg	-g	tree
nipi	nipi'g	-g (with vowel lengthening)	leaf
sqolj	sqoljig	-ig	frog
e'pit	e'pijig	-ig (with palatalization)	tree
alug	alug-g	-g	cloud
samqwano'q	samqwano'q-q	-q	water jug/bottle
siguap	siguapaq	-aq	widower

The variation in the form of the suffix can mostly be explained by the final segment and syllable shape of the noun taking it, and thus it is reasonable to postulate that the underlying plural suffix for animate nouns is /-g/ and, depending on the final segment of the noun being pluralized, this suffix can surface as [-g], [-ig], [-ug], [-q] or [-aq], as well as having some effects on the final segment itself.

• After vowels [-g] is added, and the final vowels are lengthened. If the word ends in a sequence of vowels, such as [ei], the final vowel is removed and the preceding vowel is lengthened.

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
tmtmu	tmtmu'-g	oyster
plamu	plamu'-g	salmon
miti	miti'-g	aspen, poplar
sewlugowei	sewlugowe'-g	rhubarb

• Words ending in [n] and [l] always take the [-g] suffix, without any changes of length. Words ending in [j] also take the [-g] suffix, so long as the [j] is not preceded by another consonant (e.g., *migjigj-g, *gajuewj-g), and words ending in [s] take this suffix so long as they are multisyllabic (*e's-g).

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
taqate'l	taqate'l-g	currant
tu'aqan	tu'aqan-g	ball
amqwanji'j	amqwanji'j-g	spoon
tmato's	tmato's-g	tomato

• We find the [-ig] suffix after monosyllabic words ending in [s], words ending in [t], and words ending in consonant clusters. Note that before [i], assimilation of place seems to occur for [t], resulting in its replacement with the segment [j] before the plural morpheme. (see phonology?)

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
e's	e's-ig	clam
slaps	slaps-ig	slab (of wood)
e'pit	e'pij-ig	woman
sqolj	sqolj-ig	frog
te'pulj	te'pulj-ig	goat
epsaqtejg	epsaqtejg-ig	stove

• Words ending in [m] take the [-ug] variant of the plural suffix.

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
jin'm	jin'm-ug	man
paqtesm	paqtesm-ug	wolf
tia'm	tia'm-ug	moose

• The suffix [-aq] appears after labial consonants [p] and [gw], as well as replacing most word-final [aw] or [ow] sequences. (Note that this does not apply to word-final diphthongs in which the first vowel is long, such as tmoqta'w "log", plural tmoqta'w-g.)

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
sasap	sasap-aq	jellyfish
sulumgw	sulumgw-aq	goose
nasguaw	nasgu-aq	snowshoe
guow	gu-aq	pine

• After [g] not in a consonant cluster, a [-g] is usually added, resulting in gemination. A [-q] also geminates in the animate plural due to assimilation in place of the [-g] ending.

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
alug	alug-g	oyster
samqwano'q	samqwano'q-q	salmon

Exceptions

As yet, there are several unexplainable exceptions to the general rules of pluralization stated above. Notably, there seems to be a not-insignificant number of words whose plural is the -aq suffix ending in consonants other than [p] or [gw]. Some of the known violations of this rule are listed below.

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
muin	muin-aq	bear
ga't	ga't-aq	eel
gast'pl	gast'pl-aq	police officer
gapiten	gapiten-aq	captain
je'g	je'g-aq	Jack (in cards)

The last three examples in the table above are borrowed words, which perhaps excuses their unusual form of pluralization, but the first two seem to be traditional Mi'gmaq words. Fieldholtz (1963) analyzes these particular exceptions as underlyingly having the short vowel [a] on the end of the noun, with it being dropped in ordinary production but surfacing with the addition of the plural morpheme (e.g., muin is underlyingly [muina], ga't is underlyingly [ga'ta]). It does appear that [a]-final words are rare in Mi'gmaq, and no examples of [a]-final nouns have been encountered thus far, supporting the hypothesis that final [a]s could be deleted as a rule. However, there are not any other suffixation processes in which this underlying [a] surfaces - for example, the diminutive of muin is muin-ji'j, not *muina-ji'j. These particular exceptions to the pluralization rule should be examined in further detail to uncover any other possible morphological irregularities to account for their irregular plurals.

Beyond this somewhat large group of nouns unpredictably receiving the -aq suffix, there are a few known exceptions to pluralization rules with only one or two tokens each in violation of a particular rule; these will be listed below without any attempt at analysis.

Singular form	Attested plural form	Expected plural form	Gloss
na'goqom	na'goqom-g	na'goqom-ug	ice skate
lattolaw	lattolaw-g	lattol-aq	bull
gjiaplue'w	gjiaplue'w-g	gjiaplue'w-ug	rascal
la'sgw	la'sg-ug	la'sgw-aq	playing card
gawatgw	gawatg-ug	gawatgw-aq	spruce tree

Inanimate

The inanimate plural is considerably simpler than the animate. The underlying form of the suffix is /-l/, which can surface as [-l], [-n], [-al] or [-ul].

• Vowel finals take the plain [-l] suffix, as do words ending in consonants [t], [s], [j], [g], [m] or [p]. As in the animate plural, words ending in the sequence [ei] show deletion of the final vowel and lengthening of the preceding one. Some single-vowel finals seem to show the same lengthening seen in the animate plural, while others do not; as yet there is no clear pattern as to which vowels lengthen and which do not (see p'towti vs. lnuipi).

Singular form	Plural form	Morpheme	Gloss
p'towti	p'towti-l	-l (without vowel lengthening)	table
lnuipi	lnuipi'-l	-l (with vowel lengthening)	native paddle
alawei	alawe'-l	-l	pea
magot	magot-l	-l	dress
mapos	mapos-l	-l	pocket
gmu'j	gmu'j-l	-l	stick, piece of wood
gawaqtejg	gawaqtejg-l	-l	gooseberry
wiguom	wiguom-l	-l	house
lagga'p	lagga'p-l	-l	cellar

• Words ending in the consonant [n] show gemination in the inanimate plural. This is due to assimilation of [l] and [n], which is seen in several other processes in Mi'gmaq such as Obviation.

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
tepagan	tepagan-n	car
pguman	pguman-n	blueberry
sign	sign-n	stocking, sock

• For words ending in the vowel-glide sequence [ew], the final segments are replaced by the suffix [-al].

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
mussew	muss-al	piece
guntew	gunt-al	rock
maqamigew	maqamig-al	land

• Finally, words ending in the labialized consonant [gw] take the [-ul] suffix.

Singular form	Plural form	Gloss
llutaqanatgw	llutaqanatg-ul	fencepost
egsitpu'gwewulgw	egsitpu'gwewulg-ul	rock
seggw	segg-ul	sweet thing

Exceptions

There is one instance of a word ending in something other than [gw] taking the [-ul] suffix: galiulg, "sleigh" and galiulgul, "sleighs". This difference seems to be only orthographic, as the vowel [u] is not particularly audible when the plural of this word is pronounced.