countable (adj.)

A term used in the GRAMMATICAL classification of NOUNS; opposed to ‘uncountable’ or MASS. This countability distinction was often unrecognized in TRADITIONAL grammars, but it has been a focus of attention in LINGUISTIC analyses of the NOUN PHRASE, because of the way it can explain the DISTRIBUTION of nouns in relation to the use of such ITEMS as ARTICLES and QUANTIFIERS. Countable (count or ‘unit’) nouns are those denoting what the LANGUAGE treats as separable entities, by using them with such forms as a, many, two, three, etc.; uncountable or non-count nouns are treated as continuous entities, having no natural bounds, by being used with such forms as much, some. The contrast can be seen in a boy v. *much boy, and *an information v. much information. Many nouns can be used in both contexts, e.g. a cake/many cakes/much cake.