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2.4.0. Number
 
     Number in Angami is not an obligatory overt grammatical category. In if often made clear from the context-linguistic or non-linguistic. It is left unmarked, when the substantive is modified by (a) a numeral or (b) a quantifier or (c) a non-singular demonstrative adjective or (d) when the substantive is a predicate whose subject is a non-singular noun (phrase).
 
          (a) tfh  kni                              ‘two dogs lit. ‘two dog’
               lsd krph                      ‘fifteen books’
                                                                       lit. fifteen book’
               thnmi s                                   ‘three  girls’
                                                                       lit. ‘three girl’
          (b) tf  kkr  b                           ‘(there) are many dogs’
                                                                       lit. ‘(there) are many dog’
               k  hu                                            ‘some houses’
                                                                       lit. ‘some house’
               lsd  huy                                 ‘a few books’
                                                                       lit. ‘a few book’

          (c) lsd tsk                                  ‘those (pl.) books’
                                                                       lit. ‘those book’
               ny hni                                        ‘these (du.) boys’
                                                                       lit. ‘these boy’
          (d) k ny kv                            ‘they (pl.) (are) good boys’
                                                                       lit. ‘they (are) good boy’
               lk lsd                            ‘those (pl.) (are) my books’
                                                                       lit. ‘those (are) my book’
          (e) vzli m svli  ny                ‘Vizolie and Savilie (are) good
               kv                                                ‘boys lit. ‘Vizlie and Savilie
                                                                          (are) good boy’
 
2.4.1. Angami has three numbers: Singular, Dual and Plural: Singular is not marked morphologically but may be expressed by the cardinal number pu ‘one’. Dual is expressed by -ni which is semantically conditioned and which is in complementary distribution sematically with the cardinal number kni ‘two’. Number is not by and large marker in the indefinite (except indicated by the cardinal pu ‘one’. The suffix -k is typically plural definite, the plural counterpart of -u, the singular definite article. k may be used, albeit rarely, as an indefinite plural marker as in -
 
               kdmik                                       ‘kings (indef.)’
               kpthmik                                  ‘teachers(indef.)’
 
     in contrast with
 
               kdk                                             ‘the kings (def.)’
               kpthk                                        ‘the teachers(def.)’
 
2.4.2. ‘Number Markers’ with numerals:
 
     When -k is added to numerals, it defines a set in the following two ways:
     (a) It particularizes the substantive of which the numeral is an attribute, pinpointing a set which both the speaker and the listener have in mind.
 
               lsd                    ph                   ‘five books’
               lsd                    phk             ‘five particular books’
               thnmi                 s                    ‘three girls’
               thnmi                 sk                   ‘three particular girls’
 
     (b) It defines a set which is all-inclusive. When the set is all-inclusive, the interlocutor obviously knows it beforehand and the listener may infer it.
 
Thus,

                 nyny s lsk n vy  ‘My three sons go to school’

                     which implies that the speaker has more than three sons.
 
                  nyny sk lsk n  vy ‘All my three sons go to school,
                     which implies that the speaker has only three sons.
 
     -ni, the dual number marker is also semantically conditioned like -k when added to numerals.
 
      (a) -ni defines a particular set.
              eg. (la) tf kni ‘two dogs’, kni being the cardinal number.
                   (lb) tfni ‘the two dogs’, which case the speaker in singling out or referring to two dogs both he and the listener are already familier with.
 
              In (2a) ngnmi  kni b  ‘IknowtwoAngmis’ the speaker is giving fresh information about the numer of Angamis he knows,
where as, in
                   (2b) ngmni  b  I know the two Angamis’
                        the speaker possibly knows more than two Angamis, but is talking about two particular Angamis about whom the listener also knows or has just referred to.
 
                   (b) -ni defines an all-inclusive set:
                  (3a) ny-ni  lsk n vy  ‘Mytwosonsgoto school’, means that the speaker has only two sons.
 

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