Honorificity and Number Features are Distinct Processes

A Case of Honorificity and Plurality in Assamese Pronouns

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the relationship between honorificity and number in Assamese. The language shows a three-tiered system of honorific pronouns, while verbs mark honorific distinctions only in the second person (Masica 1991; Palash et al. 2019). Number, by contrast, is marked exclusively in the pronominal system and has no effect on verbal agreement. In particular, plural suffixes never change the honorific value of a pronoun, and verbal honorific markers remain unchanged regardless of number. These patterns indicate that honorificity and number are computed by separate processes in the grammar. I propose in Assamese, within a Minimalist framework (Chomsky 1995, 2000, 2001), that honorificity is encoded in its own functional projection (HonP) and checked via Agree (Alok 2021), while number is introduced in a higher NumP (Ritter 1991, 1992). The findings here raise a possibility that [HON]-[NUM] independence holds more widely than hitherto assumed.