Dual is the grammatical number used for two referents.
In some languages, in addition to the singular and plural forms there is also a dual form, which is used when exactly two people or things are meant. In such languages, the plural is used only for groups greater than two. At least for the Slovene language, dual does not apply to natural pairs (such as eyes). For natural pairs, plural is used instead.
Although relatively few languages have the dual number and most have no number or only singular and plural, using different words for groups of two and groups greater than two is not uncommon. English has a distinction between both and all, either and any, and neither and none. Japanese, which has no grammatical number, also has words dochira (which of the two) and dore (which of the three or more).
Use in modern languages
Among living languages, modern standard Arabic uses dual number. Its fellow Semitic language, Hebrew, also has some forms of dual, largely for measurements of time, parts of the body and things that come in pairs, such as švu`ayim (two weeks), `eynayim (eyes), šinayim (teeth, even all 32), and mišqafayim (eyeglasses). Akkadian had a dual number, though its use was confined to standard phrases like "two hands", "two eyes", and "two arms".
The Inuktitut language uses dual forms. Some Polynesian languages, including Niuean and Tongan, possess a dual number for pronouns but not for nouns (indeed, they tend not to mark nouns for number at all).
The dual was a standard feature of the Finno-Ugric proto-language, and lives on in Sami languages, while other branches like Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian have lost it. Sami also features dual pronouns, expressing the concept of "we two here" as contrasted to "we".
As well, the dual form is used in several modern Indo-European languages, such as Slovenian and Sorbian; see below for details.
Dual form in Indo-European languages
From comparisons of existing and recorded languages, linguists have concluded that the Proto-Indo-European language had dual forms. This use was preserved in the earliest records of Indo-European languages. The Ancient Greek language used in the Homeric texts, the Iliad and Odyssey, has some use of the dual. Sanskrit also possesses a dual number, with specific (although fewer) inflections for verbs and nouns.
The dual form was present in the early Germanic languages, including Old English, but has disappeared from all modern Germanic languages with the exception of Icelandic, sometimes described as a 'linguistic living fossil'.
Among Indo-European languages of the present day, the dual form has endured largely among the Slavic languages. Slovenian language uses the dual number in full, and Sorbian, the Slavic language of a very small minority in Germany, also uses the dual number. Among the Baltic languages, the dual form existed but is now obsolete in standard Lithuanian, being used in poetic context and some dialects.
Polish had dual in normal use in its earliest forms. Today only some objects that come in pairs like "two hands", "two eyes" (but not "two ears" or "two legs") use it in some inflected forms -- both plural and "fossilised" dual form for them is correct:
- hands: nominative ręce, instrumental rękami (plural), rękoma (dual)
- eyes: nominative oczy, instrumental oczami (plural), oczyma (dual)
Official Czech also has few remnants of dual: certain body parts in instrumental (and the modifying adjectives) require dual. Colloquial Czech does not have dual.
See also grammatical number, trial grammatical number.
Languages with dual include:
Grammar | Language | Linguistics
Last updated: 05-07-2005 02:49:05
Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46
