The Pluralization of the Plurals in Urdu: An OT Analysis

Abstract

The study investigates the morpho-phonological processes which are involved the formation of pluralization of plurals in Urdu. Optimality Theory (OT) given by (McCarthy & Prince 1993a, 1993b; Prince & Smolensky 1993) is used as theoretic guide to analyse the data. First, this paper offers an introduction to plural system in Urdu, then it briefly discusses sound plurals which are suffix-based for example kɪt̺ɑb 'book' à kɪt̺ɑb-æ̃ 'books. It nullifies Hardie’s (2004, p. 35) claim that “Urdu inflection is based on suffixation ...." by bringing in evidence from Urdu broken plurals which can be formed through infixation, transfixation and circumfixation. For example, məsdʒɪd̪ 'mosque' à məs-ɑ-dʒɪd̪ 'mosques' is the result of inserting an infix -ɑ- in the middle of the stem. Hardie (2004) and Mangrio (2016) have documented the pluralization through suffixation, and Mangrio (2016) has just hinted the existence of Urdu broken plurals. However, the pluralisation of plurals in Urdu has not been discussed by anybody so far. Therefore, this research investigates the morpho-phonological processes involved in the formation of pluralization of plurals. In the formation of pluralization of plurals, first broken plural, a borrowed pattern from Arabic, is formed, then native pattern is used to form the pluralization of plurals. This phenomenon is found only in Urdu language as yet, and it is estimated that no other language shows pluralization of plurals. This pattern can be illustrated through an example: rəsəm ‘custom’ à r-ʊ-s-uː-m ‘customs’ à rʊsuːm-ɑːt̺ 'customs'. rəsəm is the root and a broken plural rʊsuːm is formed from this root, then the plural-plural marker -ɑːt̺ is attached to the new stem, rʊsuːm, the new stem, which forms rʊsuːm-ɑːt̺, the pluralization of the plural. Morphological and phonological processes are involved in this formation. When the broken plural rʊsuːm is formed, the plural markers are inserted in the stem and the word is completely re-syllabified, and when the plural-plural marker -ɑːt̺ is attached to rʊsuːm to get rʊsuːm-ɑːt̺, the coda in the last syllable of the stem i.e. /m/ becomes the onset of the plural-plural marker. Thus, the syllabification pattern is rə.səm ‘custom’ à rə.suːm  à rə.suː.mɑːt̺. Four plural-plural markers: -ɪːn, -ɑ:n, -mi and -ɑːt̺ are found in Urdu. The data for the first three patterns is too little to label them as regular patterns, they may be called exceptions. However, the last marker i.e. -ɑːt̺ is a regular pattern. Moreover, this marker shows two patterns of pluralization and can be called: plural marker and plural-plural marker: firstly, it forms plurals from singulars such as mʌʃ.rub 'drink' à mʌʃ.ru.b-ɑːt̺ 'drinks', and secondly, it also forms plurals from plurals themselves such as d̺ə.vɑ 'medicine' à ʌ-d̺v-ɪj-a 'medicines à ʌd̺vɪj-ɑːt̺ 'kinds/types'. This study is very important for understanding the complex morpho-phonological grammatical patterns of Urdu in general, and Urdu pluralization in particular.