mari’gen
English: Translation
many; a large number of
English: Definition
A quantity expression used before a noun to indicate that there are many of the referent. Portugal (2000:25) records it in a plural noun phrase and gives orig ‘pig’ as the example noun.
Part of Speech
quantifier
plural
Example Sentence
Mari’gen a orig.
English: Example Sentence
Many pigs.
Notes
Part of Speech: quantifier; plural expression
Morphology: Not analyzed. Portugal lists mari’gen alongside the variant maririgen but does not explain how either form is built.
Notes: In conversational use, Mari’gen? may function as an echo question—“Many?”—and convey surprise or doubt. In Mari’gen? Osto?, the follow-up Osto? seeks confirmation. The “Really?” interpretation is best treated as a contextual effect of this questioning use, pending further evidence that it is an independent interjectional sense.
Source: Portugal, Dominga L. J. 2000, p. 25.