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Re: Feminization of plurals?

From:Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>
Date:Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 10:21
On 2009-02-11 Edgard Bikelis wrote:
> there are some plural neuters from latin that > entered in portuguese as feminines
There are many collective neuters the plural of which ended up as feminine singulars in all or most Romance languages. Grandgent cited FRIGORA MARMORA RURA. This collective -A was also extended to some masculines and even to some non-first declesion feminines: It. _dita, frutta, fusa, grada_, Old French _crigne_ < *CRINEA < CRINES, Sard, Apulian Rumanian _frunza_ < *FRONDIA < FRONDES. Hasn't it been suggested that *-h2 originally was a collective and/or abstract ending in the first place, and that neuters in pre-PIE didn't have a plural? /BP

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Christophe Grandsire-Koevoets <tsela.cg@...>