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Abstract:
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This article investigates agreement as a number marking mechanism in Persian. The mechanism differs from number marking on nominals in that with an inanimate plural subject, the SG verbal ending signals a collective conceptualization of the experience where the members of the group are considered together as a single unit. The PL ending, on the other hand, signals a distributive conceptualization where the entities are individuated; hence, they are considered to be dispersed over space, or distinct in sort or time. Autonomy—whether the entity is conceived of as governing the course of events or not—seems to underlie the choice between SG and PL.
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