Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: USAGE: THEORY/USAGE: irregular English plurals (was: RE: [CONLANG] Optimum number of symbols

From:And Rosta <a-rosta@...>
Date:Sunday, May 26, 2002, 16:22
Michael Poxon:
> Surely the singular of brethren is brother? Okay, brother used in a > specifically religious sense, but brother just the same.
I posted an explanation/justification of my claim in a recent reply to Tom Wier.
> And as far as I know, at least in British English, there is no such > word as 'oxes'. Oxen is fine.
For many younger British speakers, perhaps a majority, the plural is _oxes_. This fact can be discovered by asking them. It may not show up very clearly in a corpus, because those speakers who lack _oxen_ are also those speakers who are unlikely to talk about the ox. --And.
> Mike > > My sense is that in contemporary English, _brethren_, like _police_, > > lacks a singular, and hence does not belong in the above list. But > > _brethren_ and __police_ remain irregulars in not taking the -s > > plural. > > > > > > As for the rest of the list, _oxen_ is obsolescent, being replaced > > > > by _oxes_, > >

Reply

Joe <joe@...>