"Pluralise these" Topic

Pluals of
Mouse.
Louse.
House.

Singular of
Mice
Lice
Dice

This is what happens when you nick other peoples' languages.

Eh?

I don't think "dice" is the plural of "house."

Shows what you know, PS! :-)

What's a Plual? Sounds rather intriguing.

And on plurals: there's no real need for a plural. Take Mari, for example. No real plural, just a big and unwieldy plural marker '-vlak'. You just need context, pluralized possessive suffixes and other assorted stuff to make yourself clear. But no plurals. And certainly no irregular stuff. And a word such as parents is just formed by saying father-mother.

Stuff to think about deeply.

To clarify-
GIVE THE pluraLs of
…

NOW GIVE the singular
…

I've had a bad day.

What's Mari? (Okay, I can guess it's a language, and with the -vlak thing I am guessing Slavic?)

But Chinese gets on just fine with little or nothing in the way of plural forms either. One pig. Two pig. One mouse. Many mouse. What extra information does a plural form convey? Mind you, they do have some fairly odd (to me) grouping words, and there is that whole tonal thing, so swings and roundabouts…

Try Indonesian, just show plural as plural:

man – orang
men – orang orang

Q: How do you form the plural of y'all?

A: All y'all.

As far as nicking other peoples languages, "mus" and "lus" are well attested in Old English, basically unchanged since proto-Indo-European. They, along with the other nouns in their class, formed their plural in a regular manner via a vowel change.

Honestly, there is very, very little about languages that is really difficult or perplexing. Even "irregularities" tend to have a quite simple explanation.

Ah… should have got that. Malay does something very similar. I hear "Pwan pwan dan twan twan…" (or something that sounds very similar) on every Malaysia Air flight. "Ladies and gentlemen…"

Chinese pluralises either simply by putting a number before, or adding 'men' as a suffix. Thanks goodness. Learning ANOTHER character for each word capable of being pluralised would add vast new complexity. Though there are grouping words which add their own complexity "Grouping word for long, thin things…!"

I'm pretty sure the royals pronounce house as hice anyway.

"y'all" is plural. The singular is "ya" as in "see ya later"

Here are four nobody knows how to pluralize anymore, at least in the US…

Index.
Matrix.
Apex.
Medium.

-Kle.

How do you pronounce these:

trough
through
bough
cough

Here are four nobody knows how to pluralize anymore, at least in the US…

Index.
Matrix.
Apex.
Medium.

Okay, you got me on apex; had to look that one up. But surely the other three aren't lost in the mists of ignorance, are they?

Whilst sitting on a bough
I developed a terrible cough
So I sniffed a flower
Once every hour
And finally made it through

ghoti…

Okay, you got me on apex; had to look that one up. But surely the other three aren't lost in the mists of ignorance, are they?

I see "indexes" and "apexes" at least monthly in commercial publications…

As for "medium", just look to the imbecilic term "multi-media". It's like saying that in the later parts of WW2 the Soviets deployed a lot of Multiple Rockets Launchers…

-Kle.

-Kle.

When I complained about 'Legos' people pointed at me, and that is just as wrong.

Nah, "Lego" is a word some guy made up, that he thinks he has individual control over the usage of. There's a big difference between a trade name and an accepted general noun.

-Kle.

No- its just complete misuse of the language. There is no such thing as 'A lego' in the same way there isn't 'A goodyear' or 'A sony'.

"Nice computer. What is it?"
"It's a Sony."

"What tire do you use for your swing?"
"It's a Goodyear Radial."

"Hey, Jimmy, where are my Legos?"
"I don't know, but there is a Lego on the stairs so maybe your sister has them."

The thing about English is while it may look like these words are not there at the moment they usually appear over time. English is extremely "fluid", meaning it changes fairly rapidly.

You may have to clarify you last post a bit more because I have heard and have used all three you seem to say there is "no such thing".

Mouse – mice
Louse – louses and lice (the first is slang)
House – houses

Mice – mouse
Lice – louse
Dice – die (but dice can be used singular or plural)

A lot of this comes from the fact that English borrows words very easily. It is a hodgepodge of borrow words.

30 years ago was "sushi" a part of the English language? Not to the extent it is now. And "sushi" is an Uncountable Noun which can be plural or singular. However, I would not be surprised if someone out there says "sushis".

Japanese does not have plurals but the do have a multitude of words for counting things depending on what the counted item is. Try remembering them all and you will get a headache.

"Nice computer. What is it?"
"It's a Sony."

thats a different issue- the person is asking for brand. On the otherhand you don't say "I'm nipping out to buy a Sony"

My original post was just pointing out that the pluralisation isn't consistant.

"I'm nipping out to buy a Mac"

Why, is it raining?

I understand that a "mac" is also another word for a raincoat in some countries, as well as the ubiquitous computer that I was alluding to in my post. My point stands in either case!

I've noticed that TMPers who aren't British say "Legos" as the plural of Lego. And they say "a lego."

How quaint and foolish of them.

Everyone knows that Lego is like salt. You have some Lego, not some Legos, and a piece of Lego, not "a Lego."

Oh well, different countries, different customs, Peachy.

If you have a pound of salt, it is salt. If you have 2 pouinds of salt, it's still salt.
However, if you have a tablespoon of sodium chloride, and another of potassium chloride, then you have two salts.

The tough coughs as he ploughs the dough. (courtesy of Dr. Seuss)

Everyone knows that the plural of mice is meeses.

JW

Gungir

Same in Mauri

Waga: Bird

Waga Waga: Many birds

JW

Indices
Media

Matrices
Apices

Two out of four ain't bad.

JW