Abstract
The purpose of the research is to identify the conditions under which plural suffixes are used in nouns in the Khitan language. According to our investigation, the distribution of such plural suffixes as -ɲɛr, -d, -s, -dʒ, -ɲ, and -l is closely related to the meaning of the words to which they are attached. This relationship can be captured by an animacy hierarchy. Specifically, -ɲer is used with personal pronouns and kinship terms of high animacy, and -d is used with both animate and inanimate nouns of lower animacy, while -s and -ɲ are used with highly abstract inanimate nouns and adjectives of even lower animacy. We also demonstrate a possible connection between the selection of these suffixes and parts of speech/noun classes in the Khitan language.
