Curious re Nepali language plurals

[ddean]

One khukuri
Two khukuris

two khukuri
khukuri two



Did you know that ox / oxen
is one of the few remnants of Old English pluralization

likewise, 'eggen' was one of the ways to say 'eggs'


~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<>call me 'Dean' -FYI-FWIW-IIRC-JMO-M2C-YMMV-TIA-YW-GL-HH-HBD-IBSCUTWS-tWotBGUaDUaDUaD
<> Tips <> Baha'i Prayers Links --A--T--H--D

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Did you know that ox / oxen is one of the few remnants of Old English pluralization

As are man/men and woman/women, and in a slightly different pattern, mouse/mice.

Ox takes a different ending than the s plurals. Man, woman, and mouse change in line with the Germanic Umlaut: man/maen, woman/womaen, maus/maeus ("mois").

There are still a few toys left in that attic.

 

[namaarie]

English is a Germanic language, and this is a good example.

In German, an -n or -en is frequently added to show plural.

There are lots of examples, but I'm lazy.

Nam

 

[beoram]

the modern English normal -s-plurals (e.g. "book", "books") is the descendant of the frequent strong masc. noun declension of Old English, e.g. stan "stone", stanas "stones". The -en plural of a few remnants like "ox", "oxen" (though one hears people say "oxes" too) is the descendant of the weak -n/ declension in Old English, which "lost out" to to the abovementioned strong masc. declension. In modern German, on the other hand, the related strong masc. declension "lost out" to the weak -n declension,thus the normal -en plural in modern German.

In Nepali, one standard way of pluralising is adding haru to the end of a word. Though often this is left out, esp. if the plural noun is the subject of the sentence, as the verb will show whether the noun is singular or plural.

For numbers, though, there are special suffixes in Nepali, different for human beings and objects. I think, though I['m not certain, that "one khukri" would be euTa khukuri, "two khukri" would be duiTa khukuri (or duiTa khukuriharu).

--B.

 

[mamav]

That's very interesting. On the comic side of things, you should listen to Brian Regan do his spiel on plurals. Most hilarious, and clean, cd I've listened to in ages. Highly recommended