paucal

English

Etymology

From Latin paucālis (“few, little”), from paucus, plural paucī (“few, little, a few, the select few, the oligarchs”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little”), + Latin adjective suffix -ālis.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔːkəl/
• (US) enPR: päʹkəl, IPA^(key): /ˈpɔkəl/

Adjective

paucal (not comparable)

1. Characterized by having a small number, greater than two, of (usually equivalent) components.
2. (grammar) Pertaining to a language form referring to a few of something (three to around ten), as a small group of people; contrast singular, dual, trial, and plural.

   first-person paucal

   paucal number

   paucal and plural pronouns

3. (linguistics) Expressing a relatively small quantity or degree.

   Antonym: multal

   • 2002, Rodney Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language:

     But too much can occur in the negative with a paucal meaning when there is no explicit or implicit infinitival complement: I didn't enjoy it too much is simply an informal alterant of I didn't enjoy it very much.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "few"): multiple

Translations

Noun

paucal (uncountable)

1. (grammar) A language form referring to a few of something (three to around ten), as a small group of people; contrast singular, dual, trial, and plural.

Derived terms

• paucality

Translations

Related terms

See also

• (grammatical numbers) grammatical number; singular, dual, trial, quadral, quintal, paucal, plural ^{(Category: en:Grammar)}

References

• “paucal”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /po.kal/

Adjective

paucal (feminine paucale, masculine plural paucaux, feminine plural paucales)

1. paucal