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In the English language, nouns are inflected for grammatical number—that is, singular or plural. This article discusses the variety of ways in which English plurals are formed. Phonetic transcriptions, given inside slashes, are in SAMPA notation.
Regular pluralsThe plural morpheme in English is suffixed to the end of most nouns. The plural form is usually represented orthographically by adding -s to the singular form (see exceptions below). The phonetic form of the plural morpheme is /z/ by default. When the preceding sound is a voiceless consonant (see phonation), it is pronounced /s/. Examples:
Where a noun ends in a sibilant sound—such as s, sh, x, soft ch—the plural is formed by adding es (also pronounced as z with a neutral vowel sound or short i):
Morphophonetically, these rules are sufficient to describe most English plurals. However, there are several complications introduced in spelling. The -oes rule: most nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant also form their plurals by adding -es (pronounced /z/):
The -ies rule: nouns ending in a y preceded by a consonant drop the y and add -ies (pronounced /:iz/):
Note, however, that proper nouns (particularly those for people or places) ending in a y preceded by a consonant form their plurals regularly:
This does not apply to words that are merely capitalised common nouns:
A few common nouns ending in a y preceded by a consonant form their plurals regularly:
Almost-regular pluralsMany nouns of Italian or Spanish origin are exceptions to this rule:
Most nouns ending in f or fe form their plurals by changing the f (or fe) into a v and adding es:
Some just add an s:
Some can do either:
Note 2: Staff in the sense of "a body of employees" the plural is always staffs; otherwise both staffs and staves are acceptable, except in compounds; such as flagstaffs. The stave of a barrel or cask is a back-formation from staves, which is its plural. (See below for another kind of back-formed plural.) Irregular pluralsThere are many other less regular ways of forming plurals. While they may seem quirky, they usually stem from older forms of English or from foreign borrowings. Irregular Germanic pluralsThe plural of a few Germanic nouns can also be formed from the singular by adding n or en, stemming from the obsolete dual:
The word box, referring to a computer, is semi-humorously pluralized boxen in the Leet dialect. Multiple Vax computers, likewise, are sometimes called Vaxen. The plural is sometimes formed by simply changing the vowel sound of the singular, in a process called ablaut (these are sometimes called mutated plurals):
Some nouns have singular and plural alike, although they are sometimes seen as regular plurals:
Irregular plurals of foreign originBecause English includes words from so many ancestral languages, as well as many loanwords from Classical Greek and Latin and other modern languages, there are many other forms of plurals. Such nouns often retain their original plurals, at least for some time after they are introduced. In some cases both forms are still vying for attention: for example, for a librarian, the plural of appendix is appendices (following the original language); for physicians, however, the plural of appendix is appendixes. Likewise, a radio engineer works with antennas and an entomologist deals with antennae. The "correct" form is the one that sounds better in context, or that people in the field use. Correctly formed Latin plurals are the most acceptable, and indeed are often required, in academic and scientific contexts. In common usage, back-formed plurals are sometimes preferred. (See below for another kind of back-formed plural.)
Note: See article on the Plural of virus.
Though some take s more commonly:
The Greek plural for words ending in -pus(gr. poûs) meaning "foot", is podes, but this plural is not used in English.
However, other nouns such as kimonos, futons and tsunamis are more often seen with a regular English plural.
Note: kiwi, when referring to the bird, may or may not take an s, but when used as an informal term for a New Zealander, always takes an s. Māori, when referring to a person of that ethnicity, seldom takes an s in Standard New Zealand English, where it is seen as culturally insensitive, however a number of speakers, particularly older Pakeha, still add the s. Many speakers avoid the use of Māori as a noun, and instead use it only as an adjective.
Some words of foreign origin are much better known in the plural; usage of the proper singular may be considered pedantic or actually incorrect by some speakers. In common usage, the proper plural is considered the singular form. Back-formation has usually resulted in a regularized plural.
Note: A single piece of data is often referred to as a data point. A military phalanx is pluralized phalanxes. The phalanges as body parts (fingers and toes) are rarely referred to in the singular. A related phenomenon is the confusion of a foreign plural for its singular form:
Plurals of numbersPlurals for the names of numbers differ according to how they are used. Such words include dozen, hundred, thousand, million, and so forth. The following examples apply to all of these.
Defective nounsSome nouns have no singular form:
Neither do some names of things having two parts:
Note, however, that these words are interchangeable with a pair of scissors, a pair of trousers, and so forth. Nor are scissor, trouser, tweezer, or pant the names of the individual parts. However, the fashion industry frequently calls a single pair of pants a pant; this is a back-formation. (See below for another kind of back-formed plural.) Some words in which the modifier follows the noun form the plural inside the word or phrase, particularly legal terms from French:
It is common in informal speech to pluralise the last word in the usual way, but in edited prose, the forms given are preferred. Non-countable, or "mass" nouns do not represent distinct objects, so the singular and plural semantics do not apply in the same way. Some examples:
Some mass nouns can be pluralized, but the meaning thereof may change slightly. For example, when I have two pieces of sand, I do not have two sands; I have sand. There is more sand in your pile, not more sands. But there could be many "sands of Africa" - either many distinct stretches of sand, or distinct types of sand of interest to geologists or builders, or simply the allusive sands of Africa. It is rare to pluralize furniture in this way. Nor would information be so treated, except in the case of criminal informations, which are prosecutor's briefs similar to indictments. There is only one class of atoms called oxygen, but there are several isotopes of oxygen, which might be referred to as different oxygens. In casual speech, oxygen might be used as shorthand for "oxygen atoms", but in this case it is not a mass noun, so it is entirely sensible to refer to multiple oxygens in the same molecule. One would interpret "Bob's wisdoms" as various pieces of Bob's wisdom (that is, pieces of advice), deceits as a series of instances of deceitful behavior, and the different idlenesses of the worker as plural distinct manifestations of the mass concept of idleness (or as different types of idleness, "bone lazy" versus "no work to do").
Nouns with multiple pluralsSome nouns have two plurals, one used to refer to a number of things considered individually, the other to refer to a number of things collectively. In some cases, one of the two is nowadays archaic or dialectal.
Note b: Kine is still used in rural English dialects. Note c: Dies is used as the plural for die in the sense of a mould; dice as the plural (and increasingly as the singular) in the sense of a small random number generator. Note d: Fish: the plural for one species of fish, or caught fish, is fish, but for live fish of many species, or in poetic usage, fishes is used. Note e: If you have several (British) one-penny pieces you have several pennies. Pence is used for an amount of money, which can be made up of a number of coins of different denominations: one penny and one five-penny piece are together worth six pence. Penny and pennies also refer to one or more U.S. one-cent pieces. But in American usage, a nickel is worth five cents, not five pence, though a penny is worth one cent (not plural). Note f: For multiple plants, say iris, but for multiple blossoms say irises. Note g: Clothes refers collectively to all of the cloth covering a person's body. A final odd case is person. The word people is usually treated as the suppletive plural of person (one person, many people). However, in legal and other formal contexts, the plural of person is persons; furthermore, people can also be a singular noun with its own plural (for example, "We are many persons, from many peoples"). Plurals of symbols and abbreviationsSymbols and abbreviations whose plural would be ambiguous if only an s were added are pluralized by adding 's.
Usage is divided on whether to extend this usage of the apostrophe to non-ambigious cases, such as the plurals of numbers (1990's), words used as terms (his writing contains a lot of "but's"), and capitalized abbreviations (PC's). Some writers use this form in a desire for consistency, whereas others say it confuses the plural with the possesive. Plurals of "headless" nounsLinguist Steven Pinker, in his book, The Language Instinct discusses what he calls "headless words", that is, words like low-life and Red Sox where the life and sox are not being used in their ordinary senses; that is, a low-life is not a type of life, nor are Red Sox a kind of sock. Thus, more than one low-life is low-lifes and a single member of the Boston baseball team is a Red Sox. Other examples include the ice-hockey Maple Leafs, not Maple Leaves, sabertooth and sabertooths, flatfoot and flatfoots, tenderfoot and tenderfoots, still life and still lifes. The computer mouse is often pluralized mouses, although, in this case, mice is just as common because of the physical similarity between the input device and the rodent. Plural to singular by back formationSome words have started out with unusually formed singulars and plurals, but more "normal" singular-plural pairs have resulted. For an example from the vegetable world, pease was the singular and peasen the plural, but over the centuries, first pease became the plural and pea the singular, and finally the plural was altered to peas. Similarly, termites and primates were the three-syllable plurals of termes and primas, respectively, but these singulars were lost, the plurals given two syllables, and now we have termite and termites and primate and primates. Syringe is a back formation from syringes, itself the plural of syrinx, a musical instrument. Cherry is from Norman French cherise. Finally, phases was once the plural of phasis, but the singular is now phase. Kudos is a singular Greek word meaning praise, but the same process may be happening to it. At present, kudo is an error, however. Plurals of names of peoplesThere are several different rules for this. In discussing peoples whose demonym takes -man or -woman, there are two options: pluralize to -men or -women if referring to individuals, and use the root alone if referring to the whole nation.
This also applies to the Irish and the Welsh. One can say "a Scots(wo)man" or "a Scot", "Scots(wo)men", "Scottish people", or "Scots," and "the Scottish" or "the Scots". (Scotch is considered old fashioned.) Several peoples have names that are simple nouns and can be pluralized:
Names of peoples that end in -ese take no plural:
Neither do Swiss or Québécois. Most names for American Aboriginal groups are not pluralized:
Some exceptions include Crees, Mohawks, Hurons, Algonquins, Chippewas, Oneidas, Aztecs. Note also the following words borrowed from Inuktitut:
Names of most other peoples of the world are pluralized using the normal English rules.
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