Re: -s plurals, was [Conlangs-Conf] Conference Overview

Charlie wrote:
<<
I read somewhere very recently (I apologize that I don't remember
where-I'm not at home this week) that there is a difference in the
use of the plurals "fish" and "fishes."
 >>

That seems like a very reasonable rule.

Joe wrote:
<<
You could have three fishes in your aquarium but many more fish.
'fishes' refers to 'types of fish'.
 >>

As does this one.  Unfortunately, I have neither:

I eat fish.
There are three fish in the tank.
The fish of the Pacific Ocean are many and varied.

Substituting "fishes" for any of those sounds bizarre to me (though,
interestingly enough, increasingly *less* bizarre as you go down
the list...).  I wonder if Harvard could do a dialect map with this
one, or if the variation is too great.

Charlie:
<<
But don't you love the English expression "head of"?  He owns 300
head of cow, er, cattle.
 >>

Ha!  That's right.  I never thought of that...

8^)> wrote:
<<
It is as a rule not safe to make predictions on
the basis of the usage of people below 12.
 >>

HA, HA!!!  Point well taken.

-David
*******************************************************************
"sunly eleSkarez ygralleryf ydZZixelje je ox2mejze."
"No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."

-Jim Morrison

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