Post by account_disabled on Dec 21, 2023 3:34:01 GMT
A noun normally has a single plural, but, in rare cases, this does not happen and therefore we are talking about overabundant plurals. These linguistic exceptions are due to the disappearance of the neuter gender in the transition from Latin to Italian. Latin, in fact, provided three genders for nouns (masculine, feminine, neuter) which became two in the transition to Italian. The neuter, which concerned inanimate beings, has disappeared and, for the nouns that were previously neuter, the declension of the masculine gender was used.
The neuter, however, has not disappeared completely and, even today, some singular masculine words ending in –o have two plurals: one masculine in –i and the other feminine in –a (relict of the Latin neuter plural, treated as feminine because in Italian the ending in –a is typical of the feminine). Knowing about the existence of overabundant Special Data plurals is important because there are often sentences that leave us perplexed, but which, in reality, are formally correct, such as: He had everyone's index fingers pointing . It doesn't sound right, it seems wrong, but it's not. It seemed important to me to reiterate this, given that the idea for this post was born from a discussion about fingers .
The specialization of meanings Every language always focuses on the economy of terms, therefore, if there are two different words, in most cases these have different meanings or shades of meanings. This happens for synonyms and also for overabundant plurals, so you need to be very careful when using them. For example, bone has two plurals: ossi and bones (these are human ones) . You can say: I gave the dog some bones . However, I advise you to avoid: I gave the dog some bones . Unless your dog is helping you cover up the traces of a murder... Examples of overabundant plurals Let's now remember some of the most used cases, in addition to bone and finger .
The neuter, however, has not disappeared completely and, even today, some singular masculine words ending in –o have two plurals: one masculine in –i and the other feminine in –a (relict of the Latin neuter plural, treated as feminine because in Italian the ending in –a is typical of the feminine). Knowing about the existence of overabundant Special Data plurals is important because there are often sentences that leave us perplexed, but which, in reality, are formally correct, such as: He had everyone's index fingers pointing . It doesn't sound right, it seems wrong, but it's not. It seemed important to me to reiterate this, given that the idea for this post was born from a discussion about fingers .
The specialization of meanings Every language always focuses on the economy of terms, therefore, if there are two different words, in most cases these have different meanings or shades of meanings. This happens for synonyms and also for overabundant plurals, so you need to be very careful when using them. For example, bone has two plurals: ossi and bones (these are human ones) . You can say: I gave the dog some bones . However, I advise you to avoid: I gave the dog some bones . Unless your dog is helping you cover up the traces of a murder... Examples of overabundant plurals Let's now remember some of the most used cases, in addition to bone and finger .