sum dets number month ago posted following query looking languages whose nps following three properties 1 bare unmarked nouns occur argument position may interpreted either singular plural eg malay mandarin japanese opposed english 2 least determiners unmarked number eg english john opposed interestingly 3 bare unmarked noun occurs construction determiner unmarked number resulting np marked number far familiar two languages satisfying three conditions singaporean dialects languages whose standard varieties nt satisfy conditions singaporean malay 1 like standard malay bare unmarked nouns unmarked number eg kucing cat cats 2 like standard malay determiners itu ini unmarked number eg seekor kucing itu one cat dua ekor kucing itu two cats 3 unlike standard malay bare unmarked nouns construction itu ini tend interpreted singular eg kucing itu cat cats apparently variation speakers different constructions speakers singlish aka colloquial singaporean english 1 unlike standard english bare unmarked nouns unmarked number eg cat cat cats 2 like standard english prenominal possessors john unmarked number eg john one cat john one cat john two cat john two cats 3 bare unmarked nouns preceded prenominal possessors resulting construction interpreted singular eg john cat john cat cats questions anybody familiar examples references b southeast asian areal feature common crosslinguistic pattern c cases unmarked noun plus unmarked determiner results singular np cases result plural np anybody ideas analyze explain phenomenon within theoretical framework none one case summary much shorter query two languages emerged pattern identical singaporean malay japanese thanks pamela downing mayumi masuko korean thanks jae jung song meantime field work revealed singlish prenominal possessors also definite article exhibits similar singularity effect although unmarked number evidenced one cat two cat cat interpreted singular observations provided steven berbeco richard dearmond bob fradkin mark mandel edith moravcsik gwyn williams