OblPlmk: Marking of nominal plurality is obligatory.

(1) āp

‘dog’

(2) āmp-ǝt

dog-pl

‘dogs’

(3) kat āp-ŋǝn

two dog-du

‘two dogs’

(4) xulǝm āp

three dog

‘three dogs’ (Onina 2009: 25)

In Synja Khanty, plurality marking does not depend on the position of the referent in the animacy hierarchy (cf. Onina 2009: 22–28). All the nouns accompanying cardinal numerals above two are in their singular forms, while next to the numeral meaning ’two’, they take their dual forms.