Frankenduals, that is, duals composed (as in Hopi) of a ‘singular’ and a ‘plural’ morpheme, display a consistent asymmetry. A new typological study shows that the element closer to the nominal is sensitive to singularity, whereas the one sensitive to plurality is more peripheral. This pattern impacts the theory of morphology (dual featurally crosscuts singular and plural), morphosemantics (number features are sensitive to order of composition), and syntax and its interfaces (the features are interpreted and pronounced where they are merged, not copied and partially deleted). The resulting account instantiates Hale's (1986) idea that features are semantically broad, ontologically flexible, and category-independent.
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