Re: Plural prefix?

On Friday, February 6, 2004, at 11:04 PM, Joe wrote:

> Christophe Grandsire wrote:
[snip]

>> Actually, to be more correct, and closer to actual pronunciations, you
>> should write:
>>                 SING.           PLURAL
>> DEFINITE        /le'kOl/        /lEze'kOl/
>> INDEFINITE      /yne'kOl/       /dEze'kOl/
>>
>> The E~e distinction is phonemic.
Thanks for the correction.

>
> But French has suffixed plural markers too.  As in the sentence 'les
> écoles ont'.
I don't recall saying it hadn't. But the /z/ appears only in liaison, as
in the above (tho to my simple simple mind "The schools have" is hardly a
sentence).

I'm also aware that French has alternation like /l@S'val/ ~ /lES'vo(z)/
(the horse(s)) where we have alternation between /al/ and /o(z)/, as well
as other delights like /l9j/ ~ /lEzj2(z)/ (the eye(s)).
But as the (z) is, in fact, silent in most contexts, the principal way of
showing singularity and plurality in spoken French is by the use of
articles or other determinants.

Ray
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