I need a theoretical framework that can explain how nominal are inflected for number in Germanic and scandinavian languages that do not inflect the nominal itself but the entire nominal phrase in indicating number.
In Norwegian, for example, you can get et stort barn 'a big child' vs de store barna 'the big children', where number is marked in all three words of the phrase. In indefinite phrases, neuter nouns are sometimes bare: et barn 'a child' vs fire barn 'four children'.
You can find a similar phenomenon in Dutch with some kinds of count nouns. For example, when you order beers, you can ask for drie bier, literally 'three beer-SG'. Is that closer to what you mean?
Thanks for your response. The Norwegian examples I think March what I'm looking for. I intend to explain how number is marked in Ewe nominal phrases. For instance, devi lolo eveawo 'the two big children' vs devi lolo la 'the big child'. In the first example, the number affix is realized on the the determiner but not the nominal phrase head.
I hope this gives a fair idea about what I want to do.