Re: THEORY: derivation question

Padraic Brown wrote:

> On Thu, 25 Mar 1999, Tom Wier wrote:
>
> > Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
> >
> > > Another
> > > example, as noted by Tolkien: If people had had occasion to talk about
> > > dwarfs every day, the plural would probably still have been dwarves.
> >
> > I don't think I've heard people say "dwarfs" any more than I've heard
> > people say "leafs"... where'd you get that?
> >
>
> It threw me for a loop, and no mistake.  I'd only ever heard "dwarfs" as a
> verb.  "The skyscraper dwarfs the house next to it" sort of thing.  Same
> with "leafs" and "roofs", both are verbs in my book.
Do any of our British friends know whether the voiceless, regular plural
is common in England and the UK?  (Ray?)  Just wondering how Tolkien,
a thinker of such great stature, would think this without it being common
where he lived...

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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

There's nothing particularly wrong with the
proletariat. It's the hamburgers of the
proletariat that I have a problem with. - Alfred Wallace
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