Re: "write him" was Re: More questions

John Cowan wrote:
> Stephen Mulraney scripsit:
>
>
>>Hmm.. so mathematics is originally plural in English? But usage (e.g. verb
>>agreement) disagrees, and I don't think "mathematics are..." has ever been
>>current.
>
>
> Oh yes.  In the 18th century it was "the mathematicks" and took plural
> agreement.
Hmm.. ok. It seems I just produced my own folk etymology.

 > I think the plural was felt to refer to the different
> branches: algebra, geometry, fluxions (calculus), trigonometry, etc.
Maybe, but for some reason that doesn't ring true to me. After all, other
fields of learning have the same variation between _-ics_ in the subject name
and _-ic_ in derived forms (e.g. _mathematical_, etc). Surely not all of
linguistics, mathematics, etc were felt to be composed of  distinct subjects
in the same way that mathematics was. OTOH, my suggested explanation is pretty
close: perhaps _mathematics_ refers essentially to _mathematical matters_,
_mathematical works_, etc.

Of course, it's possible that one subject (say, mathematics) could have
started the trend, and nowadays we have the situation where _ics_/_ic_
is a productive element in deriving subject names.

--
Stephen Mulraney        ataltane@ataltane.net        http://ataltane.net
In 1869 the waffle iron was invented for people who had wrinkled waffles.