ABSTRACT
What objects can be counted together, generally depends on the linguistic expression. In the majority of cases the classification is so natural that it is practically identical in most languages; but in some cases there are differences called forth by varieties of linguistic structure. Thus in English there is no difficulty in saying" Tom and Mary are cousins," as cousin means both a male and a female cousin; Danish (like German and other languages) has different words, and therefore must say" T. og M. er fretter og kusine," and E. five cousins cannot be translated exactly into Danish. On the other hand, English has no comprehensive term for what the Germans call geschwister, Dan. s0skende. Sometimes, however, a numeral is placed before such a collocation as brothera and sisters: "they have ten brothers and sisters," which may be = 2 brothers + 8 sisters or any other combinations; "we have twenty cocks and hena " (= Dan. tyve h0ns). The natural need for a linguistic term which will cover male and female beings of the same kind has in some languages led to the syntactical rule that the masculine plural serves for both sexes: Italian gli zii, Span. los padres (see p. 233).
