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(wtksv) b itcnb ldtcnb cjhjr ctlmvsv rjvyfns<gen sg> ‘to three (wholes) and six two hundred forty-sevenths of the room’; itcnm c gjkjdbyjq rjvyfns<gen sg> ‘six and a half rooms’; nhb c xtndthnm/ vtnhf<gen sg> ‘three and a quarter meters’.

A distinct style is used for reading decimals. The lowest exponent can be explicitly read, for example, ‘3.18 grams’: (jcnfdfkjcm) nhb (wtks[) b djctvyflwfnm cjns[ uhfvvf, but in scientific style it would be more common to read the numeral without ordinals, as (jcnfdfkjcm) nhb (wtks[) b djctvyflwfnm uhfvvf. An initial zero before the decimal point is yekm, which declines; zeroes to the right of the decimal point are read as invariant yjkm: jn yekz yjkm yjkm itcnb uhfvvf ‘from 0.006 gram’; c nhtvz (wtksvb) b yjkm djctvm/ rbkjuhfvvf ‘with 3.08 kilograms’.

Some unusual numerals contain an etymological prefix gjk- ‘half ’. ‘One and a half ’, etymologically ‘half of the second’, behaves like a paucal. The direct cases distinguish gender and take the genitive singular of the noun: msc gjknjhƒ cnjkƒ ‘one and a half tables’, nt gjknjhƒ jryƒ ‘one and a half windows’, fem gjknjhß cnjhjyß ‘one and a half sides’. Gj´knjhf, with initial stress, is used with pluralia tantum: gj´knjhf cénjr ‘a day and a half ’.30 There is a single form for all oblique cases in all genders; nouns are genitive plural: bp gjkénjhf ,enßkjr ‘out of one and a half bottles’. ‘One hundred and a half ’, etymologically ‘half of the second hundred’, distinguishes two forms: direct (nom=acc) gjknjhƒcnf, implying genitive plural of the noun ([102]), and oblique gjkénjhfcnf, implying oblique case by agreement ([103]):

[102]Vyt ldflwfnm gznm ktn: kbwj vjt b abuehe vyjubt [dfkzn. Ytlehyj tp;e dth[jv b cnhtkz/, gjgfle c gjkenjhfcnf<gen> ifujd<gen> d cnfrfy bkb z,kjrj. I’m twenty-five: people admire my looks and my figure. I’m not too shoddy at riding and shooting: I can hit a glass or an apple from a hundred and fifty paces.

[103]Gjvjufnm yf re[yt --- эnj vsnm gjcele pf dctvb gjkenjhfcnf<ins> gjcnjzkmwfvb<ins> .

Helping in the kitchen means washing dishes for all hundred and fifty lodgers.

4.3.8 Collectives

Russian has a distinct class of collective numerals, used for groups of individuals: ldj´t ‘pair, twosome’, gz´nthj ‘quintet, fivesome’, extending up to ltcz´nthj ‘tensome’.31 They are more frequent for small than for large groups -- ldj´t is over ten times more frequent than c†vthj ‘sevensome’, which in turn is ten times more frequent than dj´cmvthj. Whether collectives are used rather than ordinary numerals depends primarily on the noun that is quantified and secondarily on

196A Reference Grammar of Russian

the context. Collectives are used regularly with: adjectival substantives (ldjt xfcjds[ ‘two sentries’); masculine animate nouns belonging to Declension<II> (ldjt ve;xby ‘two men’); nouns describing membership in groups defined by national identity or social role (nhjt ckjdfrjd ‘three Slovaks’, ldjt cneltynjd ‘two students’); children, when counted in relation to the parents (jy ;tyfn b bvttn xtndths[ ytcjdthityyjktnyb[ ltntq ‘he is married with four minor children’). Collectives are used with inanimate pluralia tantum, at least for low numbers in the direct cases: only {ldjt xtndthj} cenjr ‘{two four} days’. Higher than paucals, regular numbers are used: occasionally gznthj cenjr ‘five

days’ but much more frequently, gznm cenjr (93% on the web <31.X.02>). Regular numbers are used in oblique cases: ghb gjvjob lde[ ( ldjb[) obgwjd ‘using two

pairs of pliers’, c nhtvz yj;ybwfvb ‘with three pairs of scissors’. Paired items, for some speakers, can be expressed by collectives, but others prefer to use gfhf: ldjt cfgju ‘two pairs of boots’ or ldt gfhs {cfgju ,h/r gthxfnjr} ‘two pairs of {boots trousers gloves}’.

Aside from the lexical groups just mentioned, collectives are generally used

only for groups including men. Collectives are avoided if the group is composed exclusively of women: ldt ;tyobys ‘two women’, not ldjt ;tyoby, except in

newer, colloquial language (jnyjcbntkmyj dct[ gznths[ ltdbw ‘with respect to the whole fivesome of girls’). With nouns that can use either collectives or ordinary numerals, the collective focuses on the fact that the group exists (a fact which, in [104], explains how the uncle behaved):

[104]Ntgthm e ytuj ,skj gznthj ltntq, b эnf ljk;yjcnm tuj ybrfr yt ecnhfbdfkf. By now he had five children, and so that occupation was no longer adequate.

The regular numeral suggests that the entities are individuals ([105]):

[105]Dslfkb gznm rfhnjxtr --- yf vjb[ vkflib[ ctcnth Vfie b Rfn/ b yf nht[ ltntq ,hfnf Dkflbvbhf.

Five cards were issued --- for my younger sisters Masha and Katia and for my brother Vladimir’s three children.

In the accusative, collectives express animacy ([106]), and not only for small quantities:

[106]Jy hf,jnfk yt pf ldjb[, f pf ltcznths[.

He did the work not just of two, but of ten people.

4.3.9 Approximates

Quantifiers such as cnj´kmrj ‘so much’, vyj´uj ‘much’, ytvyj´uj ‘a little’, vƒkj ‘little’ assert the existence of some quantity that is evaluated against an implicit standard: as greater (vyj´uj) or less (vƒkj) or the same (cnj´kmrj and crj´kmrj -- the

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question form that asks what the quantity is equal to). These quantifiers can also function as adverbs, when they do not govern a noun and modify a verb: vyjuj vjkbkfcm ‘she prayed a lot’.

In oblique cases, the quantifier and the noun and any modifiers go into the oblique case. A count noun is plural: vyjubvb cbkfvb ‘with many forces’, crjkmrbvb ltymufvb ‘with how much money’. If the noun is a mass noun, it is singular and the quantifier has a singular declension: ,tp vyjujq cbks ‘without much force’, crjkmrjq dfk/njq ‘with how much money’. Vƒkj ‘little’, ytvƒkj ‘not a little’ and the comparatives v†ymit ‘less’, ,j´kmit ‘more’ do not decline and are not used where an oblique case would be called for, except in the idioms: ,tp vfkjuj ‘only a little less than’, (yfxbyfnmcz) c vfkjuj ‘(to begin) with a little’. The adjective vƒksq ‘small, slight’ does occur in oblique cases: yt hj;lfkf b vfkjuj pderf ‘[the machine] did not produce even the slightest sound’, c vfksv cjlth;fybtv ehfyf ‘with trace amounts of uranium’.

Alongside of the pure quantifier vyj´uj there is a parallel plural adjective vyj´ubt in the direct cases. Vyj´uj points to the existence of a quantity of undifferentiated entities, as opposed to the possibility that no entities were involved. Vyj´ubt individuates, inviting a contrast among individuals -- many did, others did not ([107]):

[107]D Vjcrde gjyft[fkj vyjuj rbnfqwtd. Chtlb yb[ ,skb {j Ib Vby, Xfy Rfqib b vyjubt cjhfnybrb Vfj Lpэleyf.

Many Chinese arrived in Moscow. Among them were Ho Chi Minh, Chiang Kai-shek, and many comrades of Mao Zedong.

Vyj´uj expresses animacy obligatorily, y†crjkmrj ‘some’ does so three-quarters of the time. The nom=acc y†crjkmrj establishes existence (in [108], there will now be expertise); the acc=gen y†crjkmrb[ focuses on the effect on individuals, such as the violence in [109]:

[108]Ghbdktrkb ytcrjkmrj<nom=acc> jgsnys[ cgtwbfkbcnjd. [They] have brought in some experienced specialists.

[109]Rfpfrb e,bkb ytcrjkmrb[<acc=gen> ltvjycnhfynjd. Cossacks killed some of the demonstrators.

4.3.10 Numerative (counting) forms of selected nouns

Some nouns have distinct, archaic, forms when they are used with quantifiers.32 Certain nouns belonging to Declension<Ia> use the null form of the genitive plural in combination with quantifiers, but the explicit ending {-ov} for other genitives: itcnyflwfnm rbkjuhfvv ‘sixteen kilograms’, lj lde[cjn rbkjuhfvv

‘up to two hundred kilograms’ but chtlb эnb[ rbkjuhfvvjd ‘among those

32 Worth 1959:fn. 9, Mel chuk 1985[a]:430--37.

198A Reference Grammar of Russian

Table 4.7 Alternative plurals (selected numerals, genitive and dative cases)

kilograms’ (§3.6.4).33 The measures of modern science are similar: ufecc(jd) ‘gausses’, fyucnhtv(jd) ‘angstroms’, jv(jd) ‘ohms’, htynuty(jd) ‘roentgens’.

Two high-frequency nouns use two different stems in the plural.

While the general plural of xtkjd†r is k/´lb, plural forms of xtkjd†r are used in quantifying contexts. As a genitive plural with the ending {-º}, xtkjd†r is used with true numerals: itcnmcjn ldflwfnm gznm xtkjdtr ,skb gjldthuyenj tgbnbvmzv ‘six hundred twenty-five people were subjected to performing penances’. Both xtkjd†r and k/l†q are used with the approximate quantifiers cnj´kmrj, y†crjkmrj, cnj´kmrj. In ytcrjkmrj xtkjdtr gjnjyekj ‘some people drowned’, xtkjd†r establishes the existence of an event of drowning. K/l†q indicates that the people are individuals, each with a separate history: crjkmrj k/ltq jcnfkbcm ,s ;bds ‘how many people might have remained alive’. With vyj´uj ‘many’, vƒkj ‘few’, ytvƒkj ‘not a few’, k/l†q is used by a wide margin (on the web, 97% k/ltq <31.X.02>), as in [110]:

[110]Yj tcnm ytvfkj k/ltq, rjnjhst cxbnf/n gj-lheujve.

But there are a fair number of people who think otherwise.

K/l†q tends to be used with mille quantifiers more than xtkjd†r. The nominative-accusative vbkkbj´ys overwhelmingly uses k/l†q (97% k/l†q on the web <31.X.02>). The genitive vbkkbj´yjd, however, prefers xtkjd†r (only 30% k/l†q on the web <31.X.02>). K/l†q is also used with groupings of people, ltcznrb nfkfynkbds[ k/ltq ‘dozens of talented people’. Genitives that are not quantifying have only k/l†q: ghj,ktvs ;bpyb k/ltq ‘problems of people’s life’, njkgf k/ltq ‘crowd of people’.

With general numerals in oblique cases other than the genitive, either noun can be used with numerals, to judge a search of dative forms reported in Table 4.7 (web, <31.X.02>). Table 4.7 reminds us that xtkjd†r is close to universal with

33 Vorontsova 1976:136--37.

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Distributive phrases with gj fit in a wide range of argument positions: in positions where one might expect an accusative object ([113]), an accusative expression of frequency ([114]), or the nominative subject of an intransitive verb with existential force ([115]):

[113]Ltrfye rf;ljuj afrekmntnf hfphtibkb dpznm c cj,jq gj ldf<nom=acc> cneltynf. The dean of every faculty was permitted to take two students each.

[114]Z yfyzkcz vsnm gjcele d htcnjhfyt, gj ldtyflwfnm<nom=acc> xfcjd d ltym b gj itcnm<nom=acc> lytq d ytltk/.

I took a job washing dishes in a restaurant, twelve hours per day and six days per week.

[115]Yf rf;ljq crfvmt cbltkj gj nhb<nom=acc> cneltynf. At each bench there sat three students.

These are the same argument positions that allow the genitive of negation,37 presumably because gj, like the genitive of negation, focuses on existence rather than individuation. For the same reason, presumably, gj does not treat its accusative complement as animate with paucal numerals (gj ldf cneltynf in [113]). But gj is not limited to contexts that allow the genitive of negation. Gj phrases can be inserted in apposition to an argument including arguments of predicates in which the genitive would be problematic ([116]) and, unusually, can even substitute for a transitive subject ([117--18]):

[116]:bden cneltyns yf gthdjv rehct gj ldflwfnm<nom=acc> xtkjdtr d rjvyfnt. Students in the first year live twenty people to a room.

[117]Rf;ljuj vbybcnhf lth;fkb gjl here gj ldf<nom=acc> vfnhjcf. Each minister was held by the arms by two sailors each.

[118]D 47 depf[ эne cnbgtylb/ gjkexbkb gj jlyjve<dat> cneltyne, d 16 depf[ -- gj ldf<nom=acc> cneltynf.

In 47 schools, one student each received this scholarship, and in 16 schools --- two students each.

The case of the numeral used with gj is a favorite puzzle of Russian grammar.38 In earlier times gj took the dative in this distributive construction, just as gj takes the dative in other senses of distribution over a set of entities (,hjlbnm gj ekbwfv ‘to wander along the streets’). In this construction, however, there is a long-term shift away from the dative. The dative is still obligatory with single units: adjectival jlby ([119]), mille numerals ([120]), even bare singular nouns without a numeral ([121]):